New Testament Christianity - Part 1 — Zac Poonen

Learning from Israel’s Mistakes

Here, before Christ, and the other 27 books are after Christ. It's better to look at it that way. So there are many things we can learn from these Old Testament books, because human nature is the same from the time of Adam's fall.

And the way the Israelites behaved towards God, I find as I look around at Christians, it's exactly the same. The way Christians also respond to the Lord. So we can make mistakes ourselves and learn. Or a better way is read the Old Testament and see the mistakes Israel made, and then we avoid making those mistakes.

So a wise man will study the mistakes of other people and say, I don't want to make the same mistakes. So that's the big advantage of reading the Old Testament, in a way, to say, what are the mistakes that these people made?

Why do I have to make those mistakes and then learn? Or why does I learn from their mistakes and not repeat it myself? And so one of those passages is here in 2 Chronicles 32, is all of us go through different crises and problems in our life.

God’s Mercy in Times of Trouble

Every person in the world, whether you're rich or poor, we go through problems in our life. And when we have those problems, we cry to God and ask Him to help us. And I think all of us know in some way that God helped us in our time of need, whether it is financially or physically or with our children.

If you look back, there are many, many things we can remember of what God has done for us. There's nobody sitting here who can say, I can't think of anything God has done for me. I'm not just talking about the forgiveness of our sins.

That itself is a big thing. Because, you see, if God were to say to any of us, OK, I'll forgive you up to today. But if you do that again, I won't forgive you. Then none of us will be here today. But God has been so merciful that even where we have repeated the sins we have committed which God forgave us, He still continues to forgive us.

So it's a wonderful thing, God's tremendous mercy. That should make us very merciful to other people. If any of you are not merciful to others, you're hard on others, I would say there's something wrong with your Christianity.

If you can't forgive somebody saying, oh, that guy went and did it again, how can I keep on forgiving him? Well, imagine if God said that about you. Look at this son of mine. He's gone and done that again.

I can't forgive him this time. No, He never says that. You look back over your life, all of us have to say there are things we said, Lord, I never want to do that again. Don't go and do it again. God's been merciful.

And what can we learn from that? I'll tell you. We can learn to be merciful to other people. One of the things I've learned in my life through 57 years of being a believer, it's actually more than that, it's more than 57, is that God treats me like I treat other people.

If I'm hard on others, God is hard on me. But if I'm kind and merciful to others, I find God is very kind and merciful to me. So I would encourage you, if you want God to be good to you, be good to other people.

If you want God to be merciful to you, be merciful to others, especially in your own home. Sometimes we're very hard on people in our home. Husbands are hard on their wives, wives are hard on their husbands.

When you say things like, there, you did it again. I never in my life want to say to anybody, there, you went and did it again. Because God never says that to me. So here's an example of a king, a king whose name was Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s Deliverance from Assyria

And he faced some real problems in his life. And it says here that the army of the Assyrians came against Hezekiah. Read that in verse 9, 2 Chronicles 32, verse 9. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem.

And he was besieging and lacquishing all his forces against Hezekiah. And Sennacherib, they taunted him, saying, you're trusting what you remain. Hezekiah is misleading you, and so on. And we know what God did.

They prayed to God, Hezekiah prayed, and says here, Hezekiah and Isaiah, verse 20, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. Because they were very weak against this enemy. And many of us also have faced problems in our life where the problem was too big for us to solve ourselves.

Haven't you faced situations like that? And you pray to God, and some of you can look back to situations where you thought there was no hope, there'd be no deliverance, this problem may not be solved.

And it was solved. I think we all have experiences like that. So they cried out to God, and the Lord sent an angel and destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp. And so the enemy went back in shame to their own land.

And when this leader went into the temple of his God, some of his own children killed him there. Thus, the Lord saved Hezekiah and guided them on every side. Think of some experience like that in your life, too.

And then, not only that, it says here, many people expressed their appreciation for Hezekiah, verse 23. Many were bringing gifts to the Lord of Jerusalem, and many presents to Hezekiah the king, so that he was exalted in the sight of all the nations thereafter.

See, that's another thing God has done. He has blessed you with so many gifts. The very fact that all of you have got visas to work in this country and earn money, which many people in India don't have, it's a blessing of God.

