Devotion To Christ Is Primary — Zac Poonen

It's always a joy to be here. Two of the hazards of, occupational hazards of traveling preachers is, especially in the villages in India, is eating defiled food and getting sick. And the other is losing one's voice.

So I had experienced both of that in the last couple of weeks. So I have to speak a little softly, which is always a good thing to do all the time. And I have, was thinking today about how quickly the churches which the Apostles planted declined and so much depended on sometimes one godly man Paul told the church in Ephesus in Acts 20, I know what's going to happen after I leave.

I've been here three years, he said in Acts 20, and no wolf could come inside. That's amazing. As long as Paul was there, the ravenous wolves that Satan sent, not one of them could enter the church. But he says in Acts 20, the moment I leave, they'll all come in and some of you may not be familiar with that passage, please turn to Acts chapter 20.

The Decline of the Church at Ephesus

Paul was speaking to the elders in Ephesus. He gathered all the elders in Ephesus, Acts 20, 17, and he had been there for three years. He had never stayed in any place for three years. He stayed in Corinth for one and a half years.

But here, it says he stayed for three years, verse 31, night and day for three years, I kept on admonishing you with tears. With tears means Paul preached with passion. And day and night means he probably preached early morning before people went to work.

And then late in the evening again after they came back from work. John Wesley used to do that. He'd get up at four o 'clock and go and preach somewhere at five o 'clock in the morning for people who were before they went to work.

And then he'd go and preach to them in the evening. That's how Paul preached house to house, it says here. And he declared to them verse 27, the entire purpose of God. He didn't. He preached discipleship.

He preached every single thing that is included, the whole circle. No segment of the circle was left out. The whole purpose of God. But he says, I know, verse 29, after my departure, savage wolves will come in.

And will not spare the flock. You see, how come these wolves could not come in when Paul was there? It was one man who kept the wolves outside. And if you study church history, the wolves of Satan are never kept outside by a number of people.

Satan is never scared of numbers. He's scared of one godly man. And he knows every person through and through. You can fool everybody in the church that you're a godly man, but you can't fool the devil.

He knows who's godly and who's not. You can fool others, you're a godly woman. You can't fool the devil. And the fact that the wolves could not come into that church was an indication that there was at least one godly man there.

It's amazing how even though it is the new covenant and it's a body through which God works. Unlike the old covenant, and we can understand in the old covenant perhaps it was one Elijah who brought fire down from heaven and made the whole nation turn back to God.

We think that in the new covenant it's different. It's a body two or three gathered in Jesus' name. And yet, I've seen in my own experience in the last 40 years of ministry with CFC churches, and as I've studied church history, God is very, very often dependent on one man.

You take, for example, Paul out of the New Testament. What is left? So, there's an opportunity for all of us to be like Paul. But the fact of the matter is, history reveals that all are not like Paul.

And that was the reason why decline came in. The same church in Ephesus, you read, I believe it was one of the most spiritual churches, you read Ephesians and you find it's the most spiritual letter in the New Testament.

Paul spoke wisdom among those who were perfect. He says in 1 Corinthians 2, Ephesians were the ones he wrote the deepest spiritual truths. But you go to the second letter to the Ephesians, you know where that is?

Revelation chapter 2. The second letter to the Ephesians. Decline has come in exactly like Paul said. The wolves had come in. The external activities were still there. But that inner life had gone. Gone so badly that Jesus said, I'm going to remove the lampstand from here.

What that meant is that I'm not going to be in your midst anymore. You can continue with your meetings and your conferences and your singing and everything else, but the Lord says, I will not be here.

That's what he meant. Imagine having a church where the Lord is not there, but they're still carrying on with their meetings. That happened in Laodicea. He says, I stand at the door and knock. So where is he?

He's outside. That's happened to so many churches. It's not their doctrine that primarily they go astray. Today we think so much that there are cults and different groups. They don't preach the way of salvation properly or something like that.

But it's not that. There are a lot of churches that preach the way of salvation correctly. The Lord is not in the midst. Savage wolves have come in. And there's a reason for it. In the Old Testament, I mentioned about Elijah.

