0:00 Eternal life. Have you read the word eternal purpose in scripture? I think a lot of Christians know very little about that. It says in Ephesians in chapter 3 and verse 11, 0:27 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. See, many people, when they think of the death of Christ, 0:52 they only know that he died for our sins. Now that's fundamental and I believe that's where we need to begin without any doubt. Christ died for our sins. But when you read in the New Testament, there's a lot more that happened on the cross. 1:17 For example, it says in Romans 6 that our old man was crucified with him. So that's something else that happened on the cross. So if you only know that Jesus hung on the cross and took the punishment of our sin, was forsaken by the Father for three hours, 1:36 which was actually experiencing hell. I just want to go a little step by step here on what happened on the cross. God's purpose from all eternity was that the lamb should be slain. 1:58 We read in Revelation about the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. I mean, Christ's death was not an afterthought with God. Oh, Adam sinned now. What shall I do? Now, if he knew you and me before the foundation of the world in Ephesians 1.4, 2:14 he knew that he would have to send his son to die on the cross for our sins before the foundation of the world. It's all part of God's eternal purpose. But if you don't understand God's eternal purpose, we're going to come short of it. 2:30 The Bible says in malice, be children. That means you don't have any bitterness or anything against others. But in understanding, it says be men, be mature. We need to understand God's purposes. And if you don't understand God's purposes, 2:45 we'll never be able to fulfill it. We can say that we are free from the blood of all men only when we have declared the whole purpose of God. Those of you who preach God's word, I want to share a verse with you from Acts chapter 20. 3:03 There are many evangelists who say, well, I've given a tract to that person. I'm free from his blood. Or I put a tract on his windshield wiper of his car. I'm free from his blood. There's a lot of rubbish. I can't imagine Jesus going, 3:18 sticking around tracts in people's cars and say, I'm free from their blood. That is an expression Paul uses in Acts chapter 20 in verse 26. Paul, I testify to you that I am innocent of the blood of all men and because, for means because, verse 27. 3:41 I did not shrink from declaring to you the entire purpose of God. When do I become free from the blood of people to whom I preach? Only when I have declared to them the entire purpose of God. If I haven't declared to them the entire purpose of God, 4:02 I am not free from their blood. There are numerous ways in which we can evangelize. Those who are evangelists can be inventive in many ways in which they preach the gospel. I have nothing against it. But I say, I'm not free from the blood of all men just because I gave them a tract. 4:19 Or just because I preached the gospel to them once. According to this verse, I become free from the blood of all men when I declare to them the whole purpose of God. And he's speaking to the elders in Ephesus here. And that's why we need to understand clearly what happened on the cross of Calvary from Scripture. 4:40 First of all, when it says Christ died for our sins, what does it mean? We all recognize that man was guilty. We are guilty enough to go to hell. And if Christ is to forgive us, 5:00 if God is to forgive us, then our punishment had to be taken by somebody. In the righteousness of God, it had to be taken by someone. Now this may sound very elementary, but there may be people here who don't know it. And I don't mind repeating it for the benefit of those who don't know, 5:19 young people who have grown up and who don't know it, and perhaps others who have never heard it. What is the punishment for your sin? Is it physical death? If physical death is the punishment for your sin, 5:40 then as soon as you die, you have paid the punishment. Right? Then you go to heaven. Everybody who dies will go to heaven. Because physical death is the punishment for sin. And he has physically died. So, 6:00 if Jesus only died physically on the cross, now you know, physical death is not the punishment for sin. Everybody who dies physically doesn't go to heaven. We all know that the punishment for sin is an eternal hell. They shall be cast into the lake of fire. 6:21 We read, all those whose names were not written in the book of life, it's very clear in Revelation 20, they'll be cast into the lake of fire, where they were thrown and they're burned for, Revelation 20, sorry. They were cast into the lake of fire, 6:37 where they were tormented day and night forever and ever. Forever and ever means the same thing, whether you're in heaven or in hell. It doesn't mean anything else. That is the punishment for sin. And there's no way to get around it. 6:56 Did Jesus suffer that on the cross? If he didn't, my sins have not been paid for. Now, you know, it's possible that we are so entrenched in certain understanding that we have had for years and our pride can prevent us from 7:16 considering that we could be wrong. That is how for more than 5,500 years nearly, man believed that the sun goes around the earth till one man called Copernicus had the courage to say, perhaps my dad could have been wrong. 7:32 Perhaps what I believed for 20, 30 years could be wrong. Perhaps what my grandfather taught was wrong. Perhaps what everybody in the world believes is wrong. And as he examined it, he discovered that everybody was wrong. 7:42 And he discovered the sun doesn't go around the earth. I wish there were more people with that type of courage in Christendom who would check what is taught in so many churches with the word of God. And they're willing to humble themselves. 7:58 God doesn't reveal the truth to the proud and the intelligent and the clever. He reveals them to babes. And that is those who come with humility. The most important requirement to come to understand scripture is not intelligence. 8:12 It's humility. God does not. God hides things from the wise and the intelligent. So, if Christ died physically only, he has not paid the price for my sin. The price for my sin is very clear, as we read in Revelation 20. 8:28 Eternally forsaken by God. That's the point. Forsaken by God. That's what hell is. The details of it we don't need to know, but forsaken by God for eternity. Now the question is, if that is the punishment for sin, how do I know that God has forgiven my sin? 8:49 That somebody has paid the price. We all sing, Christ paid the price. What was the price? Did he suffer eternal hell on the cross? In the last three hours we read, it was darkness, and he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 9:11 He never called his father God at any time in history. Not in heaven, not on earth, except once. He always said, Father, Father, Father. I mean, we say God, God, God often and Lord, but never. Jesus never called him God. 9:30 He called him Father. He said after his resurrection, my God and your God, my Father and your Father, but he called him Father. And he taught us to call him Father. And I call him Father. I call him Dad. He is God, and I don't mind calling him God 9:45 because he is, but most of the time I call him Dad, Father. That's how Jesus did. He had such a relationship with the Father. It indicates a distant relationship when you have to always call him God. I'm not saying it's wrong. 10:01 You've got to get closer. Jesus was so close to the Father. He'd always call him Father, Father, but once in his life, he said God. And there, that was because on the cross, he was standing, or he was hanging there before the judge of the universe. 