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A Clear Gospel Message - Part 3
Zac Poonen

Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the exclusive truth of Jesus Christ as the only way to God, challenging the idea of broad-mindedness in faith and highlighting the importance of recognizing Jesus as Almighty God who came to die for sinners. It addresses the need for individuals to acknowledge their sinfulness and approach Jesus as sinners rather than identifying with any religious label. The message also underscores the significance of preserving and heeding one's conscience as a vital gift from God, equating it to the eye of the heart that guides one in recognizing right from wrong.
Sermon Transcription
None of us have seen God at any time. So our opinion is worth nothing. I mean, it's like if you've never seen an elephant, never seen a picture of an elephant, never seen an elephant, how will you know what an elephant looks like? Supposing you try to draw a picture of an animal you've never seen or even a picture. You can't draw a picture of that. It'll be wrong. You may think you know. I may think I know, but both of us will be wrong. So I say it's no use. Your opinion and my opinion are both worthless. But Jesus Christ came from heaven. His opinion is worth more and you are telling me to say that Jesus is the same as all other religions and gods. Hang on. You are asking me to call Jesus Christ a liar and a deceiver. You want me to do that? You're telling me to call Jesus Christ a liar and a deceiver? No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to respect him and respect other gods. I say, hang on. Jesus said in John 14 verse 6, I am the way. No one comes to the Father, but through me. Is that right or wrong? If it's right, then he's the only way. If it's wrong, either he was a liar or he was a deceiver or deceived. So what do you want me to call him? You want me to call him a liar? You want me to say Jesus Christ is a liar, Jesus Christ is a deceiver or Jesus Christ was deceived. Which of the three do you want me to say? No, I don't want you to say anything. And the only other alternative is he spoke the truth. Which is, I am the way, the truth and life. No one, no one, no one, no one, no one comes to the Father, but through me. I can't go to God except through Jesus Christ. And I'll explain to you why. Truth is always very narrow-minded. Many people say, why can't you be broad-minded? And nowadays in the world, everybody likes to be broad-minded. Don't get into a controversy with anybody. Accept everything. I say 2 plus 2 is 4. Somebody says, no, it's 3. Somebody says, no, 2 plus 2 is 5. Let's accept everybody. Or let's at least accept those who are pretty close to us. Like somebody who says 2 plus 2 is 3.9. Somebody says 4.1. They are much closer. You say, I'm sorry. I'll get all my calculations wrong if I say 2 plus 2 is 3.9. Or even 4.1 or even 4.0001. Truth is absolute. 2 plus 2 is 4. I say, you also follow that, I would say to such a person. Your mathematics is pretty ruthlessly narrow-minded. You don't give any option to another fellow to have a different view. So don't call me narrow-minded. You're narrow-minded too. What if I say the Earth goes around the Sun? No, no. Let's accept the other fellow who says the Sun goes around the Earth also. I mean, let's be broad-minded about these things. I say, you can't be broad-minded. Everything, all your physics calculations will go wrong if you accept this fellow says the Sun goes around the Earth. That fellow says the Earth goes around the Sun and somebody else says something else. Truth is absolute, whether in the realm of astronomy or mathematics, chemistry. H2 plus O is water. It's not salt. No, let's accept the fellow who says it's salt. I'm sorry. I can't accept it. Two parts of hydrogen plus one part of oxygen is water. It's not salt. You see how truth is absolute in every area. Only when it comes to faith, they say, no, no, no. Let's be broad-minded. Broad-minded people are in error in mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and religion. But people are willing to be very narrow-minded in all those other areas and don't recognize that truth is narrow-minded here too. Jesus Christ said, I am the way. No one comes to the Father but by me. So I say, you're not arguing with me when I say that. You're arguing with Jesus. So Jesus was either a liar or he was a madman, or he was a deceiver, or he was deceived, or he is God. You can have your choice. But don't say he was a good man. How can he be a good man if he told such a lie like this? No, don't say he's a prophet. I don't accept, I'm not excited