Elijah's Burden for God's People

I just want to turn to 1 Kings chapter 19. Elijah felt like that once. He says to God, He wasn't the type of person who had self-pity and felt sorry for himself. He was a fearless man. He was not afraid of kings or anybody.

He says, but when he came before God, he says in 1 Kings chapter 19, Lord, 1 Kings 19 and verse 10, I've been very zealous for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant and torn down your altars and killed your prophets.

And I alone am left. I'm the only one left, Lord. And they're trying to kill me. He wasn't afraid of dying and going to heaven to be with the Lord. But he was afraid of what would be the condition of Israel if he went away.

These prophets, their burden was always that. They were not so keen to live on the earth. They were always persecuted, hated, bad-mouthed and people called them bad names. But they had such a burden.

What will happen to this group if I leave? Lord, I alone am left. That's the burden Paul had. What will happen to me? What will happen to this church when I leave? The wolves will come in. And imagine sitting around.

I don't know how many elders there were when Paul spoke to those elders. Maybe five. Imagine five people sitting in front of Paul. Elders who have been elders in the church in Ephesus. And he turns around and tells these.

Picture this in your mind. Paul speaking to five elders and saying, fellas, when I leave not one of you will be able to keep the wolves outside this church. How do you think they felt when they heard that?

If you were one of the elders, how would you feel? You say, who does Paul think he is? What an arrogant guy as if only he can keep the wolves out. What does he think of himself? What arrogance to say something like that?

Only I can keep the wolves out of this church? For the fact of the matter, it was true. When Paul left, that church declined. Went to the dogs. The Lord left it. So we see there in this. Elijah says the same thing.

He had watched Israel for so many years. All backslidden. The prophets all backslidden. And he says, I alone am left. And the Lord says in verse 18. Yet I will leave 7 ,000 in Israel all the knees that have not bowed to Beal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

Now many people, I've heard many, many people say from that passage. Elijah thought he was all alone. That he alone could draw God's people back to him. But there was, God says there were 7 ,000. No, there were not.

They were not like Elijah. Not one of those 7 ,000 could bring fire down from heaven. Only one man could bring fire down from heaven. That was Elijah. There can be 7 ,000 believers. But only one can bring the fire down from heaven.

And we should long to be like that. Then what was these 7 ,000? They had a negative testimony. What is that? Verse 18. I do not bow to Beal. I've not kissed the idol of Beal. It was negative. What do you do positively?

Well, there's not much to say positively. But I don't do this. And I tell you the testimony of a lot of Christians is negative. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't womanize. I don't watch R-rated movies.

I don't scream at people. I hope so. I don't do this. I don't do that. I don't do the other thing. It's all negative. What about Elijah? His testimony was not, I don't bow down to Beal. His testimony to Ahab was in 1 Kings 17 verse 1.

From Negative Morality to Living Before God

As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand. His testimony was positive. Not, I don't bow down to Beal. I stand before God. I live before His face every single day. Those 7 ,000 didn't have that testimony.

That testimony was, I don't do this. I don't do that. It's good to ask yourself, which of these two groups are you in? You say like, Elijah, I live before God's face every single day. Or is it, I have a good testimony because I don't smoke.

I don't drink. I don't gamble. I don't do this. I don't do this. There's a whole list of negatives. Not like that other fellow over there who has some of these bad habits. Dear brothers and sisters, we can be like those 7 ,000.

And pat ourselves on the back that we don't do this. We don't do that. I don't yell at my wife. Great. So it's still negative. I don't get angry. We talk about that a lot in the church. I don't lust after women.

Great. And you say we have achieved something because I don't lust after women. I don't get angry. Wow. You're better than so many other Christians. But you're still part of the 7 ,000 who haven't bowed to Beal.

Because it's a negative testimony. I don't love money. Add that to the list. It's again negative. Elijah's testimony is, I live before God every day. It's not, I don't do this. And I don't do that. And I don't do the other thing.

Be very careful about that because I want to say to you very frankly, it's very easy to be like that. God's done a great work in this church. I can see that. I travel around all CFC churches and I know where God has done a work and He hasn't.

