Only One Life Will Soon Be Past - Zac Poonen — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith, and powerful sermons from modern preachers too.

This week we have Zac Poonen with his message, Only One Life Will Soon Be Passed.

Only What Christ Does Through Us Will Last

Only one life and it will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last. Now you've got to understand it right. For years I didn't understand it right.

I'm sure the man of God who said it understood it right because he manifested it by his life. But here's what I mean by understanding it right. There are a lot of things we can do for Christ which won't last.

Because of one verse, Matthew 15 and verse 13. Matthew 15, verse 13. Jesus himself said, Every plant which my heavenly father did not plant shall be rooted up, shall be pulled out in the final day. What does that mean?

Matthew 15, verse 13. That means if this wonderful thing you're doing for the Lord, if the idea did not originate in God, that's not going to last. If it just originated in your clever brain, it's not going to last.

Every plant, it doesn't matter whether it's a good plant, that's not the point. Did the heavenly father plant it? Or was it your own bright idea? There are a lot of things which are being done for Christ.

I would say in quotes, for Christ. By some very sincere Christians because they have a lot of money. Today a lot of people think, if only we had money, we could do so many things for Christ. Really? If so, why is it that the God who made Abraham a billionaire and Job a billionaire and Solomon and David billionaires, why did he make Peter and Paul paupers?

Isn't there something wrong there? No. Why did he make the apostles so poor when he made all these Old Testament, the same God? It's because that abundance of wealth would have prevented Paul and Peter from preaching an authentic gospel.

They would have depended more on money than on the Holy Spirit, like a lot of Christians do. I come from India, which is considered a third world country, developing country, etc. The object of mission work for 200 years, 98 not even Christian by name.

And I've seen the amount of third rate Christianity in our country because of dependence on money. All the prayer letters that go out asking people for money, money, money, because we need it. You've reduced Almighty God to a beggar.

I say what is needed, I wish people would seek that earnestness for the power of the Holy Spirit. Without me, you can do nothing. But as today's Christianity says, without money, you can do nothing. That's not the gospel.

Dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit

Jesus said, without me, you can do nothing. And if my heavenly father has not planted it, it's going to be pulled out. So the real way to say it would be only one life. It will soon be past. And only what Christ does through me will last.

Not what I do for Christ. There's a world of difference between what I do for Christ and what Christ does through me. What I do for Christ, I'll come back with an empty fishing boat after years of struggling.

What Christ does through me, my boat will be filled in a moment. The five loaves and two fish can feed 5 ,000 if Christ does through me. If I try to do it myself, I may feed one person or two. There's a lot of difference.

That life of humble dependence upon Christ, moment by moment, like the branches in the tree. This is one of the fundamental secrets of the Christian life. And the other side of the same coin is what Paul said from his own experience.

After many years, after 30 years of walking with God, he writes in Philippians 4, verse 13. The other side of the same coin. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me. He's not saying like today's Christian workers, I can do everything if you fellows will give me money.

That's another gospel. You see, God's work is suffering because you fellows are not giving enough money. The time of recession, you chaps are not paying up enough to the mission bills. God's work is suffering.

Poor God, struggling for lack of money. What an insult it is. We live in a world where Christians have descended to the level of the corporate world, where they think the main thing is money. It's not.

It's the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit's power, you can try to live whatever life you want to live. You'll never succeed. Jesus said, apart from me, you can do nothing. Like the branch in the tree, the sap flows from the branch to the tree.

And that's the picture of Christ continuously filling us with the Holy Spirit. Every single day, my wife and I pray, Lord, fill us with the Holy Spirit. It's the main thing we pray for in the morning when we pray together.

Forgive us our sins and fill us with the Holy Spirit this day. I get up to speak, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. Give me the gift of prophecy. Give me words according to the need of the people. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.

Otherwise, I'm wasting people's time and my own time and God's time. Without me, you can do nothing. And that by itself is not enough. With Christ, I can do everything. Not everything. I mean, I can't win the 100 meters in the Olympics.

You've got to understand. All things means all things that God has designed that I should do. Every single thing that God planned that I should do when he brought me into this earth through my mother.

