Balanced Christianity 5. Holiness and Fellowship — Zac Poonen

The Two Great Commandments and Balanced Christianity

So this is going to be our final session and thinking of a balanced Christian life. When people asked Jesus in Matthew chapter 22 What is the great commandment in the law verse 36? What they had in mind was the Sabbath.

They felt the greatest commandment in the law was. You don't light a fire on Saturday. You don't do any work on Saturday. And you go to the synagogue. And don't do any of your work. And they thought that's the greatest thing if you're keeping the Sabbath very often we also.

It may not be the Sabbath. But it may be that for us. The greatest thing is read the Bible every morning. Or go to church every Sunday. Put a little money in the offering box. These are the things we have to do and then we are okay.

But Jesus said I can't give you one commandment as the greatest. I Have to give you two. He always spoke about the two sides of the coin, you know, like we were speaking yesterday about evangelism and making disciples.

Or the foundation and the superstructure. Grace and truth. The Bible says in Romans 11 22 look carefully at the kindness and the strictness of God. A Good father is kind and strict. So there's always a balance.

A father whose only kind is not a good father. Father's only strict is not a good father. Kind and strict there's a balance that God wants in our Christian life. And Jesus said two things. One side of the coin was you shall love the Lord your God verse 37 with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and.

Either second is just like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Can you have one without the other? No, in fact, the Bible says in 1 John and chapter 4 That if a man says I love God verse 21 John 4 20.

I Love God. Now this is a very important verse for believers. And possibly for some of you sitting here and if you have years to hear I love Jesus Christ and There's some brother whom you hate. The Holy Spirit says you're not a believer.

You're a liar. Do you hear that? He who has years to hear let him hear. Is there some child of God whom you don't like? Some people you say I Can love him, but I don't like him. Sounds very spiritual, right?

How would you feel if God said to you? I love you, but I don't like you. Or if you told your wife, I love you, but I don't like you. Or you told your husband that. But sometimes we say that I don't like that person, but I love him.

You don't really love him. If you say you love Jesus and you don't love your brother you are not a believer. You're a liar. Liar you're a liar. If you face up to what the Bible says it'll change your life.

Now to love a brother doesn't mean I have to go and do a hundred and one things for him. No. Love is an attitude of the heart. It's not a question of serving him or giving him money when he's in need.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Love is an attitude of the heart and God knows how much opportunity we have to serve for example. You can never love other people's children as much as you love your own children.

That is impossible and anybody who says they love other people's children as much as their own love their own children I will tell them to their face. They are liars. It is impossible. No human being can do it.

God can love the whole world in the sense that he can do so many things for them because he's got such capacity. But I can't love the whole world in that way. I my attitude is I have got no enemies in the world.

I Don't ever hate anyone to the best of my knowledge. I don't hate a single soul in the whole wide world. But I can't do all the things for them that God does for them. I Can't even do all the things for all the Christians in India that God can do.

So that's why God puts us all in little fellowships. It's not that we are exclusive and we think we are the only children of God in the world. No, no, no, no but God puts us in little fellowships just like he puts us in little families and He says in your little fellowship.

Can you love one another? When Jesus said all men will know you're my disciples not when you love them, but when you love one another. Very often people say you let people see your love and show them that you're Christians.

That's not the way Jesus said. Jesus said you love one another and people will see you're Christians. Like the song we sing and they'll know we are Christians by our love by our love for one another. And as we love one another all men will know you're my disciples.

That's what Jesus said. So that's why God places us in little fellowships. Where we are to love one another in that fellowship and then as our capacity increases we can love more and more people. But it must begin in our home and in our local church.

Love for God Tested by Love for the Local Church

So there must be a balance, you know, it's not just I love God. But like the two arms of the cross, you know, there's a vertical arm. The horizontal arm and in every cross the vertical arm is always bigger.

The horizontal arm is smaller. It's true that my love for God must be supreme. More than anything else, but there must be this horizontal arm without that horizontal arm, there's no cross and there's no Christianity.

So I need to check my love for God by my love for the believers in my local church and then if you have the capacity, of course for others, but not by. How much you love the poor saints in? Argentina or You know countries where there's a lot of poverty in Congo or something.

