Take Hold of Eternal Life (Compilation) — Compilations

Rekindling Passion for Following God

What's happening in your life? Your life should be on fire. Some of you have been believers for so many years, you should have been setting India on fire by now. What are you doing? Teaching. Teaching.

You took the wrong turning, brother. Turn back. Otherwise, you'll go further in the wrong direction. Turn back to the place where you began to seek your own honor and go back on the road of following and being a disciple and say, Lord, I don't care if I never have a ministry.

I want to follow in Jesus' footsteps all my life. Do you know that there is no difference between a Christian and a non-Christian as far as God is concerned? And you come to Jesus as a Christian, He'll say, I didn't come for Christians.

Coming to Jesus as a Sinner

I came for sinners. And any of you who come to Jesus as a Christian, I want to tell you in Jesus' name, you are not saved. Please listen to that now. You are not saved. You're fooling yourself. You'll go to hell.

You will go to hell. Because Jesus did not come for Christians. He came for sinners. But those of you who came to Jesus as sinners, Salvation for you. The trouble with a lot of people is they have never come to Jesus as sinners.

Or if they came, they came as pretty decent sinners. And those are the biggest Pharisees in the church. Not as filthy sinners. Jesus came for filthy sinners, not for decent sinners. If any of you came as a decent sinner, I want to tell you I have serious questions.

Whether you're saved, if you're saved, you're almost certainly a legalist and a Pharisee. And until you get rid of that and come to Jesus as a filthy sinner, I don't think you'll ever make much progress in your Christian life.

The Cost of True Discipleship

Are these people disciples? All these people sitting there? Like it says in Luke 14, 26. Do all of them hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and their own life? Are they like that? Do they love Jesus more than father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and their own life?

If not, according to that verse in your Bible, they are not disciples. What type of people are you gathering in your church? What type of people? Are you trying to impress somebody that you got a big church?

Or are you living before God's face? We've got to come back to that message we preached in the beginning. Discipleship. Jesus said, go into all nations and make disciples. People will love me more than they love their father, and mother, and brother, and sister, and wife, and children, for whom I am supreme.

Is Jesus supreme in your life? Are you gathering in your church people for whom Jesus is supreme? Is that the message you're preaching? Or when you see the great multitude, Jesus also saw great multitudes coming in verse 25.

Warning Against Crowds Seeking Material Blessings

Just like some of you are seeing great multitudes coming to your church. And when you see great multitudes coming to your church, please do what Jesus did. Learn from him and follow him. Speak what he spoke to the great multitudes.

When he looked at the great multitudes coming, you know what he told them? Let me read you a verse in John's Gospel, chapter 6. John 6, John 6 and verse 26. Jesus said to them, you're not seeking me because you saw the signs and you want to follow me.

No, you're seeking me because you ate the loaves and you were filled. You got some material blessing. You say, brother Zach, it has gone so well with my family since I came to the church. My income has increased.

I'm living in a much better house today than when I first came to the church. My children are wearing much better clothes today than when we first came to the church. My children are earning much better salaries today than when we first came to the church.

I've got better vehicle today than when I first came to the church. You ate the loaves and you are filled. And this is what you call blessing. God have mercy on us. And the Lord says, is this why you seek me?

Is this your testimony at the end of so many years that you got your stomach full of loaves and fishes and you lost your vision of discipleship? You lost that passion to follow after me. You lost the passion to learn from my feet day by day.

Returning to Fasting, Prayer, and Kingdom Priorities

The Lord says, think back to those early days. You didn't have much in those days. But you sought me. You fasted. You prayed. Now it's all gone. Now you spend your time with entertainment. Entertainment.

Picnics. Not fasting. You say we want relaxation. Life is so strenuous. I'm looking forward to relaxation too. In heaven. Not here. Everything in his life he's thinking of how it will promote the kingdom of God, the things of Christ.

How many of you can say that? That all the decisions you made in your life you were thinking of promoting the kingdom of God and the things of Christ. I don't think there are many people better than Timothy in the whole world today in Christendom.

Timothy as a Faithful Example

And to such a man who was his best co-worker. Why didn't Paul write this to Demas? He said, well Demas is a hopeless case. It's pointless writing to him. He'll just throw my letter in the garbage bin.

But Timothy. My hopes are not set on Demas being a witness in the second generation. Demas is just one of those fellows who comes and sits in the meeting. Timothy, I've got a hope for him that that guy will be a witness for the Lord in the second generation and if he's going to be that witness he has to run away from the love of money.

Pursuing Righteousness Instead of Wealth

Run for your life. Verse 11, from the love of money and pursue a righteous life. Run after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. He's saying, Timothy, you think you don't have enough money.

I believe Timothy had much less than all of us. But he still told him to be satisfied. Some of us may think, I don't have enough money. I'll tell you what you don't have enough of. You don't have enough righteousness.

You don't have enough godliness. You don't have enough faith. You don't have enough love. You don't have enough perseverance. You don't have enough gentleness. Those are the things he says you should run after.

Aren't you concerned that you don't have these things? And you're running after something else which you already have enough of and which you get more, you'll destroy yourself. And here are so many areas, he says, you lack so tremendously.

Why don't you run after that? Fight the good fight of faith. And if you want to really run after something, take hold of eternal life. That's the thing.