I'll tell you honestly, I fear, even for this church, that your testimony can be negative. And don't have a glory in that. It must be positive that you live before God's face. The fact that you come into this meeting, you bring the presence of God into this meeting.

And imagine 50, 60 people bringing the presence of God into a meeting. People will sense it. Boy, today I met with the Lord. The Lord was here. Many years ago I asked the Lord, what is the mark of a New Testament church?

The Presence of God as the Mark of the New Testament Church

You see, I grew up when I was baptized. I was in the Orthodox Church, you know, before I was born again. They pray to Mary and pray for the dead and all. And I got born again at 19. And I joined the Brethren Assembly.

And they were very strong on pattern, New Testament pattern. Everything must be like this, like this. We don't call anybody a pastor. We have elders. Many, many good things, which according to the pattern.

But it was a dead pattern. They studied the Bible every Sunday like studying a book of chemistry or something. It was all accurate information. But I didn't go away from the meetings I attended those days saying, Boy, I met with the Lord.

No. They talked about New Testament pattern. And I said, I want a New Testament pattern. I sought the Lord. What is the mark of a New Testament church? Is it that we don't have anybody called a pastor?

Is it that we don't circulate letters asking for money? All that is good. Is it that we baptize by immersion only born again people? Is it that we break bread in a proper way? We don't believe that that is the body and blood of Jesus as a symbol.

No, none of these things. What the Lord showed me was 1 Corinthians 14. That in your church, people should go away at the end of the meeting and say, 1 Corinthians 14 25. The person comes in and he worships God and says, God is certainly among you.

Unbelieving. It's an unbelieving man. An ungifted man. Verse 24. Comes in and he acknowledges, hey, God is here. Not a particular doctrine. Not that I don't do this and I don't do that and I don't do the other thing.

God is here. That's what people said when the fire fell from heaven. It wasn't a doctrine Elijah preached. The fire of God came down and people said, boy, God is here. And I want to urge you, my dear brothers and sisters, that that should be your longing.

Every single meeting. You say, Lord, we want to go away from every single meeting of the church feeling. We met with God. We met with Jesus was there. And I believe that one man can bring it. The presence of the Lord.

Paul could bring it into that church in Ephesus. And the moment he was gone, that was the end. The Lord himself withdrew after a little while. He gave them a little time. But he withdrew from there. And the reason was, see Paul's words in Philippians 3 when he talks about Timothy.

Timothy's Christ-Centered Character

It's the quality of man that determines whether the Lord will commit himself to that person and say, I will stand by that person. That when he's there, he'll recognize that I'm there. And when he's not there, he won't sense my presence at all.

Each of us should long to be like that type of person, young and old. Lord, I want the presence of the Lord so much with me. I may not be a great preacher or great singer or gifted. The presence of the Lord is what you should long for.

Every one of us. Paul tells about Timothy in Philippians 2. He wanted to send somebody to the Philippian Christians. And he says in Philippians 2 .19, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you. So that I can be encouraged by and learn of your condition.

The reason is, I don't have anybody else who has a similar spirit to mine. Kindred means a relative. Paraphrase would be, I don't have a single co-worker who has the same spirit as me. Imagine, Paul had so many co-workers.

But Timothy was unique. I mean, if you check doctrine wise, they all had the right doctrine. But there was something about Timothy which brought him into a kindred spirit with Paul. And there were two things that characterized Timothy.

Like the two arms of the cross. Vertically, verse 21. He was concerned about the interests of Christ and not his own. And the horizontal arm of the cross, verse 20. He was genuinely concerned about the welfare of his fellow believers.

Those are the two arms of the cross. Concerned about the interests of Christ and not his own. And concerned for the welfare of others. And that's a good test by which all of us can examine ourselves. All of us.

Do you have these two arms of the cross in your life? Can you say that it's not a question of what you do or what your activities are. I come for all the meetings. I even come for the prayer meeting. Great.

You can do all that, my brothers and sisters. And yet you can be seeking your own. Can you honestly say before God, Lord, the passion of my life is the interest of Christ Jesus. That's primary. Nothing for myself.

I don't seek any of my own interests in the plans I make. The decisions I make. When I decide to move to a place or take a job or do anything. Lord, it's your interest that's primary. Not my own. That's the type of man that Paul stands by.