It's very easy to love The believers in Congo in Argentina, right? Have any of you had a problem with the believers in Argentina and Congo? Not at all. You never see them. You can love them for years.

The problem is that brother whom you see every Sunday, right? And that's the one who's the problems with him or that sister. But that's where your love is tested so often we can have a love for the world and all that type of it's a lot of nonsense.

The place where God has put you that's where we got to love one another. And there the only way to do it Jesus said he must love one of this. I have loved you and I see this that in Jesus love for me.

There was a cross On which he died and if I am to love other people the way Jesus loved me there must be a cross On which I die. That's the way he loved me and the problem the reason why we can't love others is because I don't I want to love them without the cross he said love one another as I Have loved you.

He did not love me because I was perfect. He did not love me when there was nothing wrong with me. There's everything wrong with me when he loved me. And he still loved me, but he didn't leave me where I am.

And I don't love people in a in a way that I want to leave them where they are. He corrects me you know in John Revelation 3 it says verse 19 Jesus says those whom I love. I Reprove and discipline. I rebuke.

I thank God for the times Jesus has rebuked me from the scriptures. Or through the Holy Spirit. That proves his love for me. And when I was a young Christian if you ask me, how do how do you know Jesus loves you?

I'd say He died for me on the cross. Today if you ask me, how do you know Jesus loves you? I say boy. He rebukes me. That's all I know. He loves me. He doesn't leave me alone when I do something wrong times I've lain in bed with a fever or some Sickness and I Say Lord, what's this for?

What was this discipline for? What's this little spanking for? What did I do wrong? And the Lord says points out something that happened the previous week, maybe. Some careless word I spoke or something like that.

Some unloving attitude I had towards someone. Thank you Lord for showing that to me. Thank you for keeping such a jealous watch over me. That you don't let even a small thing slip up let go you quick quickly.

Bring that to my attention by a little discipline or rebuke and that has meant so much to me that I have wept in Gratitude. Have you ever wept in gratitude? To God for Spanking you for rebuking you. I've done it many times.

I and I've said Lord, please Don't ever let me go treat me like this till the end of my life. For rebuking me for the smallest slip-up. I don't want you to wait till I've hit rock-bottom before you correct me.

I slipped up one tenth of an inch. From the direction I'm supposed to go pull me up. I Tell you if you pray to God like that and ask God to pull you up rebuke you and do anything you like. But keep me on the straight and narrow path.

He'll really do it. See I support myself with some investments I've made and once I lost a very large amount of money by Indian standards and I Said Lord, why why was that? Why did you allow that? They could have used that money for Many good things.

It's quite a large amount of money. And the Lord said to me didn't you pray a few days ago that you should be freed from the love of money. Aha. It was that was it? Thank you Lord, so all of you who are praying for the love of money just be careful.

It's good. I tell you I really thank God for it. I said Lord you are really answering my prayer not the way. I didn't expect it to be answered this way. But that's it. It's fine. I want to be free from the love of money you can have money and Still not love it.

You know I have a bank account I Take care of my needs and if that bank account increases, it doesn't mean I love money. It doesn't affect me if it's much or less. I say Lord. It's it's yours. I use it for my needs for my family's needs etc to live on earth, but I don't love it.

Don't think that if you have only those who have very little money are the ones who are free from the love of money. I've never seen a homeless man who doesn't love money. Have you? Have you ever seen a beggar who's doesn't love money.

Rich people love money. Beggars love money. It's not your salary. Or your income or your bank account or the size of your car or your house that determines whether you love money. Other people will Judge you like that, but that's because they don't know God.

You can have a lot of money and not love it, and you can have very little money and be a real lover of money. So the Lord doesn't tell us not to have money. He said tells us to be free from the love of it and If he let him do it whichever way he likes, but the Lord rebukes us.

So in our love for one another. It's not that I will not correct a person if I love really love a person. I'd correct the person if you love your children. You'll correct them. The Bible says that a person who does not Correct his children is probably not his own child.

If God does not correct you he's treating you like an illegitimate child. That's what it says in Hebrews chapter 12 very clear if you are really a child of God He will treat you like a father treats his own children.