Every single thing I'll be able to accomplish before I leave this earth. So that I'll be able to say like Jesus, Father, I finished the work you gave me to do. And like the Apostle Paul said, I finished my race.

I've kept the faith. I fought the good fight. You should be able to say that. Not that I somehow managed to scrape through to the end or I made a lot of money or became very famous. I finished the work, Lord, you gave me to do.

Discovering God’s Plan for One Life

I want to ask you, my dear brothers and sisters. Do you believe God's given me a work to do? I'm so thankful that I don't remember anybody telling me this. But as I read the scriptures when I was 21 years old, soon after my baptism.

I was gripped by this truth 50 years ago that God had a plan for my life. I had already made a plan for my life because I joined the military in India before I was converted. And I had a plan to go right up to the top.

But then Christ came into my life and altered the direction of my life completely. And showed me from scripture that he had a plan for my life. That applies to all of us. Let me show you this verse. Originally spoken to Israel.

But applies to us, Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29 and verse 11. This is one of these Old Testament prophecies in the book of Jeremiah. Which have a dual fulfillment. Once in the nation of Israel and secondly in us.

There are many Old Testament prophecies like that. That have a double fulfillment. Once in the nation of Israel and the other for us. This was for the nation of Israel initially. That God would bring them back from Babylon after 70 years.

But it also applies to us. I know the plans I have for you. Make it personal. Plans for welfare and not for calamity. Not to mess up your life. If you don't follow my plan, you will mess up your life.

But if you follow my plan, there will be no calamity. I'm not saying there won't be any trials. I'm not saying you won't be persecuted. I'm not saying you won't be killed for the faith. All the apostles except John were perhaps killed.

I'm not talking about that. But there won't be any spiritual calamity. Examples of spiritual calamity, credit card debt. You think of that as spiritual calamity? One of the biggest calamities facing people in North America.

Complete disobedience to scripture in Romans 13 verse 8 which says, Oh no man anything. And how does it come? Through Christians covetous, covetous, covetous. Wanting to buy things they cannot afford.

Calamity. I think it is a calamity. I decided when I became a Christian I'd never get into debt. My wife and I have known deep levels of poverty when we were first married. Not today. But when we were first married.

But we decided we'd never, never get into debt. We never bought clothes because we couldn't afford them. We didn't buy many things because we couldn't afford them. We said when God expands our financial boundary we'll buy them.

And the result is in 71 years of my life I've never been in debt for a single day. It's a calamity. Those are the type of calamities God saves us from. From messing up our life. Messing up other people's lives by adultery.

Harming others. Exploiting others. Paul said we never took advantage of you. We were never a burden to you. It's a calamity to make yourself a burden to other people. God is able to do all things for us.

I've got a plan for your life which will be the best possible plan which you yourself will not be able to better. To give you a future and a hope. I said Lord that's the plan I want. Think of someone planning your life who knows everything about your personality.

Who knows all about the dangers that are going to take place in your life 50 years from now. All through those years. And who's got maximum wisdom. Wouldn't you commit your life to ask him to plan your life when you plan it yourself who's so short-sighted.

So short-sighted that I don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow morning. That's how blind I am. I'm so ignorant about my own capabilities and my own limitations. I can have high thoughts about myself that I can do so many things.

I thank God that I can commit my life to another person who plans my life. And that's what it means. I can do all things that God has planned for me through Christ who strengthens me. That is through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Irreplaceable Value of Time

If you are gripped and if you're a young brother you're lucky to be gripped by these truths. I often say to people in my own churches back in India. You who are young. Boy, you don't realize how lucky you are to hear these truths when you're 17 years old.

I know people who are hearing this for the first time when they are 50. They messed up their life for 50 years and now they are hearing. Thank God there's still some hope for them. But what can they do about those 50 years they wasted?

Nothing. There are certain things even Almighty God cannot do. For example, He cannot give you the year 2010 once again. Sorry, that's gone. He can't even give you the first five months of 2011. It's gone.

If you wasted it, it's wasted. However much you fast and pray, He can't give you those years back. I know there are people who quote that verse in Joel chapter 2 which says, I will restore to you the years that are locusts has eaten.