That God stands by. That's the type of man who will bring the presence of God into a meeting. One man. And that's the type of man when he goes away, the wolves come in. Paul was like that. Timothy was like that.

Zero interest in their own, what they're going to get out of it. What are you going to get out of it, Paul? Zero. What's Christ going to get out of it? Everything. Christianity, that is true discipleship.

Anything less than that is not worth being called a Christian. And Paul was delighted that he had one other person like that in Timothy, who also was like that. And with such a passionate devotion to Christ that he would sacrifice all his own interests in order to be devoted to Christ.

And also that led to, since Christ was concerned about the people in the churches, Timothy was concerned about the people in the churches too. He wasn't just attending meetings. He wasn't attending meetings.

He was genuinely concerned about the welfare of the people who sat in those meetings. Which is very different from attending meetings. A lot of Christians feel, congratulate themselves, that I never miss a meeting of the church.

Oh really? That's great. But you may not have any concern for the welfare of the people in that church. There's a lot of difference. He was genuinely concerned for the welfare of others. And that is the spirit of Christ.

Simple, Pure Devotion to Christ

The spirit of Christ filled Paul and Timothy. In practical terms, what does this mean? Turn with me to 2 Corinthians in chapter 11. 2 Corinthians 11. For many years, I used to wonder what the tree of life stood for in the Garden of Eden.

I knew that everything in the Old Testament had a symbolic reference or looking forward to some fulfillment in the New Testament. For example, the circumcision was the cutting off of the flesh physically.

And in the New Testament, Philippians 3 .3 says, I have no confidence in my flesh. Spiritual, casting off of confidence. Confidence in the Sabbath. The first day that God made Adam was a day of rest for him.

Not work, but rest. Adam began to work on the second day onwards. The law said six days you shall work and one day you shall rest. But for Adam, the law was different. Adam, your first day is with me, God.

Then you go out to the garden and work. The work in the garden can wait. I want you to fellowship with me. That's how God intended man to be. Not six days you work and then one day you go before God. One day you get along with God and then you do everything else.

That was the way God planned for Adam. So that's the meaning of the Sabbath that Hebrews 4 says, it is entering into God's rest. So everything in the Old Testament had a significance. The glory of God on top of the tabernacle.

That the presence of God, because everything else in the tabernacle could be imitated by the Philistines. You know, if the Philistines got a copy of Exodus, they could make a tabernacle exactly like the one Moses made.

Exactly, because all the details are there, down to the smallest little thing. But there's one thing they couldn't duplicate, and that was the pillar of fire. How could they produce that? That was the most important part of the tabernacle.

I've been in a lot of Bible studies in some brethren and Pentecostal groups where they study the tabernacle. And this means that, and the curtains mean this, and the pillars mean this, and the altar means that.

And I say, hey, that's all great. But if you don't have the pillar of fire there, all this is meaningless. That's the most important thing, even if you don't understand the meaning of all the other things.

The pillar of fire, the presence of God. So what is the meaning of the tree of life? Everything must have a meaning back in the Old Testament. I could understand how the tree of knowledge of good and evil to know good and evil means to know what's right and what's wrong.

That's what we teach our children when they grow up. Babies, they grow up, you teach them what's right and what's wrong. But you can teach a baby what's right and what's wrong, and the baby will have no contact with God at all.

There are many people in the world who live with a good conscience, who don't know God at all, who are atheists. I personally know atheists who hardly ever do anything crooked or upright in financial matters, who don't cheat others.

Atheists, no contact with God. That's knowledge of good and evil. They know this is right and that's wrong, so I won't do what's wrong. But God did not want Adam to live like that. And you know, we can also grow up in a church like this and live at a higher level of what's right and wrong, a little higher level than, say, the Methodists and the Baptists and others.

We know right and wrong a little more, but you could still be living from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Only thing, your knowledge of good and evil is more refined. I know, for example, that anger is wrong, which others don't know.

Or I know that lusting after a woman is wrong, or divorce is wrong, or love of money is wrong. So I know what's good and what's evil. But what about the tree of life? That's what God wanted Adam to live by.