I have never spanked anybody else's children in my life. I've never disciplined anybody as a child. That is not mine. God doesn't discipline people who are not his children. He said you go your way. So if you are without discipline The Bible says in Hebrews 12 God's not your father really or he doesn't treat you like his son.

It's a very strong word. You know in Hebrews chapter 12. I don't know whether you know that verse. Hebrews chapter 12 in Verse 8 if you are without discipline, you're like illegitimate children. You're not really a child of God.

You mean you do something seriously wrong and God doesn't discipline you. You do something seriously wrong and God doesn't discipline you boy. I'm scared for you. You better check up your salvation. Check up your relationship with God.

That you could do something seriously wrong and God didn't discipline you for it. Maybe you were saved once upon a time and you lost your salvation. I Remember I told you this how once I was speaking to a brother and he was a bit offended.

He said nobody talks to me like that. I said, oh, don't worry. I will never talk to you like that again. I Never spoke to him like that again, and he just drifted away from the church and fell away. So perhaps the last time God corrected you you got so offended with him.

He's okay, I won't trouble you again. Go your way that'll be terrible if God says that to you. I never want him to say that to me. Hug him closer tighter. When he corrects you and rebukes you that's a mark of his love.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and in those times of rebuke you love him even more. Thank you Lord how much you love me. It's that which makes me respond to God in love the way I love Jesus my love for Jesus comes through.

Knowing how much he loved me and knowing how much he has forgiven me two things. We love him 1 John 4 because he first loved me. That's the way the more you understand how much Jesus God loves you the more you will love him.

When you see his rebukes are mark of his love you love him more. When you see how much he suffered for you to be cut off from his father for three hours on the cross. What he never had for all eternity the greatest suffering that Jesus went through on the cross was not the nails.

The nails were nothing. The app physical agony was nothing. The spiritual agony for three hours being cut off from his father. So that for the one time in his life. He could never call him father. He said my God my God.

Why have you forsaken me? Do you know that what an agony it was for Jesus not to be able to call him father? It was as if he was a heathen. He who had always called him father father father father suddenly He had become God.

Have you noticed that my God. My God. Because now he was not standing there as a son. He was standing there as a criminal who was full of sin. He had never sinned. He became sin my sin my evil my lust my bitterness my anger my wrong attitudes.

It was on him boy the way when I saw that I really began to hate sin. You need to see it. He was standing there before the judge of the universe now. That's how much he loved me. The father don't let Zach get it and give it to me.

I'll take it. Have you heard that. Don't let him go don't punish him punish me. That's what happened on the cross, and you meditate more on that. I spent years and years meditating until I still do. And as I have understood the love of God there, it's made me love him more.

I Believe to the best of my knowledge. I love Jesus more than anything and anyone on this earth. I believe I can love my wife best if I love Jesus more than her. And she can love me best if she loves Jesus more than me.

I Can love my children best if I love Jesus more than I love them. That's the way. If any of you love a human being More than you love Jesus Christ you will not be able to love that human being the way God wants you to love them.

All these people who say they love one another and one year later. They are divorced. Why is that? Because they didn't love Jesus more if they love Jesus more than their wives and husbands. They would never divorce impossible so Love for Jesus comes out of recognizing how much he loved me.

And I believe you must meditate on that. I mean I've been meditating on that for 57 years believe me. That's the truth. And I also Jesus also said in another place in Luke chapter 7 He who is forgiven much loves more.

And he who is forgiven less loves less. So that's the other thing I try to meditate on how much I've been forgiven. All of us have been forgiven much. There's nobody who can say I've been forgiven little.

It's because you don't see the gravity of sin. That you think you've been forgiven little. Some of you may have been brought up in God-fearing homes and Therefore you didn't commit gross sins. Like other people who have brought up in godless homes.

Think of a father was a drunkard or a mother was a drug addict and if you were born in such a home where they didn't care for you, and they just Didn't feed you properly and you were on the streets and with no proper instruction.

You'd have got into all types of bad habits, but fortunately you were brought up in a God-fearing home. You didn't go into all those terrible evils that other people went into that's the only thing that protected you.