10:25 And there, he was like a guilty person bearing the sins of things, the sins he had never committed, taking the punishment for all of humanity. Christ died for the sins of the whole world. He's the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 10:44 we read in 1 John, chapter 2, verse 2. So, what was he facing? The only way he could have said at the end of it, it is finished. The punishment must be taken is if he faced eternal hell. 11:05 So, when he said, my God, my God, will you forsaken me? Those three hours, he was facing the agony of an eternal hell. Now, there are a couple of things you need to understand here. If Christ were, if Christ was a created being, 11:27 he could not have suffered eternity in three hours. Impossible. Three hours is three hours, whether it's an angel or human being or anyone. The only person for whom three hours is not three hours, is God. He doesn't live in time. 11:44 He lives beyond time. So, that is the clearest proof that there, the one who hung on the cross was no created being. If it was a created being who died for your sins, sorry, you're still in your sins because he didn't suffer 12:04 the eternal hell that you need to suffer. But it was the infinite God and the concentrated suffering of billions of people suffering forever and ever as we read in Revelation 20, eternally in hell could be faced in three hours 12:24 only by an eternal God. This is why I say that Jehovah's Witnesses have got it all wrong. Their sins cannot be forgiven because they believe it was a created being who died for their sins. Well, okay, go ahead. But I'm sorry, 12:38 your sins are not forgiven then because that created being could not suffer eternal hell. So, that's the first thing you need to understand that what he suffered there was eternal hell and therefore because I know that I can be sure 12:54 I will never face that eternal hell if I have turned from God, from my sin to God and received. We need to understand that so that we can be sure because, you know, if I speak to an intelligent Hindu in India 13:14 and I tell him, listen, do you know Christ died for your sins and he asks me if he's intelligent and sharp, he'll say, you mean physical death is the punishment for my sin? I'll be confused because I only told him that Christ physically 13:30 died on the cross and he says, if physical death is the price for my sin, when I die, I pay for my sin. Why do I need your Christ? We need to understand, we need to be, the Bible, Peter says, you must know how to give an answer 13:42 to people who ask your reason for the hope that is in you. That's why I'm telling you this. And the other question you may ask is, in no court in the world will a judge allow another man to die for a murderer who needs to be hanged. 14:04 Of course, a murderer has been convicted and he's got to be hanged. And somebody else steps in and says, oh, I love him so much, I'll die in his place. And the judge says, okay, I'll let you hang in his place. That judge will lose his job. 14:16 It's complete injustice to punish one person for another person's crime. It never happens in any court of the world except for this corruption. And the sense of justice in an upright judge, he's got from God who's the judge of all men. 14:31 It would be completely unjust for this God to punish somebody else for my sin, which any angel, any human being. That's the other reason why you need to know that the one who hung on the cross was eternal God himself. Being God, 14:51 he could take that because he's the judge himself. So, once we understand this, we see what Jesus went through. You know, we weep when we see movies of Jesus being crucified and whipped and all that, but I tell you that was 15:09 less than a millionth of the suffering he went through. That's alright for little children to understand but we must be grown up and understand what did he actually go through on the cross. And when we see that, I'll tell you something, 15:23 I'll tell you what happened to me. It made me hate sin like anything because it was my sin that made him suffer like that. That's what I'm driving at. It's not just some theoretical theology I'm trying to teach you. It's 15:39 the practical result of it. I believe that many of us who can just lose our temper easily and lust after women and get angry and upset and be a little unrighteous in our business. You don't, you haven't seen anything about 15:55 Christ dying on the cross. I'll tell you that to your face. You haven't understood what the agony of those three hours were on the cross. You just think he went through some nails in his hands and suffered a little bit. 16:07 You don't know what agony it was for God to forsake his son on the cross. He, one who had been with him equal with him from all eternity. That is what Jesus agonized in Gethsemane for when he said, Father, take this cup 16:24 away from me. What was that cup? He wasn't afraid of physical death. There are martyrs who have gone singing when they were being crucified for Christ or burnt at the stake. You think Jesus was a coward? He'd have gone through 16:39 a million calvaries for you and me. Physical death, yes. The only thing he shrank from, and I've said this again and again because very few people preach it, is that separation from the Father which he had for all eternity, 16:54 equal with the Father from eternity and now he sensed as he approached the cross that for three hours he's going to be forsaken. And he agonized. It's the only thing that he agonized because fellowship with the Father was the most 17:09 precious thing to him. It is not the most precious thing to us because we take sin so lightly. Anyone who comes to recognize like Jesus did the value of fellowship with the Father will hate sin like anything because he knows 17:27 that the moment he sins his fellowship with the Father is broken. If you valued fellowship with the Father you'd really hate sin. You wouldn't want to sin in thought, word, deed, attitude, motive, nothing because you'd say 17:42 hey that'll break my fellowship with the Father. I'm absolutely amazed at the casual way in which so many believers treat sin. You guys haven't understood anything about the cross. You need to understand the ABC what Jesus 17:57 suffered on the cross what he was agonizing for one hour on Gethsemane. I think most of us are like Peter fast asleep in Gethsemane when Jesus is agonizing. I think most believers I've met are like that. Fast asleep when Jesus 18:11 is agonizing oh Father is there some way you can prevent my fellowship with you being broken? No we're fast asleep because we don't take sin seriously. And then we want to build a new covenant church. You won't build a new covenant 18:25 church in a hundred years till you understand how serious sin is. And that's why I emphasize this what happened on the cross. He was agonizing in Gethsemane. Is there some way by which I can avoid this break of fellowship? 