when somebody says, Jesus was a very good man. Are you excited when somebody says that? It's like somebody saying, your father is a very nice dog. What do you mean my father is a very nice dog? He's not a bad dog. He's a nice dog. That's exactly the same when you say Jesus was a nice man. He was a good prophet. No. He was Almighty God. My father is no dog. And Jesus Christ is no ordinary man or prophet. So I mention that because sometimes Christians are excited when somebody says Jesus was a good man. No. He was God, he came in human form. You need to understand why it was necessary. Some of these things are very simple, but if you understand it will help you. The Christian faith teaches that all human beings are sinners. If you come to God, if you come to Jesus as a Christian, you cannot be forgiven. Because Jesus did not die for Christians, he died for sinners. So the only person who can be forgiven is one who comes to Jesus and says, I'm a sinner. Anybody sitting here, you come to Jesus saying, I'm a Christian, Jesus will say, I didn't die for Christians. You can't come to Jesus as a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, nothing. He said, I came to the world to die for sinners. You come as a sinner, you can be forgiven. You come as a Christian, you will live and die in your sins and go to hell. Because that's the punishment. That's the first thing I want to say. And it's very easy for us to know that we are sinners. Your conscience, God's given you a conscience. Everybody's got a conscience. Particularly children, they have a very sensitive conscience. As you grow up, you can kill that conscience, kill that conscience with all types of doing wrong things. And when your conscience tells you something, you say, shut up, I'm not going to listen to you, I'm not going to listen to you. Ultimately, our conscience is dead, it may stop speaking to you. But that doesn't mean you become holy. No. You see how little children... If you want to go to a home and find out the truth about something, who should you ask? Ask the three-year-old. He cannot tell a lie. You ask the grown-up people with a straight face, they'll tell you a lie. But the three-year-old will tell you the truth. But that three-year-old, you wait another 15 years, it has become a perfect liar. Just like you and me. Because we kill our conscience. We are all born with a very sensitive conscience. Have you seen the feet of a little baby? So soft and tender. But look at your feet now. That's what happens to our conscience also. Hard. The feet of a baby, one small pin, it'll feel it. Our feet, some people say hard, even a drawing pin won't hurt them. That's what happens to our conscience. But our conscience is what God's way of saying, you're doing something wrong. You can kill it. And that's why I tell you, the most useful gift God's given you, like your conscience, Jesus called it the eye. The eye of the heart is the conscience. Keep it carefully. Otherwise you won't be able to see. You live in darkness like a blind man. The more you kill your conscience, it's like poking your eyes. Keep on poking it, poking it, poking it. One day you can't see anything. But your conscience tells you, you're a sinner. And it doesn't matter. When you look at a baby, you go to see all the babies in a hospital. Can you tell me which one is Hindu, which one is Muslim, which one is Christian? No. They're all the same. All sinners. You go and see those same babies grown up and playing in a kindergarten playground. Who's the Christian, who's the Muslim?
A Clear Gospel Message - Part 3
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Zac Poonen (1939 - ). Christian preacher, Bible teacher, and author based in Bangalore, India. A former Indian Naval officer, he resigned in 1966 after converting to Christianity, later founding the Christian Fellowship Centre (CFC) in 1975, which grew into a network of churches. He has written over 30 books, including "The Pursuit of Godliness," and shares thousands of free sermons, emphasizing holiness and New Testament teachings. Married to Annie since 1968, they have four sons in ministry. Poonen supports himself through "tent-making," accepting no salary or royalties. After stepping down as CFC elder in 1999, he focused on global preaching and mentoring. His teachings prioritize spiritual maturity, humility, and living free from materialism. He remains active, with his work widely accessible online in multiple languages. Poonen’s ministry avoids institutional structures, advocating for simple, Spirit-led fellowships. His influence spans decades, inspiring Christians to pursue a deeper relationship with God.