Otherwise, you're just as evil as that wreck of a man. I Look at the worst terrorist or suicide bomber in the world and I say Lord. I've got the same flesh as him. He's a child of Adam. I am a child of Adam.

How is it he ended up as a suicide bomber and I'm here preaching the gospel. He's got nothing to do with me. My flesh is just as corrupt as his. But like Paul said I am what I am by the grace of God period not the grace of God plus Something I did.

I am what I am by the grace of God period. Never forget that. But I've been forgiven so much. That these are the two things if you really want to love Jesus with all your heart like Jesus said is the greatest commandment.

Meditate on how much he loved you regularly and Meditate on how much you've been forgiven. Never forget Your purification from your former sins. 1 Peter. Sorry. 2nd Peter chapter 1 says I want to paraphrase that verse in 2nd Peter 1 and verse verse 9.

This is what it's saying if you forget All your past sins from which you have been cleansed you will become blind. You'll become short-sighted. You know the meaning of short-sighted. Short-sighted means you don't see heaven's values.

You see only your earth's values. You get occupied with money that's being short-sighted because money is only for a short period of time. You get occupied with earthly accomplishments. That's a short-sighted man who can only see for 20 -30 years.

He can't see for eternity. Have you become like that. There are many believers like that extremely short-sighted. They think they've got a lot of money. They're blessed crazy. Because they've got even among Christians.

They've got some ability to preach or sing or play some instrument and it goes to their head boy. They can see about six inches. Absolutely short-sighted when I look at them, and I look at people who are very gifted and are proud of it.

I don't envy them. Do you envy a man who has to hold a Bible hold a book this close to read it? Because his eyes are so dim and blind he can read it only if it's three inches from him. You feel sorry for that person and I feel exactly like that for a lot of Christians who are so short-sighted.

That they glory in their earthly abilities their glory in their earthly money or accomplishments or talents or gifts or. They're exactly like the man who's reading a book this close. Think of a man who's got good vision he can see a long distance.

He says you forget. How much God has forgiven you? Or you think you've been forgiven very little because you don't see the gravity of sin. You will be short-sighted or you'll become totally blind one day, and I don't want to be blind.

I don't want to be short-sighted. I Don't want to think this world is everything and The way is to never forget what God has forgiven me to see the seriousness of the sins. God's forgiven me. Not to feel condemned about it.

I mean if you're not sure the blood of Jesus has cleansed you then Please don't think of your past sins. You need to come to step one step one is to know that God has completely cleansed away your past like I said yesterday.

He's declared you righteous in Christ accepted in Christ and Also says I will not remember your past again. You're a righteous person. If you're sure of that, then you can think of your Previous sins and be grateful.

Otherwise don't think of it because you'll get into condemnation. There's a lot of people who think of their past sins and get into condemnation. Oh, I did such a terrible thing so many years ago, and the devil keeps on reminding them every day.

Don't ever forget what you did 25 years ago, but don't ever forget what you did last year. Well the devil reminds me too, but I don't listen to him, but I do recognize it, and I'm grateful that I've been forgiven.

Never lose that sense of gratitude because that's the way we love Jesus more. I'm telling you I've discovered these are the two ways we can increase our love for God love for Jesus with all our heart.

Meditate on how much he loved you on the cross. Ask God to show you the price that he paid when he was cut off from the father for three hours. I've meditated a lot on that. I don't meditate much on the nails going in how much pain he felt and that's okay for children.

When I was a child, I thought like a child. I spoke like a child when I become a man. I put away childish things. Paul says so today I don't meditate on oh boy how much it must have been painful for the nails to go through his hands that did help me once.

To love Jesus, but as I've grown more in the Lord. I meditate more on how much He suffered when he was cut off from the father for three hours. You know where you completely cut off. It's like having your head wrenched off.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11 the head of Christ is God. And that was wrenched off for three hours, but he had never experienced for all eternity. That's the price he was willing to pay in garden of Gethsemane.

He said oh father don't take this car. I don't want to drink this cup. I don't want to drink this cup of being cut off and he struggled for one hour. But finally he said okay for my sake he would do it for your sake he did it.