It says, another thing happened to Hezekiah. He became ill, verse 24. So many problems came to him. And he prayed to the Lord again. Once it was an external enemy, now it was an internal problem, sickness.

And he prayed again, and the Lord gave him a sign and healed him. And you know what the sign was? It says that the sun moved back in the sky about 10 degrees. It was an amazing miracle that many people in the world saw it and they sent messengers from Babylon and all of this, and messengers to Israel saying, how did this happen?

And Hezekiah became a well-known person. Now, here are the sad words which I wanted to read to you. And then you apply it to yourself. But Hezekiah, verse 25, did not give any return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud.

Therefore, wrath came on him and Jews. See, however much God may bless you, however much, however many prayers he has answered, deliverance from the enemy, healing from sickness like Hezekiah, the moment you become proud, God becomes your enemy.

You need to understand that. See, here was a man whom God was supporting, supporting, answering his prayer, enemies and healing. And then, he did not express his gratitude to God because he was proud.

Gratitude, Mercy, and the Danger of Pride

You know, when we are not grateful to God for what He has done for us, it is an indication of pride in our heart. Only a proud man is ungrateful. A humble man will always be grateful to God. It says here, Hezekiah did not give any return to the Lord because his heart was proud.

And then, God became his enemy. Wrath came upon him. Now, how is it that God who was supporting this man for so long, in so many ways, suddenly he turned around and became his enemy? Do you think that can happen to you?

Sometimes we think, oh God has blessed me in so many ways and He has delivered me from my enemy here and He has healed me of the sickness here and so many people appreciate me and people respect me and so many gifts have come to me.

And then, I think, oh I am somebody. And then, all of a sudden, God turns and becomes my enemy. It can happen. It happened to Hezekiah because he was not grateful, he did not show his gratitude for what the Lord has done.

So, that is the question which I want to ask you to think about. Have you expressed your gratitude to God for what He has done for you? Not just in words. Words are easy, cheap. It is very easy to say, oh thank you Lord.

Gratitude is not expressed just in words. It is in the way of life that we express our gratitude. If we were to ask ourselves, what should I give to the Lord for all that He has done for me? Hezekiah never asked that question.

I wonder if you have asked that question. Turn to this question that the psalmist asks in Psalm 116 verse 12. Psalm 116 verse 12. Psalm 116 verse 12 says here, What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to us, toward me?

God has done so much for me. What shall I render to the Lord for all those benefits? That is a question that we need to ask ourselves. So, I want to point out to you two passages in the New Testament where this question is answered and let us look at them.

Remembering God’s Deliverance and Keeping a Record of His Benefits

In Romans chapter 12, the question is, What shall I give to the Lord for all His benefits to us? The question that Hezekiah never asked, he never gave a return to the Lord for all the benefits he got.

We must never forget the things the Lord has done for us. Never, never, never. Do you know that for hundreds of years the Israelites were told to remember 1 ,000 years ago God delivered your ancestors from Egypt.

Don't forget that, otherwise you'd be slaves in Egypt today. Do you know that the Israelites were taught to keep a Passover every year? They were to kill and eat the Passover. What was the Passover day?

There was a law in Israel that at the Passover, the son of the child must ask the father, Daddy, what does this mean? It was a ritual. God taught every home, the child must ask the father, what does this Passover mean?

And the father must be able to explain. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors were slaves in Egypt. And we would have been there, we would be there as slaves to you today, except that God came and delivered us with a mighty hand.

God was, generation after generation, every year we celebrated the Passover and we were reminded. Do you know what God did so many years ago? I think that Christians don't have some time in your life where you deliberately take time to think of what the Lord has done for you.

I've even recommended to people to keep a little notebook, or if you have a computer, it's even easier. Open a folder in your computer where you write down with dates some significant miracle that the Lord did for you, some significant thing where you didn't expect.

Maybe you got a job which you didn't expect, or you got something beyond what you expected. I'll tell you why the advantage of writing that down with a date, because sometimes when you have a little free time, open that folder and read what the Lord did for you in past years.

It'll make a difference in your Christian life. We need to not be like Hezekiah who gave no return for all that the Lord has done for him, completely forgot all that God had done for him. It must not happen like that in any of us.