18:41 Isn't there some other way by which I think the Father would have said okay you don't have to die just come up straight away from Gethsemane. You've never sinned. But mankind will go to hell. That's you and me. And that's 18:58 what made Jesus say okay Father I'll go. Have you ever seen the love of Jesus for you in Gethsemane? I never saw it for so many years. Till I write to go into the heart of God. 19:18 Do you seek to go into the heart of God when you read the scriptures? Into the heart of Jesus? It's a wonderful privilege. We can understand the mind of God. It says about the Israelites in Psalm 103 verse 7. They saw his actions 19:38 but Moses understood his ways. He got up into the mountain. The Israelites only saw the manna falling, the Red Sea split open, the quails falling and the brown serpent healing their serpent bites. But when Moses got up into 19:55 the mountain, he got into the heart of God. That's why he could pray and say, God, you can send me to hell but save these people. Imagine an Old Testament person praying like that. He said that, block my 20:16 name out of your book, but don't let these people perish. Paul said that in Romans 9. I'm willing to be accursed for the sake of my people. That is the spirit of Christ. That is the spirit of a true evangelist. And I'll 20:36 tell you this, I've met very few people like that. Most evangelists I've met in my life are only counting statistics and seeking honor. That's all. Trying to display to others what wonderful people they are. They're not 20:49 people who say I'm willing to be accursed that this person might be saved. That's the spirit of Christ. And that's what we need to understand there. That there he was agonizing. And what was he going through all that for? 21:06 Because of you and I, the way we have sinned, we have taken sin so casually, treated sin lightly. the sins we commit with our speech, especially. Why do I emphasize speech so much? I'll tell you why. Let me show you two 21:24 verses which may shock you. One, I sometimes thought of writing a book only of Bible verses. The title of the book was, Verses that Christians don't believe or verses that Christians don't obey. 21:45 First chapter will be verses that Christians don't obey. Second chapter verses that Christians don't believe. Here's one of them. Verses that Christians don't believe. Matthew 12 verse 36. I say 22:05 to you, every idle word, careless, useless word that men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment. Do you believe that? Tell me honestly, that all the words, sinful words 22:25 you spoke yesterday or last week are going to come up in the day of judgment. That Jesus had to die because you speak so carelessly, uselessly, idle words, words that hurt others. I don't think you believe it. If you believed it, 22:45 you take it more seriously. Why did Jesus make, why did the Lord make in the Old Testament, the people offer a goat for their sin? How much does a goat cost? Imagine if you had to, even if it cost a hundred dollars. Imagine if 23:05 you had to pay a hundred dollars every time you sinned. I tell you, you'd stop sinning pretty quickly. Wouldn't you think so? If every time you spoke a rude word to your wife, you had to dish out a hundred dollars? Oh, you say, 23:18 oh brother, I can't control myself. You control yourself pretty quickly when you have to pay a hundred dollars for your sin. It's a lie when you say you cannot control yourself. Say, I don't care. A hundred dollars means 23:30 more to me than the blood of Jesus Christ. Blood of Jesus Christ, I couldn't care less for that. But a hundred dollars, boy, then I'd be careful. I'm telling you the truth. You may not hear another preacher tell you the truth 23:40 like that, but that is the word. Otherwise, you take sin much more seriously in your life, especially your words. Now, how many of you believe this word? Matthew 12, 37, the next verse. In the day of judgment, you will be justified 23:59 by your words, and you'll be condemned by your words. We've all heard of justification by faith, Romans chapter 4. We've all heard of justification by works, James chapter 2. Have you heard of justification by your words? 24:15 If you want the whole truth of God, don't take one segment of it. I'm justified by faith. That's one-third of the circle. I'll tell you the other two-thirds of the circle. James chapter 2, we're justified by our works. Faith 24:30 without works is dead. And Matthew 12, 37, we're justified by our words. To me, there's no contradiction. They're all the same. But we've heard and heard and heard so much of justification by faith. No words, no works. That's 24:45 why we sin so much. We've got an imbalanced understanding of scripture. I believe firmly in justification by faith, but not a faith which doesn't change my lifestyle, not a faith that does not control my speech. That's a 25:00 useless good for nothing faith which can be thrown in the garbage bin. I don't want it, you can keep it if you like. I'll tell you, it won't take you to God's kingdom. There is a true faith, there's a living faith and a dead 25:11 faith. And living faith is that which changes our lives. Let me show you another verse. Verses that Christians don't believe. I won't have time to show you all of them in this session. I'll just show you a couple of them. 25:30 I hope one day I'll get a time to write that book. James chapter 1, verse 26. Now I'm only talking about one subject at this time, speech. Because a lot of people wonder, why does Brother Zach speak so much about anger and 25:48 speech? I'm telling you. James 1, 26. If anyone thinks he's religious, or what spiritual, and he cannot control his tongue, okay, here's a person who thinks he's a very spiritual Christian, or at least he's born again, bare 26:06 minimum, but he cannot control his tongue. First of all, he's deceiving himself. He is deceiving himself. He doesn't need the devil to deceive him. He's deceiving himself. The devil's a deceiver, but the devil says, I can 26:22 leave that guy alone, because he's already deceived himself. Let me go and deceive the other people who are not deceiving themselves. This guy's already deceiving himself. The job is done. Why do I need to waste my time 26:32 with him? He's deceiving himself, and his whole Christianity is worth zero. It's a paraphrase, but I think it's a legitimate paraphrase. The religion is worthless, means his Christianity is worth zero. 26:53 is worth zero. And so is yours. Verses that Christians do not believe and don't care to believe. This is why Christ died. This is why he had to suffer the agony of an eternal hell on the cross. Because of our sins, our careless 27:13 attitude to sin in our words, in our thoughts, in our attitudes. people ask me this question. Brother Zach, why do you speak so much against lusting with the eyes and with anger? And against these two sins particularly? 27:30 I'll tell you. If you read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, there are only two sins that Jesus said will send you to an eternal hell. Only two. There are many sins Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount, 27:47 love of money, anxiety, seeking the honor of men, hating your enemy, many sins, but out of all the sins he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, he spoke of only two that would send you to hell. One, anger, Matthew 5, 22. Anger 28:05 in your heart, expressed in the mouth, and bubbling forth from the mouth, you're guilty enough to go to the fiery hell, Matthew 5, 22. And the second sin is if you lust with your eyes after a woman, you're committed 28:26 adultery, and he says it's better in that case to pluck out your right eye rather than be thrown into hell, verse 29. Better to cut off your right hand than be thrown into hell. Jesus took it very seriously, and I want to 28:40 take it seriously too. If there are two sins, I would recommend that you really take seriously two sins. There are thousands of sins in the world, but if there are two sins you want to start taking seriously, here it is. 28:54 Anger and lusting after wedding. Begin with that. Say, Lord, I want to take it really seriously. I want to say to myself, if I cannot control my tongue, my entire Christianity is worth zero. That's why Christ died on the 29:07 cross. That's what he hated more than anything else. Break a fellowship with the Father. It's the only thing Jesus hated. Why did he hate iniquity? Because he did break his fellowship with the Father. When can I say that 29:26 I have the mind of Christ? God wants us, the Holy Spirit comes to give us the mind of Christ. Don't say you're filled with the Holy Spirit. If it's not giving you that same mind of Christ, the same attitude towards sin, 29:40 of hatred towards sin, and a great longing for fellowship with the Father that you don't anything to break your fellowship with the Father. For example, Jesus said, if you have hurt somebody, after he spoke about anger, 29:55 he said, supposing you did get angry, and you hurt someone, and then you go to pray to God, the Lord says, go first, settle with that person, because your fellowship with God is broken, and God will not accept your offering. 