Meditate on that. It really changed my life when I saw He who knew no sin. Second Corinthians 521. God made him to be sin. God made him to be sin. That I might be the righteousness of God in him. I Tried to every imaginable filthy picture.

I can think of being thrown into a sewer. Where all the Toilets of a thousand homes are flushed down that sewer and I'm thrown into it. He came down there to save me just to save me. There was no need for it.

I Loved that filth. I Lived in that sewer for so many years. Loving it. Idiot that I was. And he jumped into that pit. Went through all of that to save me and Lord. I never want to forget it. I wanted to want to take for granted and I don't want to keep on enjoying the stuff in the sewer.

I always say committing a sin is like licking the toilet bowl. Do you ever go lick the toilet bowl in your house? Every sin that you commit every dirty thought is like I'm gonna lick my toilet bowl again.

I Enjoy it so much. When you yell at your wife and you yell at your husband you're licking the toilet bowl again you know if you see sin as a serious way it is and I try to Use every type of picture to show myself the horribleness of sin so that I hate it.

That's what I'm trying to do to hate sin and I know That you know, the Bible says that Jesus loved righteousness and hated sin and that's why the father gave him the oil of gladness. That's in Hebrews 1 9.

And the very interesting part of that verse is the father gave him more gladness Than he gave me. It's written there Hebrews 1 9 the father gave him more gladness than he gave me. Because he loved righteousness more than me.

He hated sin more than me. It says there more than his companions, I'm one of his companions, I'm one of his brothers. So I learned something there. The reason why many Christians don't have joy and gladness, that's only one reason.

It's not because they don't have enough money. It's not because they don't have enough health. It's because they don't hate sin. They don't love righteousness even Jesus. It doesn't say father. You anointed him with the oil of gladness because he was your son.

That's the foolishness a lot of people today say I'm your son Lord. Give me happiness. No. It doesn't even say about Jesus that God gave him the oil of gladness because he was his son. Why should he love you more?

He gave Jesus the oil of gladness continuously 24 -7. Because he loved righteousness and hated sin more than all his brothers more than me. I say Lord Get me closer to you in that area that I shall love righteousness and hate sin and My life will be filled with gladness too because there's no partiality with God.

He will anoint me with the oil of gladness. And if you're not having the oil of gladness all the time in your life, my brother sister. It's because you don't love righteousness. You don't hate iniquity more.

You don't see what Jesus suffered for you on the cross. Then of course you don't love him as you should so that's this vertical arm of the cross, but there is this must also lead to horizontal and That sometimes is a more difficult one holiness.

Holiness Requires Fellowship in the Local Church

Without fellowship is a deception. It's an absolute deception. You can think you're holy, but your holiness is tested when you fellowship with other people who are not like you and that's why many people don't like to become an integrated part of a local church.

A Balanced Christian life is one where we love God with all your heart and love others in my local church. And I get into fellowship with them not only fellowship with God, but fellowship with my fellow believers.

So if you are living this lonely Christian life only fellowship with God and you think you're very holy I want to tell you right now. You are deceiving yourself test that holiness by Becoming a part of a local church and being integrated with other people who are Not like you.

And that's why you have churches nowadays. Based on community you have churches of Indian people only. Romanian people only Ukrainians only Germans only Chinese only. It's very easy To love people who are of the same community, right?

You know what Jesus did on the cross. He brought Jews and Gentiles together when he stretched out his arms. He was bringing the two greatest opposites in the world. Whatever community you belong to. No community in the world is more opposite than yours as Jew and Gentile.

I've heard the Jews would get up in the morning and say I thank you God that I'm not a slave and I'm not a Gentile. Can you think of anything more racist than that? I've heard people say that. But God Jesus brought them together.

On the cross he made the two into one it says in Ephesians chapter 2. The early Jews liked to meet among themselves. God had to break down that even the Apostle Peter would not even go to the house of a Gentile to preach the gospel and God had to show him a vision of a Sheet coming down with all types of animal pigs in there.

Which is the Jews were not supposed to eat. The Lord said eat and said Lord. I've never touched pork in my life. I'm not gonna eat that. And the Lord said don't call unclean what God has cleansed. Go to the house of Cornelius and he went.