Don't misquote it to find some comfort in your sin. It doesn't work. God will forgive you. Sure. Acts 17 verse 30 says, the times of ignorance He overlooks. But the wasted years are wasted years. Which could have been useful for God.

I'm so thankful that I was gripped by this truth not when I was 51 but when I was 21. My only regret is that I wasn't gripped by it when I was 6. Imagine how much more we could have offered of our life for the Lord without having, you know, spoiled His name in any way by any action or word of ours.

Quality Tested by Fire

We don't realize how serious sin is. But what I want to say is when we think of this overcoming life, recognize these two very important truths. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Or in other words, whatever you think you have accomplished, apart from Christ, you have discovered in eternity is zero.

That is what the Bible calls in 1 Corinthians 3, wood, hay, and straw, which will be tested by fire. And it will all be burned. And then there's gold, silver, and precious stones which will remain through the fire.

If you're not familiar with that scripture, let me show it to you in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, it says here, It's fine that you laid a foundation in Christ. That means your sins are forgiven.

Christ is underneath your life. Great. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11. There's no other foundation a man can lay other than that which is laid Jesus Christ. You founded your life on Christ. That's great. Most of you are really born again.

You received Christ as your Lord. Now, it says, you better be careful how you build. The picture is of a house that you're building. You've laid the foundation all right that your sins are forgiven. Now, be careful what type of bricks you're using.

In India, we use bricks. Or here, you use wood. Be careful what type of wood you're using. In those days, they built with stones. But here, he's thinking of building a temple for God. And the material you use must be material that lasts.

And he says, it's going to be tested by fire one day. A man can build either with gold, silver, and precious stones or with wood, hay, and straw. But whatever man uses, God's not going to force a person to, compel a person to use gold, silver, and precious stones.

Each man's work will become evident. What it looks like now, it's not going to be in the day the Lord comes. The day will show it because every man's work will be revealed by fire. And this is why I say the opinion other people have about your life or your ministry is fit for the trash can.

Throw it in the garbage bin. Whatever people said about you, good or bad, it's worth nothing. People think you're a wholehearted brother? Throw it in the trash can. People think you're a compromiser, a hypocrite?

Throw it in the trash can. Live before God, brother. It's absolutely liberating. I tell you, one of the most liberating things I've experienced in my life is to live before God's face. What does He think of my life?

When He evaluates everything in my life by fire. My thoughts, my words, my attitudes, my motives. Especially motives. You can do a good thing with a wrong motive. And it's all going to be tested by fire.

Look at this lovely word, quality. Verse 13. The fire will test not the quantity, but the quality of each man's work. In Christendom today, as I have observed it for 50 years, statistics is the big thing.

Have you heard that saying, there are three types of lies? Black lies, white lies, and statistics. So many people were converted. So many people came to the meeting. So many reports that go out like that.

One would think the whole of India is already converted. The total of all the people, different Christian organizations are saying are converted. Quantity, quantity. That's how it is in the corporate world.

What is the bottom line? How much profit did we make this year? Quantity, numbers, numbers. How big is your church? Only 10 ,000? We got 30 ,000 in our church. What is it? Quantity, quantity, quantity.

Here it says the Bible tests quality. I say that constantly. I'm not talking about other churches. I'm talking about my own church. We have maybe about 200 adults in our church. And I've said to them like this.

This is what I speak in my home church. Less people think I'm only speaking about others. I say, brothers, if someone were to ask me, and we have about 200 grand people and children, so 400. I say, people ask me, how many people are in your church?

I say, we have 400 chairs that are usually filled on Sunday. But how many are disciples? Supposing one of the angels were to ask the Lord, Lord, how many disciples are there down in Christian Fellowship Center Bangalore?

The Lord says, about 20. Will I be shocked? I said this in a meeting there. I said, brothers and sisters, I'll be thrilled if there are 20 wholehearted disciples in this church. 11 people turned the first world upside down.

Can you imagine what 20 can do in India? Glory in numbers. It means nothing. Quality. Wholehearted. So remember this, that your life is quality that's going to be tested in the final day. I'm not saying about going to heaven because it says if you're built with wood, hay, and straw, verse 15, a man's work will be burnt up.