30:18 When we kept an offering box, we never take an offering in our churches, we never done that, ever, in any of our churches, we keep an offering box, and for some years we kept this verse in front of that offering box, first 30:30 be reconciled to your brother and sister, then come and put your offering. We actually try to prevent people from putting an offering. Here's a guy who takes some money and he's about to put it in the box and he sees that 30:42 verse and puts his money back. Praise the Lord. Take your money and go home, brother. We don't want your money. If you are not reconciled to your brother and sister and you put money into an offering bag, you might as well 30:56 flush it down the toilet. It's exactly the same. God doesn't accept it. He will not accept an offering from you if you have hurt somebody and you don't go and set it right first. Verses that Christians don't believe. Because 31:13 we haven't seen what Jesus went through on the cross. I'll tell you when I began to take this seriously. When I understood that it was Almighty God in the person of Jesus Christ who hung on the cross and suffered an eternal 31:24 hell in three hours on the cross for me. And then we read also in Romans 6 something else had happened on the cross that I died with him. That's another thing which is very difficult for people to understand. Something else 31:43 happened on the cross. It's not only that Jesus died but I died. And it says here that when I understand that that I can be free from sin. And that is the meaning of baptism. So I want to explain that now so that you understand 31:56 clearly what happened on the cross. The Bible says that Ephesians 1 4 that God knew me in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before Genesis 1 verse 1 when did God know let me take it personal when did God know that 32:14 one guy called Zach Kunin would be on this earth. Did he know it 100 years ago? 1,000 years ago? 10,000 years ago? Is there any information that God suddenly discovers which he did not know earlier? There is no information 32:34 that God suddenly discovers never he knows everything the end from the beginning so before Genesis 1 1 he knew about me he knew that sometime in human history I would be born and you can apply that to yourself if you have 32:51 faith for it I would be born and sometime in my life I would surrender to the Lordship of Christ and I would make Jesus my so therefore God decided to choose me he chose me not by drawing names out of a hat like some Calvinist 33:11 believe he chose me 1 Peter 1 verse 2 according to his foreknowledge it says elected according to his foreknowledge not according to some random whim and fancy that God had I was chosen I believe that I believe in election 33:27 I believe in being chosen but I compare scripture with scripture and I said I read in 1 Peter 1 verse 1 and 2 I was elected according to his foreknowledge that means before the worlds were created he knew he wants everybody 33:42 to be saved 1 Timothy 2 4 and 5 says that 2 Peter 3 verse 10 says he doesn't want anybody to repent he wants everybody to repent why in the world wouldn't he choose everybody then why doesn't he take everybody's elected 34:01 according to our foreknowledge so way back in eternity before time there was the father son and holy spirit and me in his mind that's what brought eternal security to me I was in the mind of the father I believe that people 34:22 ask me this question are you eternally secured brother Zach I say sure you believe you'll never be lost no I won't be lost because I live in fear constantly before God 34:42 it's like asking me will you divorce your wife impossible no matter what she does no matter what she does I will not divorce her I don't believe she'll divorce me I think those of you know both of us will agree there but 35:00 you ask me what about this couple just getting married now will they divorce each other I don't know I can't say about them now I apply this to Christ will I divorce Christ impossible if I won't divorce my wife where am 35:14 I going to divorce Christ all my life I have loved Christ more than I love my wife will Christ divorce me impossible I'm eternally secure but but this believer who says today he has accepted Christ will he divorce Christ 35:28 I don't know so I can't speak about the eternal security about anybody else because I don't know whether they are passionate about following Jesus I don't know whether they are passionate about giving up sin most believers 35:41 I meet most they're so casual towards sin I don't even know whether I live with them in heaven to tell you honestly I don't know whether I will be with them in heaven eternally because I see such a casual attitude towards 35:54 sin which they say was why Jesus died on the cross I hope they get there but I'm not too sure I know what my attitude to sin is and way back in eternity he knew me in Christ so he placed me in Christ before the 36:14 world began and so here's a picture if that's me and if that's Christ he placed me in Christ when before the worlds were created and when Christ died on the cross you know who was in Christ me I died with him you 36:35 say I can't understand it you don't need to understand it brother do you understand your digestive system but it still works right there are doctors who can explain the digestive system whose digestive system doesn't work 36:48 sometimes it's not understanding it's not understanding it's faith and if God has said it it's true I was in Christ I was crucified with him and when he went into the grave who was in the grave me and when he came out of 37:06 the grave who was inside me and when he went up to heaven who is there me it says in Ephesians 2 and verse 6 he raised us up with him and 37:26 seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus when you understand that you will realize your authority in Christ I find so many believers who are so scared of the devil they don't know that they are in Christ 37:44 that's the thing and when I'm crucified with Christ and I'm raised up together here we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 a second reason why Christ died everybody knows the first reason 1 Corinthians 15 3 Christ died for our 38:04 sins here's the second reason in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 15 have you ever seen this reason why Christ died Christ died so that 2 Corinthians 5 15 those who live should never again 38:24 live for themselves if you're living for yourself you haven't understood why Christ died I'll tell you that to your face should never again live for themselves but for him who died and rose again that's why he died and I can 38:42 understand that when I say I'm dead like Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 6 14 sorry Galatians 6 14 I'm crucified to the world and the world's crucified to me or as the living Bible says I've got as much interest in this world 38:57 as a dead man has and the world has got as much interest in me as it has in a dead man when you accept that position in Christ you won't have to struggle to give up those attractions of the world a dead man in a grave is 39:16 not struggling to give up the attractions of the world it's so easy for a person in a grave walk by a graveyard and see if all those guys there are struggling to be free from love of the world that's why the Bible says reckon 39:31 yourself to be dead to sin when you are tempted reckon yourself to be dead to sin because you have accepted by faith that you are crucified with