The way I have, you know, I've been in full-time Christian ministry now for 50 years. It was in May 1966 that God told me to leave my job in the Navy, and I quit. And my income dropped 85 when I quit my job.

And, but God has done so much for me in these last 50 years, so very much, and I keep remembering. My mind goes back frequently, back 50 years and more, in what God has done for me. That makes my service to the Lord a joy.

It's never, it's never a burden. For me serving the Lord is the most exciting thing in the world. It's never a burden. I don't have any complaints in my life. I mean, my life in the early days, even as a Christian, I used to complain about this or that.

Rejecting Murmuring and Complaining

You know that complaining is gone from my life, 100%. Do you complain about something in your life? Do you complain about something that happens in your home, or you're upset with somebody who didn't do what you expected him to do?

We murmur and complain. The Bible says in Philippians 4, chapter 2, verse 14 and 15, we put away all murmuring and complaining. I cannot bother and complain because God has been so good to me. Extremely good.

And if you think back over the things that God has done for you, you will never murmur or complain. If you murmur and complain, I want to say to you, please listen, I want to say it respectfully, but it is the truth, you are an ungrateful wretch.

If after all that God has done for you, you still murmur and complain. So here is the question in the New Testament. What shall I render to the Lord for all that the Lord has done for me? Romans 12, verse 1.

I urge you, brethren, in view of the mercies of God. This is the answer. In view of the mercies of God, it means in view of all that God has done for you, the way he has shown mercy to you. And he is talking about the previous chapters.

If you read Romans, Romans is a systematic explanation of the Gospel. Starting with the first three chapters where he says all have sinned, we are guilty before God, we deserve to go to hell. And then he explains how God not only forgives us, but declares us righteous by faith, testifying.

And then goes on to say how grace comes upon our life, and sin cannot rule over us, Romans 6. And how we are free from this serving God by the spirit of the law, and rules and all. He set us free from all that.

And Romans 8, he says, give us the Holy Spirit. And then he speaks in chapter 9, chapter 11, how God sovereignly chose us to serve him. And now, he says in view of all these mercies of God that he has shown to you, what are you going to do?

Giving God More Than Money

One or two meetings a week? Is that what you are going to do? Is that how you are going to show your gratitude to God? Put a few dirhams in the offering box? It costs you nothing to put a few dirhams in the offering.

But most of it you keep for yourself. Most Christians give to God like they give to the beggars on the street. You know, you pass by a beggar on the street, and you say, poor man, he has so little, and I have so much, and you put something in his tin.

It's how it is in India. It's exactly the same way that a lot of people give to God. And if you don't believe, you ask yourself, how do you give? As if God is some beggar. This is why in our churches, all our churches, many, many churches, God is married.

In every one of those churches, we never take an offering, because we don't want people to treat God like a beggar. And we don't want to give people the impression that God is a beggar. That's, you know, if I put an offering bag in front of somebody, it's like, I see it like this.

It's like, as a representative of God, I'm saying, I'm a beggar. My God is a beggar. Can you give me something? It's, you know, God loves a cheerful giver. And if a person, there's a dignity about a true servant of God.

There's a dignity about a church. So we say, well, there's a box there. If you want to give, you go and put it yourself. They're not going to come and beg you to give money. You know, they're not beggars.

It's a great honor to give to God. If you want to take part in that honor, there's a box there. You go and put the money there. That's how we do it in all our churches. That's the way we've done it for 40 years.

The reason is to restore the dignity of God who's been degraded so much. And I see the way so many Christian evangelists plead on television, give God money, give God money. I'm so ashamed to see it, the way they beg for money.

Can you imagine the American ambassador in Qatar going around saying, can you please give some money to America? We are poor. Please help us. Can you imagine the American ambassador appearing on television asking people for money like that?

He'd be ashamed. I mean, he'd be... The government of America would sack him and say, come back, come back home. You have disgraced our country by going around asking like that. But the Christian preachers are doing it.

Because they think the kingdom of God is much lower than America. Even some ambassador for Congo or some country like that will not do it. I feel so ashamed when I see the kingdom of God being lowered to such a low level by preachers.

I've fought against it all my life. And I'll continue to as long as I live. That's not what God is looking for. I'll tell you something. God's not a beggar. He owns the whole universe. He doesn't want your little few items in the box.