He shall suffer loss, but he will be saved. So if all you're interested in is going to heaven, you might as well not come tomorrow onwards for the meetings because you've got nothing to tell you. But if you're interested in overcoming life, you're interested in standing before the Lord, people have asked me, Brother Zak, why do you so often say that people will have regret in heaven?

Well, I'll tell you, I believe that. And my main aim is to prevent people from having regret when they stand before the Lord. And I'll tell you why. I'll show it to you from scripture. Supposing you're one of those people who spent years and years and years emphasizing quantity and doing this thing for the Lord and that thing for the Lord and giving money for the Lord and this thing and other thing, going here, going there, and doing so many things.

And in God's eyes, the whole thing is wood, hay, and straw. None of those things originated in God's mind. It was all your bright ideas. And you were pretty proud of all that you were doing so-called for the Lord and all the people you thought you were reaching, etc.

I'm not against numbers. The first day of Pentecost, 3 ,000 were converted and the Bible says that. Sure. I'm delighted if multitudes become disciples, not just say they believe in Jesus. And you stand before the Lord.

Regret at the Judgment Seat of Christ

Let's imagine Jesus has come and you're standing before the throne and one by one we are being evaluated. Your turn has come. The Lord reveals and plays the videotape of your life from the time you're born again because all the previous part of your life is blotted out.

From the day you're born again, here is your life. And shows by the standards of heaven what your life was worth, not by what people thought about you. And your work is tested there by God's standards.

And you stand there after 50 years of being a believer with nothing to show for your life. Everything was done by human methods and for money and honor. Everything earthly, not the result of waiting on God and trying to find out His will or seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit or for the glory of God.

A lot of it for your own honor, etc., etc., and it's all wiped out. And the Lord says, but you're forgiven. Tell me, will you have regret at that time? I tell you, if I heard that from the Lord, I would bow my head in shame and sorrow.

Say, Lord, please give me one more chance. One more chance to live on earth. The one life, not because I won't get a reward in heaven. That's not what I'm looking for. No, no, no, no, no. Don't misunderstand me.

Not because, oh, I can't sit with the throne of Jesus. Jesus on the throne or won't have some crown or mansion. Those are not the things that I'm looking for. But I'll tell you what will bring me sorrow.

Lord, you gave me one life on earth to show my gratitude for what you did for me on the cross. And I wasted it. Seeking man's honor, seeking to advance myself in the world, making more money, trying to become famous, and living basically for myself.

Knowing more about movies and film stars than I know about the Bible. And I fooled other people that I was a wholehearted disciple of Jesus. And I raised up children who are like me. And I produced other believers who are like me.

Boy, I tell you, if I were like that, I'd have tremendous regret. Because I can't live my life again. Forget the reward. Lord, I let you down in the one life you gave me on earth. What's the use shouting in heaven, Oh, I love you, Lord.

I love you, Lord. It'll sound so empty. Because the one life you gave me on earth, where you wanted me to prove my love for him, I didn't. I lived for myself. Think about it. This is real. I'm not painting an imaginary picture.

It's all from scripture. Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10. We must all appear for. Whenever you find the word for, connect it to the previous verse. 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 9.

We have, we can say, one ambition. That is, whether we are in heaven or earth, to please God. Why? Because, because, for means because, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Not whether we are going to heaven or hell.

So that we can be rewarded, according to the deeds we did in our body, whether good or bad. Good or bad means whether gold, silver or precious stones, or wood, hay and straw, by God's standards. And therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.

We tell others, hey fellas, don't forget that you are going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Make sure you are ready to be evaluated by God's standards. And so, Paul says, verse 9, this verse has really gripped me.

Meditating Deeply on Scripture

I want you to think for a moment, I feel that many of us read the scriptures too superficially, too fast. I want to encourage you to develop the habit of sometimes stopping on a verse for a whole day.

It's happened to me many times. I read the Bible and I get to a verse and it's like a stoplight there saying stop. Don't go further. I stop. It's like obey the traffic lights on the road, I stop. God's got something to say to me.