Christ but you are not just dead like Paul said I'm crucified but somebody 39:43 else lives in me now no longer I but Christ this is the true Christian life and dear brothers and sisters the devil has cheated most of us of our inheritance in Christ that we live substandard lives because we have not allowed 40:00 the Holy Spirit to show us these wonderful things in scripture God has given us his word so that we can know our inheritance in Christ I'm not talking theory I'm telling you what I've experienced I did not experience it 40:13 for many years in my Christian life because Jesus said only when you know the truth you will be set free when you know the truth you will be free when you don't know the truth you won't be free something else happened on 40:26 the cross as well Colossians 2 verse 14 he cancelled out the certificate of debt against us that means he paid the price because he suffered eternal hell but 40:48 there's something else in verse 15 on the cross he took away the armor from the rulers and authorities and triumphed over them on the cross that's satanic powers he defeated satan on the cross I want you to know this he 41:06 did not defeat satan when he cast out demons he cast out so many demons when he was on earth satan wasn't defeated you can cast out demons and satan can still rule in your life yeah there'll be people who stand before Jesus 41:25 in the final day oh lord we cast out demons in your name and Jesus said I never knew you go to hell but when he died on the cross that's where he defeated satan hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 he took flesh and blood like 41:45 us so that he might render powerless the one who had the power of death that is the devil when satan put jesus on the cross he didn't realize that he was helping his own defeat when jesus said it is finished many things 42:05 are finished like like i said the other day the entire range of temptations that man can ever face was all finished the veil was rent the punishment for sin for the entire human race was finished for those who will accept 42:21 it our old man the man old man is the mind that desires to sin was finished on the cross the power of satan over us who accept it is finished on the cross if you accept it you know everything in the scripture is if you accept 42:41 it by faith if you don't accept it by faith you don't get it Christ died for the sins of the world but 95% of people in the world their sins are not forgiven they don't accept it the old man was crucified on the cross but 42:55 95% of Christians or 99% of Christians don't experience that victory over sin because they don't accept it they don't believe it you cannot have anything in scripture as yours unless you take it by faith but you got to see 43:08 it clearly in the New Testament not just listen to some preacher saying it you must be like the Bereans and compare everything with scripture and see is he defeated 43:28 Satan took away that power so that verse 15 Hebrews 2 15 he might deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage the bondage of fear the fear of death is the greatest of all fears that 43:45 human beings have every other fear fear that fear of poverty fear of sickness fear of so many things is inferior to that and when he got rid of the top most fear all other fears went with them you know when David killed 44:00 Goliath it says all the other Philistines ran away Goliath is the fear of death when he killed that all the other fears disappear so Jesus wants us to be totally free from fear there were two things that he kept saying it 44:16 was sin not and fear not have you noticed that sin not fear not sin not fear not sin not fear not we some of us may have taken sin not seriously what about fear not we're not supposed to fear we're not supposed to fear anything 44:33 to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage every to slavery every fear brings a slavery there are many believers who are slaves in their minds what will happen in the future what will 44:47 happen here what will happen here is this pain cancer is this thing there it's constant fear and the devil plays on that do you know that Jesus died to deliver us from all fear to deliver us from the power of Satan we should 45:03 not be afraid of Satan I remember hearing a story of a man a godly man who I've only read it dead long ago but what I heard was in a story possibly it's true but whether it's true or not I can believe it he was sleeping 45:23 one day and he found a bed shaking and he looked up it was at night and he saw the devil in some form sitting at the foot of his bed and he said oh it's only you and he turned over and slept I thought it was an earthquake 45:40 or something then I got to get out of my bed now if you saw the devil physically sitting at your bed one night you say oh it's only you turn around and sleep then you can say you're really free from him are you free or does 45:55 that scare you will he sit on my bed tonight no god won't allow you to be tempted beyond your ability don't worry he won't let the devil sit on your bed because you're not ready to face it phd question papers are given to phd 46:11 students not to kindergarten students but you can get there why did god allow that brother to be tested like that because he had got there i know the lord has spoken to me as you were afraid of satan once satan will be afraid 46:28 of you from now on i believe if you hear that word it can be true of you too it's written in the scriptures greater is he that lives in you than one who is in the world it's there we don't believe it that's all but it's 46:45 true and we have scripture which says on the cross he took away satan's power he didn't kill satan no satan's alive but he's not alive and well he's alive his power has been taken away from him he's got no authority over you 47:03 except what you give him and if you allow some sin in your life you allow some tension in your life from your side between you and your wife or at home you open the door for the devil and then you got to blame yourself for 47:19 opening the door to the devil and say come right in cause confusion do you know that the devil is supposed to flee from us all the time James 4 says if you submit to God 100% that's the part which often people don't preach 47:37 they only preach resist the devil and he'll flee from you I say that is not scripture scripture says James 4 7 submit to God first make Jesus Lord of your life and then resist the devil he will flee from you that's why a lot 47:53 of Christians resist the devil and he doesn't flee you know because the devil says Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you why did Satan say Jesus I know and Paul I know because they were submitted completely it can 48:07 apply to you as well submit to God James 4 7 and resist the devil and he will flee from you in my ministry in America India I've had I've had to cast out demons and I'll tell you something there's the honest truth I've 48:28 never once had to shout never to raise my I don't raise my voice at people I don't raise my voice at demons because I've discovered demons have got very good hearing Jesus once cast out a demon in a side of Phoenician woman's 48:44 daughter who was miles away how in the world did that demon hear what Jesus was saying here I remember once I was speaking in a Bible school of all places and there was a chap sitting right at the back who as soon as we 48:59 bowed to pray he began to dance over there and I knew it was a demon and I quietly whispered under my breath in a way that the person sitting behind me couldn't hear sit down in Jesus name he went and sat down that's the day 49:11 I discovered that the devil got very good hearing you you don't have to shout at him and I know it was a demon because he couldn't have heard me the guy in the front queue couldn't have heard