And that's described in this verse, 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. I'm afraid that as the devil, the serpent, deceived Eve by his craftiness. How did he deceive Eve? He deceived her by drawing her away from the tree of life to the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Paul tells the Corinthians, because Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth, he got such a lot of information from Eve. I'm afraid that the devil will draw you away into all this accurate information, accurate new covenant teaching, and draw you away from the tree of life, which is simple, pure devotion to Jesus Christ.

Do you know, my brothers and sisters, there's a lot of difference between simple, pure devotion to Jesus Christ and avoiding overcoming anger, overcoming sexual lust, overcoming the love of money, overcoming anxiety, overcoming judging others, go through the whole Sermon on the Mount, doing all of that, and you can be still stuck around the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And even what you share with others may be some of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Accurate, absolutely accurate information. But it's not leading you, or those who hear you, to a fervent devotion to Jesus Christ.

This is the most important thing in the Christian life. Elijah said, I live before God's face. Paul said at the end of his life, I want to know Christ more. I said, Paul, you've already known him for 30 years.

Yeah, it's nothing, man. There's a vastness about God and I need to know him. I'm passionately longing to know him more, more and more and more. That is true Christianity. And it's very easy for you folks in a good church like this not to concentrate on that, to miss out on that.

And then if that happens, same thing will happen, which happened to the church in Ephesus, even if you're the best church today. Once you move away from simple, fervent devotion to Christ where you say, I desire nothing Lord, I want nothing for myself.

Can you honestly say that to the Lord? Lord, I want nothing for myself. I ask for nothing for myself. I want everything for you. My life, my energy, my time, my money must all count for you. That's what it means to seek his kingdom first and his righteousness.

It doesn't mean you give up your secular jobs. It doesn't mean anything except that everything has now got a different focus. You're not just thinking of avoiding this sin and avoiding this sin and avoiding that one.

You're thinking of a passionate daily devotion to Christ. You know, it's like the Bible describes the New Testament as a relationship with Jesus Christ. This bride, bridegroom relationship was not there in the Old Testament.

Old Testament, it was laws and there were very upright people. Even Elijah did not have a bride, bridegroom relationship with God. These were the greatest privileges of the New Covenant. There were many upright people in the Old Testament.

Can you think of John the Baptist running after women? No. He was such an upright man. Do you think John the Baptist was interested in money? I believe he was more free from money than most of us sitting here.

And he was an old covenant man. But what did he have? He had such a devotion that he felt I'm not even worthy to carry his sandals or untie his laces. Imagine untying the laces of Jesus' sandals. And John the Baptist said, no, I'm not worthy even to do that.

Such a devotion and respect for Christ. It wasn't I don't do this and I don't do that and I don't do the other thing. No. There's a lot, lot more than that. And yet he did not know that bride relationship was not there.

He said I'm only a friend of the bride room. Not the bride. It's a very intimate relationship the new covenant brings us into. You're all familiar with the words I often quote which says the first promise in the New Testament.

I'm sure you all know it. You've heard me say it many times. What is it? Tell me somebody. Matthew 121. He will save us from our sins. And even in a verse like that he will save his people from their sins.

It's possible to have the emphasis on being saved from sin. Whereas the emphasis should be on he. He. Himself. So the margin of my Bible says he himself. Apparently that's how it is in the Greek. He himself.

So the first promise in the New Testament is about him. About being saved from sin. It's he himself. It's my devotion to Christ. From there I get saved from sin. Otherwise being saved from sin can become my gospel.

No. It's devotion to Christ. That's the tree of life. Jesus himself. Now I want to testify that this is what I've sought to work on all the years of my life. Building the church and planning churches and writing secondary.

He himself. I've sought him to be the passion of my life for many many years. It's Jesus himself. It's not a thing. You know people seek for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's a thing. No wonder you don't get it.

Spiritual Gifts and Devotion to Christ

What is the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Is it just experience? I feel sorry for all these people who are speaking in tongues. The most important thing. I'll tell you what speaking in tongues has done for me.