You keep it. Do what you like with it. There's something else that He looks for. Hezekiah did not give a return for all the benefits that he got. Instead of Hezekiah's name, put your name there. Your name.

And ask yourself whether in the record books of heaven it is written, your name. You did not give a return to God for all the benefits you got. You prayed so much and you got His own answers, but you did not give a return.

You put some terms in the box. That's not what He wants. In view of the mercies of God, what can you give to God? Okay, here it is. Romans 12, 1. Present your body. In the Old Testament they said, present your tithe.

Ten percent. You know that giving the tithe in the Old Testament was an expression of gratitude. Do you know that? It was like income tax. God was not a father. He was a master in the Old Testament. He was the ruler not a father.

And rulers expect income tax. Most countries are like here. They have income tax to pay the workers so that God imposed a law saying ten percent. Everybody must give ten percent to pay the Levites who do all the work in the tabernacle.

It's just like income tax. Why is there no tithing in the New Testament? Because God is not a master. He's my father. Which father collects income tax from his children? It's completely wrong. So when people say you must give ten percent to God, it's like you're making God a father and making Him a master again.

He's not my master. He's my father. When I was in the Navy, I used to give him fifty percent of my income. I'm not saying everybody should do that, but what I say is I never in my life treated God like a master.

He was my father. He was my dad. And I was not going to relate to Him in some cheap way. I treated God better. What does God want from you? I want to say to you it's not your money, it's your body. If you want to show your gratitude to God and you say I think all of you sitting here would say I'm really grateful for what God has done for me.

Dear brother, sister, show that gratitude in actions, not in words. To speak flowery language and say, Oh Lord, I'm so grateful to you and you've been so wonderful to me, or even to speak in tongues and express your gratitude to God, that's cheap.

Show it in actions. Give your body and say, Lord, that's what it says here. How do you show in view of these mercies of God, what should I do? What should I render to the Lord for all He has manifested to me?

Present your body as a living sacrifice acceptable to God because this is the way you, this is a beautiful translation, this is your spiritual worship. Today the word worship has been completely misunderstood.

True Worship as Presenting the Body

People sing a few songs on Sunday morning and call it praise and worship. It has become a tradition. These words, these phrases that start in America, in Christian churches all over the world, people imitate the Americans.

They call it praise and worship, we call it praise and worship. I don't follow the Americans. I follow the New Testament. And any one of you who seriously, many of us are not serious Bible students, unfortunately.

We are very lazy. But if you are a serious Bible student, I can give you a little homework and it won't take more than 5 minutes. If you have a concordance, if you are a serious Bible student, you must have a concordance.

I got one when I was 23 years old. It was an expensive thing for me to buy at that time. It cost me about 20 of my monthly salary to buy it. I bought it and I became a serious Bible student. So if you have a concordance, you, otherwise you can even look it up on a smart phone or nowadays you don't need a concordance smart phone or even on the internet.

Find out, look for the word worship in the New Testament. And not many places it occurs. Look at all the places where worship comes in the New Testament. It's a homework I'm giving you. And then ask yourself, is this what today people call praise and worship?

Or has that become a tradition of man? See, man has put so many traditions into the Bible. And one of the things I've done in my life, in my ministry, the last 40 years particularly, is destroy the traditions of man.

Why do I do that? Because Jesus destroyed the traditions of the Pharisees. Jesus, the reason they got angry with Jesus was he was destroying all their traditions which are not in the Word of God. So, whenever I find something which is not in the New Testament, I'm determined to destroy it.

That's why I destroy this teaching on tithing and I destroy this so-called worship which people talk about, which is not worship at all. Here's what worship is. To worship God is to, it says in this verse, is to present your body to him.

Not just sing some songs. That's easy. Presenting your body is called here a holy sacrifice. Sacrifice means something that costs you something. If it didn't cost you anything, it's not a sacrifice. You can give a gift to somebody.

For example, you give a gift to somebody at his wedding. It's not a sacrifice. Nobody gives such expensive gifts on a wedding that they have to sacrifice something. Oh no, it's a little extra money you have, you buy a wedding gift for somebody.

But sacrifice means it's cost me something. And it says when you give your body to God, it will be a sacrifice. And that is spiritual worship. So, I may not even open my mouth when all the others are singing and thinking they're worshipping God.