me six months later I get a 49:25 letter from this guy he said brother Zach you don't know me but I was in the meeting that day and I was the one you told to sit down how did he hear it I 49:45 never had to shout at a demon and I never had to speak more than once you know all these people who say get out get out get out get out I say brother stop it go and pray and fast you're not ready to cast out a demon have 50:00 you read in Mark chapter one it says Jesus cast out the demons with a word one word and I've seen that happen every single time one word in Jesus name get out and if he hasn't gone I need to go and pray and fast I know that 50:14 there's no use shouting at him a second time how in the world can a demon who was defeated on Calvary's cross not obey a command given by a servant of God in the name of Jesus Christ impossible impossible that is our authority 50:32 in Christ whether you use it or not is up to you it's like your dad can put a million dollars in your bank account and you live like a pauper on the street because you don't use it it's up to you somebody else has got the 50:46 same inheritance and uses it most Christians are living below their privileges we need to understand what Jesus did on the cross for think of how Jesus was in this 51:06 world see that's how I am I see how Jesus lived with such tremendous dignity he was there was no situation that could overwhelm him oh what am I going to do never brother 51:26 sister can we live like that it's your inheritance if you are totally surrendered to Christ if you seek to obey everything scripture says if you love him more than you love your father and your mother and your relatives 51:41 and your brothers and your sisters and say Lord I love you more than anything else I love you more than myself I love you more than all my possessions I won't hang on to any of them they are all yours you can walk like Jesus 52:01 humble yourself the secret of Jesus life was his total purity his total humility his total freedom from the love of money that's how he lived and his total faith in his heavenly father think of those four things his total 52:17 purity total humility total freedom from the love of money and his total faith in his heavenly father those are the principles by which Jesus lived on this earth and by the power of the Holy Spirit I can live like that with 52:31 total purity that means if I slip I get up immediately if the thorn gets into my foot I don't wait I pull it out I live in total purity in total humility always willing to go down never seeking the honor of men never boasting 52:48 never doing any such total freedom from the love of money zero and God alone knows whether you have that or not whether I have that or not but you know and I know and total faith that these things I'm telling you my sins 53:03 are all gone my old man was crucified Satan was defeated on the cross I can walk like Jesus on this earth as Christ is so am I in this world I don't have to have a bad mood on a single day yeah your wife should be able to 53:21 testify I never see my husband in a bad mood 365 days of the year yeah go and ask my wife when did she see me depressed I'll tell you in the days when I was defeated by sin in the early years of our marriage sure it's 53:43 gone when you understand your position is Christ it's not me it's the Holy Spirit it's what God has done for us in Christ it's all in Christ our position in Christ we must take that authority and position we have as he is 53:57 so are we in the world and I thought of it like this you you meditate more and more on it wherever Jesus came the demons were scared they passed the word around Jesus coming Jesus coming I say Lord it must be like that when 54:10 I go wherever I go the demons must be scared oh Zach is coming Zach coming you think that's arrogance it's not arrogance it's just faith faith in 1 John 4 17 it can be yours if you don't believe you won't get it I don't 54:28 want to stand in heaven and discover there were so many things God wanted me to have on earth which I didn't get because I didn't have faith I heard a story once of someone who went up to heaven and he saw various lockers 54:48 covered with names on it of different people and the angel opened a door and saw a lot of packets so what are these so these are all the promises this guy never claimed on earth they are still lying here and I say 55:08 Lord when I get up to heaven and the locker with my name is opened I wanted to be empty that every single thing I was supposed to claim on earth I'm going to claim and live in it because that's the only way I can fulfill 55:26 God's purpose my life on earth and if some of you we all have regret about the sins we have committed and we all say oh I'm sorry for the sins I've committed against the Lord I'll tell you this there's only one way you can 55:43 show your sorrow for the sins you have committed in your life and that is say Lord the rest of my life I'm going to live totally for you otherwise I don't believe that you're sorry for all the sins you committed it's just 55:58 nice words to say I am so ashamed for the sins I've committed in my life I say Lord I want to make up for it what did Jesus say he was forgiven much loves much so if you say you're a great sinner you should love much and 56:19 fulfill God's purpose on earth I want to say one more thing about faith because there's a lot of foolish talking about faith nowadays as I said the other day Abraham didn't just want to have a son I'm going to work my faith 56:33 up and believe that I'll get it no God spoke to him and that's the basis of faith faith comes by hearing Romans 10 17 and hearing by the word of Christ you can't just say I want this and work my faith up to the point where 56:46 I get it and I'll get it that's stupidity that is tempting God that's like jumping off the roof of the temple and say I'm going to work faith up and land unhurt you won't land unhurt you'll commit suicide you shall not tempt 57:00 the Lord your God we need which you did not get from some preacher but which you got from the word of Christ faith comes by hearing and hearing not by the word of any preacher 57:20 by the word of Christ I'm sorry to say most believers today their faith has come from the word of some preacher some television evangelist some preacher who quotes some scripture are completely out of context there are certain 57:36 things which Christ died for which I cannot have right now do you know that he's died for it but there's a time and a season for everything I'll tell you one of them Philippians 3 that 57:58 thing Christ purchased on the cross but it's not mine yet Philippians 3 it says in verse 20 and 21 we eagerly wait for our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven and when he comes he will transform the 58:18 body of my humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of power which he can subject everything to himself I cannot get a resurrected body until Christ comes again but 58:40 it's purchased for me on the cross already sure when he died he purchased a resurrected body for me the price has been paid but there's a time and a season for everything I won't get my hair back till Christ comes again 58:55 I mean I can go and get a transplant or something but not the way it should be I can't take off my glasses till Christ comes again all these guys who I see all these healers talking about healing and they wearing glasses 59:08 I say what healing is that you mean God can't heal your eyes take away that short side and long side don't deceive people our body of glory will come only when Christ comes again and that day I'll be perfectly healthy my 59:28 hair will be black I'll have a full head of hair it is a sickness to lose your hair not a serious one it's a sickness long side and short side of sickness I will not be wearing glasses in heaven I won't