And it was so difficult because he had to explain to people. Hey fellas, you know, the Holy Spirit told me to go. That's why I really went and years later. He was still so scared that we read in Galatians chapter 2 when He was eating with some other Gentiles in a meeting he saw some of the People coming from Bishop James's Church, and that was the really strict Jewish guy and he got up from the table.

Excuse me friends, and he went and sat with the Jews again. But Paul was watching that Paul was a bold guy. I like Paul. He got up. Well, everybody say hey Peter. Where do you get it from that table and go there?

Are you scared of James and the report these people are gonna give him? Is this the gospel we are preaching? See how Paul fought for this gospel that people of different communities must become one and there must be a demonstration of it in a church.

That there is no difference between educated uneducated rich poor Jew Gentile. So I personally don't believe in Community Church. I remember when my sons came. My four sons came to the US. One of the things I told them was never never join an Indian Church, please.

Never go to an Indian Church. Because that is not a local church. Follow scripture and they never did in all the years. They here they never joined an Indian Church. I'll tell you why I Told them I give an example.

I said supposing, you know, we have missionaries coming from America to India. I thank God for all of them supposing a bunch of Americans came to Bangalore India and Started an American church there. No Indians are allowed there only Americans, what would you think of them?

What would the other Indians think of them what a bunch of arrogant people. I Said what's the difference between that and you Indians getting together all by yourself and saying we are Indians. That's not a local church.

Local churches people who are in that locality. Your church must be representative of your locality. Otherwise, it's not a local church. It's your club. I call it a club. Indian Club Romanian Club Ukrainian Club Russian Club call it or American Club.

That's not where the Lord is. I Remember hearing the story years ago in the days of segregation when There was a black Afro-american brother. Years ago, this is 60 70 years ago who got converted. And he went into a church not knowing that this was not meant for blacks.

And he walked in and a deacon very graciously Requested him to leave. He was surprised. He never wondered. Hey, this is supposed to be people who love Jesus. And he walked out on the street and said Lord.

Why was that? And the Lord said don't worry I've been trying to get into that church for the last so many years and they have not let they've not let they haven't let Me in so don't worry if they don't let you in.

Do you welcome people of? Some other community in your church are they equally accepted. Are you building the body of Christ or some private club? Balanced Christian life is not just loving Jesus and loving God and Saying he's everything to me.

But see what it says in Colossians in chapter 3 If you have been really renewed we say when we are born again, we are renewed. He is speaking about that renewal here. He said don't tell a lie verse 9.

I like that verse when when the Holy Spirit tells believers Don't tell a lie. It's not with our mouth we can tell a lie by our actions. Don't lie to one another. You laid aside the old self you're born again now verse 10 you put on the new self you're born again in Christ.

You've been renewed to a true knowledge. According to the image of the one who created him. Remember we are to be in the image of God and in this renewal. Listen to this. There is no distinction between the Greek and the Jew.

The religious circumcised person who's got some religious ritual that keeps him different from the one who doesn't have that religious ritual and the barbarian and the Scythian. The slave and free man but Christ is all and in all the only thing that unites me is Christ not language not education.

Not financial level, but Jesus Christ. This man loves Christ and I love Christ, I don't care what the color of his skin is. I don't care what community he came from. I don't care what his income is. I don't care how educated he is.

This is the type only type of church I ever want to be a part of and this is the only type of church I have ever built and worked with in India or in any other place you know. Imagine putting a cultured Greek next to a barbarian.

That'd be great. You know a barbarian who picks his nose and sits next to you and Doesn't put his hand over his mouth when he coughs and they're not cultured. He's a Christian, but he hasn't been taught culture.

He's not civilized. Okay, we got it. I'm not saying you shouldn't teach him good habits, but it takes time for these good habits. You know how long it takes to teach your own children some good habits like that.

Yeah, we've had you know, I've worked. I'm not telling you what I have not practiced. We work in the poorest villages in India and they are not cultured. Some of those brothers come to visit me in my home from the village for some work in the city and They come to my house and they'll walk right into the bedroom without knocking.