And sometimes, the next morning when I get up, the stoplight is still red. I can't move on from that verse. God's got something more to say to me from the same verse. Have you ever had that experience?

Or you are trying to, you know, somehow complete the Bible in one year. You know, I'll tell you honestly, once upon a time I had that goal, but I don't want to get into the Guinness Book of Records of how many times I went through the Bible.

I want the Bible to go through me once. In my life. Every verse in scripture. I prayed this prayer. I said, Lord, every commandment I'm supposed to obey, as a New Testament Christian, I want to obey before I leave this earth.

And so what does God do? He gives me a few enemies. But how can I love my enemies if I don't have enemies? Thank God for enemies. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to obey that one verse. He gives me people who persecute me because it says you've got to pray for those who persecute you.

He gives me people who curse me. Thank God, because it says you've got to bless those who curse them. I'm serious. I thank God for all these things which the Lord has arranged so that I He's trying to answer my prayer.

He makes me lose money sometimes. And I asked him, Lord, why did you do that? Didn't you pray that you want to be free from the love of money? Okay, Lord, fine. If that's the reason, it's okay. And I said, the other thing is I want to claim every promise that there is in scripture which I'm supposed to claim as a New Testament Christian.

I remember there were some who hated me a lot, who created some problems for me, so-called Christians. But finally, after a number of years, I just loved them and did nothing. They came and sought peace and cleared the whole thing.

I said, praise the Lord. Fulfillment of Proverbs 16, 7. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. I want to give you a project. Lifetime project. Ask God. But I asked God, Lord, before I leave this earth, I want to obey every commandment I'm supposed to obey as a New Covenant Christian.

I want to claim every promise there is in the Bible which I'm supposed to claim as a New Covenant Christian. I don't want these empty promises other people are trying to claim which are not in Scripture.

And I said, Lord, this verse really gripped me. Verse 9. 2 Corinthians 5, 9. If you read the context, you will read there that at home means heaven and absent means absent from heaven. Earlier verses indicate that.

So what he's saying is, whether I'm in heaven or on earth, I have only one ambition. Verse 9. To be pleasing to God. And I meditated on that. I stood at that stoplight. And I said, Lord, what does that mean for me?

And the Lord said, think what will be your ambition when you go to heaven. Will it be to become famous? Or make more money? Or to be known as a great preacher in heaven? I said, ridiculous. I wouldn't have any such ambition in heaven.

I said, Lord, I only have one ambition in heaven. To please you. If you're a wholehearted disciple, that will be your ambition on earth as well. That's what Paul says. That means, when I move into heaven, there's not going to be any change of ambition.

There's going to be a change in my body. Sure. There's going to be a change in my mind. I shall understand things I never understood before. My body will never be sick again. I'll have a resurrected body.

I won't be wearing glasses there. But, no change in ambition. Great. I want to ask all of you a straight question. Don't give the answer to me. Give the answer to yourself before God. Will your present ambition change if you go to heaven today?

Then you know for yourself whether you're a wholehearted Christian or not. I took that decision years ago. I said, Lord, I don't want any change of ambition when I go to heaven. I want to align my earthly...

I've had many ambitions in the past, but I want to align my earthly ambition to be exactly the same so that I don't have to alter track when I go to heaven. Hey, I've got to please God now. No, no, no, no.

It's the same old ambition I had on earth for a number of years to please God. Not to impress people, not to impress the angels or impress anybody in heaven, but my Savior and it's exactly the same on earth.

Self-Judgment and Pleasing God

And the only way to do that is if I judge myself all the time. I do that every day. I never preach a sermon without going home and judging myself. Lord, was there something I said? I sat here between the two sessions at the end of the last session and I said, Lord, tell me, is there something I said in the last session which was really not of you?

I want to cleanse myself. If you live in that, you think it's a burdensome life? Far from it. Is it a burdensome thing to have a shower and get rid of all the dirt from your body? Don't you feel fresh when you come out of a shower?

That's exactly how you feel. Judging yourself is like having a spiritual shower. Lord, cleanse me. Show me the things that some dirt's sticking here and there. As long as we live on this earth, we're going to perspire and be dirty.