have back aches or 59:44 headaches or anything in heaven I'll be healthy I look like a 33 year old but that has to wait but it's purchased already so can I be healed of all my sicknesses on earth can 1:00:04 I be free from weakness see these three stages mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11 let me show you 1 Corinthians 11 30 speaking about those who take part in the Lord's table unworthily 1 1:00:26 Corinthians 11 30 weakness sickness death three stages weakness sickness death you won't be free from weakness on this earth you won't be free from sickness on this earth and 1:00:46 you won't be free from death on this earth no believer does God strengthen us in our weakness sure does God heal sure but not necessarily from all our sicknesses I 1:01:07 want to be realistic with you I don't want to quote you verses out of context see there are two verses in Isaiah 53 which are very often misquoted by people who would like to deceive you and put a whole lot of sick people 1:01:25 under tremendous burden condemning themselves one is that he bore our sicknesses I'll show you where it's quoted in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 8 and 1:01:46 verse 17 that it might be fulfilled that Isaiah the prophet spoke he himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases that's a quotation directly from Isaiah 53 verse 4 he took 1:02:06 our infirmities not only my sicknesses my weaknesses that's that's the part a lot of people don't preach who preach about the other party carried away our sicknesses that means you shouldn't be weak brother because he took 1:02:21 away your weaknesses too don't deceive people that's what I tell to all these deceiving healing evangelists nowadays he himself took our infirmities carried away our diseases when was it fulfilled not when he was on the 1:02:37 cross it was fulfilled right here that's what people don't see read the scripture exactly when he healed the sick it was fulfilled it says it was fulfilled that's the word there be a burying he took away our infirmities 1:02:51 and carried away our sickness it was fulfilled it was years before he died on the cross and the second verse which is quoted from Isaiah 53 is 1 Peter and is found in 1 Peter chapter 2 I said I mentioned it the other day 1:03:08 by his stripes we are healed 1 Peter 2 24 listen to this he bore always look at a verse in his context he bore our sins in his body on the cross 1 Peter 2 24 that we might die to sin and 1:03:28 live to righteousness because it says by his stripes we are healed what's he talking about sin and righteousness that's the biggest disease we have and he's talking about that disease from which we are healed so does that 1:03:43 mean that we can never be healed not from everything but in God's sovereignty he can heal and I believe when we are sick we should pray for healing I always have done that for myself I 1:04:04 remember when I the Lord led us to move from one small town in India to Bangalore in 1972 and as soon as he came there I was struck with asthma and to sit up at night pumping those 1:04:26 things that relieve you from asthma into my mouth and sit up every day and people said Bangalore is the worst place in India for asthma sufferers and I sat there and sat there wheezing and wheezing and wheezing and when 1:04:43 the Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit he healed me completely I never had that had that problem in what nearly 35 years because God in his sovereignty allows us but that doesn't mean I've been healed from 1:05:03 everything when I can use medicine I use medicine but I believe that God will give me enough health to serve him as long as he wants me to Paul had a thorn in the flesh he called it a messenger of Satan we don't know what 1:05:22 it was but whatever it is it is a messenger of Satan and sickness is certainly a messenger of Satan but the question is does God allow a messenger of Satan to sit in a body did he allow that messenger of Satan whatever it 1:05:36 was to sit in Paul's body yes it was like a thorn in the flesh he prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and God said no God said you need that to keep you humble so sometimes God allows us to keep a sickness but he gives 1:05:50 us grace so that it doesn't hinder us from fulfilling God's will it it doesn't hinder us from rejoicing always it doesn't hinder us from completing God's plan for our life Timothy had a thorn in the flesh we read in 1 Timothy 1:06:03 chapter 5 and verse 23 for your stomach's frequent ailments this is Holy Spirit inspired Timothy was the most wholehearted of Paul's co-workers and he tells him Timothy you got these frequent ailments and I'm sure Paul had laid 1:06:23 hands on him perhaps a hundred times and prayed for him he was not healed this is the same Paul from whose body handkerchiefs went and healed the sick he lays hands on Timothy and the guy's not healed for your frequent stomach 1:06:38 infirmities now I'm sorry prayer doesn't seem to have healed you maybe this is your thorn in the flesh Timothy God will give you grace take some medicine take it so that you can relieve yourself and one of his last letters 1:06:56 the last letter 2nd Timothy 4 one of his last words before he died Paul says in 2nd Timothy 4 20 there's a dear brother called Trophimus I I prayed he he was not healed I just left him sick at my leaders now why is this 1:07:16 important for us to understand because there's a lot of deception in the area of healing today and there are a lot of people who jumped onto this bandwagon to fool people deceive people and I see plenty of it in India plenty 1:07:31 of it I been to healing meetings in India with these big and they pray for the sick and that guy gets up and testifies he healed from cancer I live there and I know a few weeks later he's dead you can't fool me about what 1:07:47 happens in the third world I lived there I lived there 72 years all these preachers who go there can fool you they can't fool me I live there I've seen it what happens I've seen what they do they get their agents in India 1:07:59 pay them do everything contrary to what Jesus did Jesus never paid anybody to get his work done he never advertised his healing he never took videos and photographs to show other people to make money deception all over money 1:08:14 has become their god every one of those healers who come to India money is their god they talk about healing and I know what happens Hindus who bring their paralyzed wives to the meeting and they are told that they will 1:08:28 be healed and they put 2,000 rupees into the offering back because the offering is always taken before the healing and they carry that paralyzed woman back home I've seen letters in the newspapers written by Hindus saying 1:08:41 don't let these American Christians come to India again to preach I'm a Hindu I have a great respect for this is why I speak against this type of deception I've seen it for 30 years and I'll 1:09:01 fight it till the day Jesus comes you may not know it because you don't live there and I've seen and all these people they won't go to the rich people and intelligent people who can see through their deception they'll go to 1:09:13 the poor villages where people are not so clever not so and the sad thing is that most Indian preachers just want their money because I don't want their money I can tell them to their face that they are deceivers and 1:09:35 I believe that's the reason why God has allowed us in our churches to raise up people who are elders we have 70 elders not one of them is paid one cent never have been paid for 35 years including me every church I take responsibility 1:09:55 for I say I will never pay a preacher one cent you got to work like Paul earn your own living then that's what has protected us in India from these deceivers who would like to join us there