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Three Levels of the Christian Life
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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This sermon emphasizes the three levels of maturity in the Christian life, comparing them to the different areas of the Tabernacle. It challenges believers to move from being babies dependent on others to becoming spiritual fathers who guide and care for others. The importance of pressing on to perfection, knowing God as Father, and living in the most holy place is highlighted as the ultimate goal of the Gospel.
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We've been thinking about preserving the glory of the Lord in our church. Yesterday I read this verse to you about the Lord wanting to build a tabernacle to the Israelites so that we could make a home for Him. And this is the Lord's burden for us in the church. I want to read a verse in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 20. There are two people in the New Testament who said, follow me. One was Jesus. No one in the Old Testament ever said, follow me. All the prophets said, listen to me. Listen to me. This is the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. This is the burden of the Lord. Jesus was the first person who said, follow me. And then after he died and rose again, the Apostle Paul said, follow me. 1 Corinthians 11, 1. Philippians 3, 17, twice. He said, follow me as I follow Christ. And he went on in Philippians 3 to say that not only me, but others were following after my example. So there are many things we can learn from Paul, for example. How to plant churches. Jesus did not plant a church, so we can't learn that from him. And how to do the Lord's work in the New Covenant age. So we follow Jesus and we follow Paul as he followed Christ. So listen to what Paul says after staying three years in Ephesus. It's the longest that he ever stayed in any place. He called the elders together of the church in Ephesus in Acts 20, verse 17. And then he told them something. Listen to this. There are many things here. I just want to mention one thing. He told those elders, I don't know how many there were, maybe five or six elders. That was probably a fairly large church in Ephesus. And he told them, verse 26, I testify to you this day. I am innocent of the blood of all men. I'm innocent of the blood of all men. Why? He gives us a reason. Now, nowadays, a lot of people, particularly those who have a passion for evangelism, they go and preach the gospel to somebody and they say, okay, I'm innocent of your blood now. You heard the gospel. If you go to hell, you're responsible. Thereby, they have condemned people. Or you go and give out tracts. You give out a thousand tracts. And you say, okay, folks, I'm free from your blood. You got the gospel. Now, if you go to hell, it's your responsibility. I cannot imagine Jesus or Paul ever doing that. Because a lot of those tracts that people distribute, you find thrown in the trash can or on the road later on. When can I say that I'm free from the blood of all men? People actually quote Paul. But like most Christians who don't read the Bible properly or read it carelessly, they don't see, how did Paul say, I'm free from the blood of all men? He said, I'm free from the blood of all of you people because, for means because I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. If you have not declared the whole purpose of God to people, you're not free from their blood. If you just tell them Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead, believe on him, you're not free from their blood. That is the folly of people who just give out tracts and condemn people. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, John 3, 17, but to save them. If you go around condemning people by giving them tracts, you're not following Jesus Christ. You're following the devil who brings condemnation to people. We must witness to people in order to lead them to salvation, not to condemnation. And so we see here, that's why we are careful in how we witness. Therefore I declare to you I'm innocent of the blood of all men because I declared to you the whole purpose of God. You can think of the whole purpose of God like a circle, and Paul says I colored the whole circle. I didn't just speak one segment of it, which is forgiveness of sins, and say I'm free from your blood. Please remember this, in the church, in our church, in CFC, we want to be free from the blood of all people who come and listen to us, either here or on the internet. And that is by declaring to them the entire purpose of God, or what we call the full gospel. Now there are many churches today that are called full gospel churches. I've been to a number of them, I've seen a number of them, and I believe most of them do not preach the full gospel. Because they say we are better than those other people who just preach Jesus forgives your sins, we also preach that Jesus baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And some say, okay, Jesus heals the sick. But that is not the full gospel. We need to see what is the full gospel from scripture. If you read the New Testament episodes, there's almost nothing written about healing the sick. Almost zero. Except for one verse in James, there's no verse at all. So that's not a major thing about what the apostles preached. So we need to understand what is the full gospel. And if you turn to Hebrews chapter 6, he says there how we must leave, Hebrews 6 verse 1, we must leave the elementary teaching about Christ, that means the basic kindergarten lesson, and press on to maturity, or perfection. That's the verse we have in front of our pulpit here. Let us press on to perfection. We are not perfect. That verse itself shows we are not perfect. Some people say we think we are perfect. No, look at that verse. We are pressing on to perfection. If I'm saying I'm on my way to Chennai, it means I haven't reached Chennai. I'm pressing on there. I'm pressing