Here am I, not singing, but saying Lord, here's my body, I'm worshipping God. And what do I mean by here's my body? See, in the Old Testament, if you read the book of Leviticus, there were five offerings God taught.

There was sin offering, two offerings, there was sin offering, trespass offering, this was for sin. There was an offering called grain offering, peace offering, to show to get to peace with God. But there was one offering, which is the number one offering there in Leviticus 1, called the burnt offering.

And the burnt offering was an expression of gratitude to God for all that He's done for our sin. A presenting of everything. So they take a bullock, it was not for sin. Sin offering is separate, when you come to sin and you offer a goat or something.

But the burnt offering was not for sin. The burnt offering was an expression of gratitude to God. And a guy had to bring a bullock or a goat or something and cut it into pieces and put it on the altar and let it be burnt up.

So we can ask this question, why take the labor of cutting it into pieces if you're going to burn it up? Why does God put the whole bullock on the altar and burn it up? Why did God say you must cut it all into pieces, the legs, the head, and the internal parts and put it all on the altar?

Other offerings the priest would take a little bit for himself. The burnt offering the priest could not touch it. The whole thing has to be given to God. So you learned something about the burnt offering today I'm sure that you did not know before.

What was the meaning of it? Everything in the Old Testament had a meaning for the New Testament. The meaning is what we read in Romans 12 -1. Give your body to the Lord. And if you put it like that, you know, like put the whole bullock on the altar, you say, yeah Lord, here's my body.

Hang on, hang on. Cut it up. Say, Now you understand why it's a sacrifice. Lord, here are my eyes. My eyes have looked at many things in the past years which have disappeared. Looked at many pictures, many movies, many things on television.

Jesus would not look at that. You say you're in fellowship with Jesus and you look at things He would not look at? How can you be in fellowship with Jesus? Lord, my eyes have read many things that have dishonored you.

Today, I give my eyes to you. This is cutting up the bullock, presenting my body. Lord, from today onwards, how many of you will really say this to the Lord? I never want to look at any picture or any person that will make me sin.

I never want to look at something which will displease you. I don't want to look at a person in a way that will displease you, Lord. That's not why you gave me eyes. On the other hand, I want to read the things with my eyes that you want me to read, like the Bible.

You know the number of Christians who stop reading the Bible regularly? It's amazing. Probably a lot of people sitting here. Once upon a time, you read the Bible every day. Right? Our life has become so busy.

It's a casual reading. You're off to work to make money, things like that. The Bible reading is in a corner. No wonder God has also put you in a corner in your life. Your life could have been so much more effective and useful for God.

I want my life to be effective and useful for God. I told you, I've been serving the Lord 50 years. Full time. 57 years as a Christian. But, I said, Lord, I want to do more. I'm not in a hurry to die.

I'm 76 years old. I keep praying, Lord, I want to live to 100. Why not? I want to live for God. Not because I love to live. I don't love this rotten old earth. I don't want anything on this earth. But I want to do something for the Lord.

Because I see so many other Christians are so half-hearted. I say, Lord, I want to raise up a whole lot of people who are whole-hearted. And if you give me a few more years to raise up some whole-hearted people like that, I'm ready to serve you.

Anywhere. I'll go anywhere. 75 of Afghan workers in the villages in India, that's where we go. And, I want to give my body. So that's your eyes. And then you say, Lord, I want to cut another part of my body, which you call my tongue.

See, under that you're saying, cutting it up. You just say body, you think you've given everything. But when you cut it up, you suddenly realize you haven't really given everything. Now I say, Lord, here's my tongue.

The Tongue, Hands, and Ears as Instruments of Surrender

I have spoken so many things with my tongue, Lord, which have dishonored you. I want to give you my tongue so that I will never again dishonor you. Lord, I've gossiped about other people with this tongue.

Told stories about them. Spoken evil about other people. Sometimes I've reported something even without knowing the full information. Because I hated somebody, I wanted to... When he did a story I heard without verifying, I went and reported it.

He did this, he did this, and afterwards you may discover he never did it. But in your anger, you... When you spread that story, how can you put it back now? What shall you render to the Lord for all the goodness He's done to you?