are a lot of people who say brother 1:10:10 Zach we'd like to join your church I say we don't pay anybody anything I never hear from them again it's a filter that filters them out immediately the greatest damage to Christian work in India has come from these foreign 1:10:24 preachers who come and given people money and deceive people with all this false healing that's why I speak about it dear brothers I say that also because let me say this in closing supposing you tell a person now listen 1:10:41 to this here is a non Christian I live in a country of 98% non Christian that's why these things mean so much to me you tell him Christ died and all your sins can be forgiven if you trust him and he died for all 1:11:01 your diseases all your sicknesses can be healed right now if you trust him supposing that is the gospel I preach and this guy has got sins and he's got sicknesses and he's really wanting to receive Christ and give up all 1:11:13 his sins he says brother I believe that I believe Christ died for me and rose again I'm a sinner I confess I want to forsake all my sins ask Jesus to come into your life how do I know my sins are forgiven God's word says 1:11:33 he died for all your sins if you confess your sins he's faithful and just to forgive you okay done now he says my sicknesses and I preached to him remember Christ died for your sicknesses too it is okay tell the Lord your 1:11:50 sicknesses now here I lay hands on you and tell the Lord all your sicknesses now you're healed I don't feel healed he goes to the doctor next day doctor says you still got all those four sicknesses he 1:12:11 comes back to me and says hey I thought Christ died for my believe brother believe it'll come it'll come six months later he goes to the doctor and doctor says you're worse you know what will happen to him this fellow called 1:12:29 Zach Poonen deceived me I don't believe my sins are forgiven at all because the same person who told me that Christ died for my sins told me that Christ died for my diseases but my diseases are still there which must mean 1:12:41 that my sins are still there too absolutely correct logic because I preached to him something which the apostles did not preach I preached to them what I heard some western evangelist preach not what scripture preached I 1:12:58 was not like the Bereans to search scriptures I deceived him and the result is he turns away from Christ and says I don't want this Christ who deceives me and says I'm healed when I'm not healed then how do I know that I 1:13:13 can trust his word and he says I'm forgiven thank God I have never preached such a gospel and I never will I believe when people are sick we must lay hands on them I have done that because the Bible says James 5 if anyone 1:13:29 is sick let him call for the elders of the church and let them lay hands on the sick and pray and he'll be healed and I've seen it happen I remember a brother in our church he was traveling a thousand miles away some work 1:13:46 and there was no church there and his duty took him there he had to be there a number of weeks and suddenly one day he had severe stomach problem and he went to see a doctor the doctor said you've got to be operated immediately 1:13:58 he didn't know what to do you remember the verse which says ask the elders in the church to pray for you he called me up on the telephone said brother Zach I want to obey scripture pray for me I prayed for him in the name 1:14:14 of Jesus completely healed perfectly alright the next day never had a problem from that day till today I prayed for others nothing has happened I was down in a village in one of our churches there was a brother who said 1:14:33 can you come to my house pray for my daughter and he took me to his house his 16 year old daughter curled up in the bed mentally retarded brain damaged from birth not able to walk talk eat nothing the parents have got to 1:14:53 do everything for them can Jesus heal such a person what would Jesus have done if he were on earth and somebody took Jesus to that house he had spoken a word that child would have got up and become normal in a moment he 1:15:12 said pray for her I said brother I don't want to deceive you I don't want to say it's lack of your faith because the Bible says when the elder prays for the sick it's the elder's faith that brings the healing the prayer 1:15:28 of faith will heal the sick most elders justify themselves by telling them you don't have faith that's a lie they are the first rate deceivers who don't deserve to be elders because the Bible says the elder must pray for 1:15:42 the sick and the prayer of faith will heal the sick why doesn't he take responsibility and say I don't have faith I took that responsibility I said I don't have faith sorry I don't have faith that this child 16 years mentally 1:15:55 retarded and brain damaged I don't have faith to heal that person but I pray that God will give you grace to take care of them and I tell you another thing I said this child will certainly be in heaven you parents better 1:16:08 make sure you meet her there and this child will rejoice when she runs around in heaven with her legs than any of us will meanwhile be a good parent dear brothers and sisters there's a great need for transparency and honesty 1:16:23 in the Christian church and we see very little of it it doesn't matter if you can't do miracles be honest and I'll tell you what I told you yesterday if you don't love the truth God himself will allow you to be deceived 1:16:41 he'll allow you to be deceived in one thing and that will lead to another deception and finally it'll be a terrible tragedy if you deceive other people with your deception we need to build a church in these days let's be 1:16:56 good students of scripture Christ did wonderful things for us in the cross certain things we can receive the benefit of it now sin shall not rule over you I don't believe a single sin should rule over me I'm willing to tolerate 1:17:13 a few sicknesses because they don't hinder me I'll tell you one little good that came out of it I remember once many years ago when the children were small in my home and I was having this severe headache in bed I said Lord 1:17:29 did you ever have a headache when you were on earth do you understand what I'm going through right now and I read in Isaiah 53 that he was familiar with sickness some of you may not believe it but I believe that Jesus did 1:17:48 have headaches it's not a sin to have a headache he was tempted like me and what the Lord spoke to me that time was I'm taking you to a higher class now you have overcome getting irritated with your children when you don't 1:18:05 have a headache now I'm promoting you to a higher class where you're going to overcome getting irritated with your children when you have a headache I say okay Lord it's a promotion I'm going to get it I'm determined to 1:18:17 complete my syllabus on earth before I go to heaven now don't if you got a headache don't claim that say to yourself don't God says to me is not for you you may ask God you should ask God to heal you from your headache because 1:18:30 some headaches can be severe so don't take this and apply to yourself and live in torture ask Jesus to heal you I always ask Jesus to heal me whenever my children were sick at home I'd always lay hands on them and pray for 1:18:42 them to be I believe we can get the benefits of all that Jesus did for us on the cross and we will not deceive others we will lead 1:19:02 people to godliness and we will be able to build a true church of Jesus Christ let's pray heavenly father thank you for your word which gives us light that drives all the darkness away and 1:19:22 drives away the deceptions of Satan thank you for the wonderful salvation you purchased for us on the cross we can live on earth to glorify you and accomplish your purpose help us each one we pray