But thank God for a shower. If you have the habit of taking a daily shower, have the habit of cleansing yourself every day. I've developed that habit long ago. Make sure that you're... You know, we all start off with many, many ambitions when we are born again.

Don't think every born again person has an ambition only to please God. What is your ambition in life? On what basis did you make the decisions that you made in life? After you're born again, forget the early years.

After you're born again, on what basis? There are many decisions you made in life after you were born again. Whom to marry, what to do, where to live. What was the motive behind those decisions? Was it, I want to please God.

If I want to please God, I must find out His plan for my life. Don't think that the most difficult task on earth is always God's will for you. Or maybe God wants me to go to Afghanistan and I'm living here.

That's a crazy thing. A lot of people think that if I seek God's plan, He will always give me the most miserable possible thing I can think of. Young people fear like that. If I say, God, I'll marry anybody you choose for me, God will pick out the ugliest woman in the world and say, marry her.

Or if I'm asking God for a job, He'll pick up the most low-paying job in the world and say, take that. Or if I ask Him where I should live, He'll tell me some, the most inconvenient place on the face of the earth, go and live there.

Who gives you these ideas? The devil. To make you feel that God's not a good father. He's not a good father. He's one who's out to mess up your life. I remember one young person telling me this. I said, why don't you give your life completely to Christ?

He said, I want to enjoy life a little. In other words, if I give my life to Christ now, I won't be able to enjoy it. I'll mess up my life, and I can't do this, and I can't do that, and I can't do all the other things.

I said, it's the other way around. To do your own will is like eating the pig's food, the prodigal son. To do God's will is like sitting at the banquet table with God. Do you believe that? Hasn't the devil reversed it and said, doing your own will is like sitting at the banquet table and doing God's will, that's like in the far country with the pigs.

The devil's a master at reversing the truth. Dear brothers and sisters, I encourage you. An overcoming life is God's will for every single one of us sitting here. It's not something for the spiritual elite, you know those who are upper class Christians.

There's no such thing as upper class Christians. There's only one class of Christians. Those are disciples of Jesus. And God wants every one of us to live an overcoming life. And that is the best possible life you can ever live on this earth.

The Overcoming Life in Ordinary Faithfulness

I wish I could convince people about this. I feel my words are so inadequate. So often when I finish preaching I say, Lord I tried my best but your Holy Spirit's got to convince them. I can't do it. Flesh and blood cannot reveal to anyone that following God's plan every day is the best possible life you can ever live.

Obeying Him in all things, walking in humility. When it says put away all anger, it means put away all anger. When it says put away all hatred, it means put away all hatred. If I say please put away all the pews from this building, how many pews will be left?

Not even one. You take verses like that, Ephesians 4 .31, put away all anger, put away all knots. You take it like that or do you think a few remnants lying around are okay? It's all a question of how seriously you take God's word.

There is a life we are missing. You don't realize what a wonderful, glorious life the overcoming life is. And I hope you'll get a little glimpse of it and want it. Like many things that you know, people want to sell us something, give us a taste of something that you want it.

And I hope that you'll want this overcoming life. God wants you to have it, brother, sister. Jesus died that we might all be overcomers. Let me show you this verse in Revelation 21. Revelation 21, it says verse 7.

This is talking about heaven. Revelation 21, it's speaking about the new heaven and the new earth in verse 21, verse 1. And who are the ones who are going to inherit this new heaven and the new earth?

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, verse 1, because the first heaven and first earth have passed away. And God says, in verse 7, he who overcomes shall inherit these things. I will be his God and he will be my son.

I want to be in that number. I hope you also want to be in that number, inheriting all things that God has prepared for us, that Jesus died to purchase on the cross for us. In that day we shall see that all the things of earth, which we valued so much, were temporary, were used by God not for us to keep permanently, but to test us, to see what we're going to do with it.

Stewardship of Earthly Possessions

Let's turn to 1 Timothy, chapter 6. I want to show you one word which you may have missed out in this verse. We're all familiar with this verse, but there's one word that you may have missed out. 1 Timothy, chapter 6.