Give your tongue. This is not the type of message that most preachers preach. They say give 10 of your money. I'll tell you this, it's much easier to give 10 of your money than to give your tongue to God for the rest of your life.

Yeah, sure. And that's why if I were to give you a choice, I'd give you a choice. On one side, give your eyes and your tongue to God. On the other side, give 10%. You say, give me that 10%. I'll give that.

I'll use my eyes and my tongue as I like. That's what you've done. Nowhere in the New Testament does it say in view of the mercies of God, give some money to God. Never. That is the message of preachers and pastors.

It's not in the New Testament. In the New Testament, it says in view of the mercies of God, give your body. Not just give it as a sacrifice. That means, sacrifice means you've got to cut out something that you love to do.

You love to say things with your tongue. Cut it out! And say, I'm not going to say those things anymore, which you've done in the past. I hope today will change your life. I believe God has brought some of you here with a purpose.

To change the direction of your life in such a radical way that you'll become a whole-hearted Christian and you'll be able to make something useful out of the rest of your life for the Kingdom of God.

So that one day when you stand before Jesus, you will say, Lord, I'm so thankful I went for that meeting that day in Doha. It changed the direction of my life. So today I stand before Jesus and I don't have any regret about how I did.

I believe that. Present your body. Take your hands. I'm not going to go through all the parts of the body. I'm only talking about three parts. Your eyes, your tongue, your hands, and maybe your ears. The hands.

Think of all the things you've done with our hands which not pleased the Lord, displeased the Lord. Can you think of the way you've used your hands? The way that displeased the Lord, dishonored God. What you wrote with your hands or did with your hands.

False statements. Dishonored the Lord. Present your body. Say, Lord, here's my hands and I'm sorry that in my ignorance I did so many things. Now I give my hands to you. I want to make sure that from now on my body is a sacrifice for you.

That is the way I can get out of the ingratitude attitude which Hezekiah had. He did not give a return to the Lord. In the light of all that God did for him. He wanted to be written about you at the end of your life that Hezekiah, you did not give a return to the Lord in the light of all that He did for you.

I never wanted to be said like that about me. You see, I had a road accident in India about nearly 20, more than, about 23 years ago. I was riding my moped across a railway gate and it was a hand operated gate.

The guy was a new guy and he lowered the bar before I crossed it and I hit it and I fell down unconscious on the railway line and fortunately somebody picked me up before the train came and when I got up, the Lord spared my life and I said, Lord I have not finished saying thank you to you for dying for me on Calvary.

I had already by that time served the Lord for quite a number of years, 27 years but I said, Lord, I have not finished saying thank you to you for dying for me on the cross. Give me some more years to say thank you to you.

My service is a form of saying thank you to Jesus. He's given me another 23 years, so I've completed 50 years this year now. I'm very thankful. But I still feel I haven't said thank you enough. Do you feel like that?

Do you really feel that you've said thank you sufficiently for what Jesus died for on the cross and saving you from hell? Our whole life must be an expression of gratitude and then our years, I spoke about the eyes, the tongue, the hands and the ears.

So many things we listen to so many things we listen to, not be listening to you love to listen to gossip, tales about other people. Do you love to hear good things about other people or bad things about other people?

There's somebody you don't like too much and you find the mirror is always eager to hear one more bad story about that person to the extent where you feel there's nothing good in that person. I've come to see that there's something good in everybody.

You can say, if you say something good about that person they get upset because they don't want you to say anything good. They want you to say one more evil thing about that person. Are your ears like that?

Prophetic Ministry and the Inner Condition of the Heart

Corruption in our heart which he got from Adam. To judge ourselves and cleanse ourselves that song he sang just now I wrote that song about I think about 35 years ago. Judging my own heart if I've not forsaken all if I have cared for man's flaws and put money as a hold on me, Lord give me light that I might see.

It's a good prayer to pray. Lord give me light that I might see things I can't see in myself I think I've presented my body to God but I haven't. I'm not trying to condemn anybody. It's not my job. Condemnation is the ministry of the law and I'm not a minister of the law.

I'm a minister of grace but I'm more like a doctor giving you a scan report about your inner condition to help you to see what you can't see. Why do we take a scan? Because the doctor examines you on the outside and says no, you've got to take a scan because there may be something inside I can't see.