It's my love language with Jesus Christ. It's like you know a wife who's deeply in love with her husband tells him things she doesn't want anybody else to hear. A good wife a husband who loves each other express their love in intimate things for all to hear.

They don't want their children to hear it. They make sure the bedroom doors are all locked when they whisper their love words to each other. To me that is speaking in tongues. But I don't know whether that is to most people who just babble away two or three syllables in a church and call it speaking in tongues.

I think it's an absolute insult to the Holy Spirit. Absolute. It's one of those counterfeits that the devil has planted upon the church and told people you got it. What have you got? Some babbling. I saw it and I remember seeking for this when I was 23 years old.

And I never knew anything about Pentecostals or but I remember the first day I went to a Pentecostal church when I was 23 seeking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I saw what was happening there and I came away to my room.

I was in the naval base those days. And I said Lord I don't want that. That's not what I'm looking for. Give me the real thing even if it takes 10 years. And it took 10 years. But I was determined that I will not be satisfied with a cheap counterfeit.

Just to say I've joined the club. Who's bothered about impressing people I've joined the club. I don't belong to any club. I belong to Jesus Christ. And I know that when God deigned to give me that gift it was a love language between me and Christ.

It was to help my devotion to Christ. That's what Paul says. I thank God I speak in tongues more than all of you. Because he was more devoted to Christ than all of them. But he says in the church I will not even speak one word in an unknown tongue.

Because that's private. You don't whisper things to your husband or wife in public. You know everything in the Bible falls into place. When you see that Christianity is a fervent devotion to Jesus Christ.

And when the devil has taken me away from that onto being upright in my job and not cheating and giving money for God's work and all these good good things which have taken me away from simple fervent devotion to Jesus Christ.

And we can train our children also to love. Don't cheat in exam. Don't do this. All very good upright children. They have no devotion to Christ. I fear that's happening to the second generation in many places in CFC.

They're upright. Better than many others. But where's the fervent devotion to Christ in our children? If that's not there my brothers and sisters we have lost out. Another generation will go astray from God and we have to battle it.

We have to battle it. And we parents have to preserve that devotion to Christ. And you can't pass it on to your children if you don't have it yourself. So he says I'm afraid that the devil like he deceived Eve and turned her away from the tree of life to just a lot of good and evil.

This is good. This is evil. We can study the whole Bible and say this is good and this is evil. And that's right now. I'll avoid all the evil things and I've done all the good things. We can get all our sisters to veil their heads.

We break bread regularly and we do baptism the right way. We've understood speaking in tongues also the right way. Wonderful. Everything perfectly. What's missing? Fervent devotion to Jesus Christ. And the devil has succeeded in turning us away from the tree of life.

That is the thing. And I'll tell you if you have fervent devotion to Christ even if you don't understand some of these other laws it won't be so important. It's fervent devotion to Christ. And it's one area in which you need to grow in our love for the Lord.

This is what pressing on to perfection is. Pressing on to perfection is not finally I got rid of my anger. We had a brother who came to our church in India who was a Hindu. Overcoming anger. I practiced yoga and I overcame it before I ever came to the church.

With yoga. What he thought, what he meant was he didn't get angry with his lips. It was all in the heart. That's not victory. That's not the type of victory Jesus gives us. Jesus delivers us from anger within.

And yoga and Buddhism can't give you that. But I can get a reputation for being upright in different areas I have eaten every one of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Every fruit from it. And it's produced death.

I met people like this who are so exact in all these things. You don't want to be near them. They're too holy to be near. They don't love Jesus. We don't want to be like that. How to come here. See the price that Paul paid in order to come to this.

Counting All Things as Loss for Christ

See Philippians in chapter 3. I've often thought about this passage. How did Paul come to this place of fervent devotion to Christ? Philippians 3 verse 7. Whatever things were gained to me I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Okay, let's go step by step. Can you think of the things in your life that are a gain to you? Things that you value? Maybe your job. Maybe your house. Maybe your education. Maybe your children. So many things which are a gain for you.

And you say no. I will not value anything outside of Christ. Do you know that? Jesus said if you want to love me you've got to hate your wife and your children. You've got to hate your children. I fear there are people in our churches who make so much of their children to get honor for themselves.