on to perfection. So it says, let us leave the elementary teaching, the foundation, and press on to perfection. Not laying again the foundation. The foundation is repentance from dead works, which means all our activities by which we try to be saved. No. Faith towards God, washings or baptisms, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit, laying on of hands for spiritual gifts, and resurrection of the dead in the final, that is the final day, resurrection and eternal judgment. That's the basic foundation. So spiritual gifts is part of the foundation. Baptism in the Holy Spirit, water baptism is all part of the foundation. That's not a full gospel. That's not the post-graduate level. When you have got forgiveness, repentance, and faith, and water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, and you have sought for spiritual gifts, and you believe in the future resurrection and eternal judgment, you have laid a foundation. You haven't got to the superstructure. You haven't even begun the superstructure. That's what scripture says. A lot of people think that baptism in the Holy Spirit means I have completed the building. It's an absolute nonsense. It's the foundation. We believe in it. It's important. Receiving the Holy Spirit and then continuously being filled with the Holy Spirit. So, you remember yesterday I began with this verse in Exodus 25. God said, I want you to build a home for me. Exodus 25 verse 8. Let them construct a sanctuary which we know as the tabernacle, for me that I may dwell among them. The most important thing there is not the pattern of the tabernacle. That is important. But that God should be happy to live there. If God's not happy to live there, just having the structure is no use. Very important to understand that. And we can have a church according to New Testament pattern. God may not be there. You know, in the Old Testament there are examples where the glory of God left. They had the tabernacle, the pattern exactly there, but the glory of God left. You know, in the tabernacle, the most important part was the fire that dwelt on the tabernacle. There are about 10 or 12 chapters in Exodus that describe how to build a tabernacle and any Philistine, any Amorite, Moabite could have built it. Not just the Israelites, if they got that pattern. We can build it today exactly like that. But there's one thing you cannot and I cannot duplicate and those Amorites and Philistines could not duplicate and that is the fire from heaven. There was only one thing in the tabernacle that was supernatural, divine, and that was the fire. The rest was all human. Any human being, an unconverted, godless atheist could have built the tabernacle. And I want to say, godless people can build a church pattern exactly like CFCs. But what you can't duplicate is the presence of the Lord. What you can't duplicate is the presence of the Lord in a meeting. You can't duplicate that. The anointing of God that brings the presence of Jesus Christ so real in a meeting that you go away from the meeting saying, the Lord spoke to me. That you cannot duplicate. You can entertain people with wonderful music that people say, wow, what music that was. You can entertain people with a very powerful orator who can speak powerfully just like these politicians. You know, just because somebody grips your attention for one hour doesn't mean God is speaking. There are politicians who can grip your attention for two hours. Political speakers, very eloquent orators. Don't be deceived by all these things. It's only one thing that marks the fire of God in a church that is the presence of Jesus Christ which makes us tremble in fear in His presence and where we hear Him speaking to us, the secrets of our heart are made manifest. Means the things that we try to hide from people, sins in secret and wrong attitudes and wrong thoughts all get exposed not to humiliate us but to deliver us. He came to set the captives free. He came to open the prison doors. That is the mark of the fire of God and the anointing in the presence. And that is what we should long for in every single meeting. If I go away after speaking in a meeting and I say, Oh Lord, the presence of God is not there. There have been some rare occasions like that more in the past where I have fallen on my face before God and wept. And I said, Lord, what happened today? We didn't sense your presence. But I find so many preachers and elders who can go away after speaking in a meeting and feel quite happy because there was nobody to question them. Did you feel the presence of the Lord there? Did you feel people were hearing God speaking to them? If not, I want to say to you, you should go and fall on your face before God. Get on your bed and fall on your face and weep. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Blessed are those who weep, mourn, for they shall be strengthened. So we want to think a little more of the tabernacle today. So I want to show you something here. Here is a picture of the tabernacle. I want to talk to you about three levels of Christian living. There is a reason why God has given us so many chapters on the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Not for us to study it in detail, but to understand a principle here. There were three parts of the tabernacle which speaks about three levels at which you can live your Christian life and it's your choice as to where you live. Outside the tabernacle is a picture of unbelievers. At the left end, which is the eastern end of the tabernacle, was a gate which represents Jesus saying, I am the door, I am the way. And you enter into the tabernacle, what you see there on the left, and that is a picture of salvation. You come in to be forgiven. And the first thing you see there in front of you is an altar, which is a picture of where the sacrifices are offered for forgiveness of sins. And then you go beyond that, that little circle there, is a picture of a big tub of water where they washed themselves before they went any further. So that's a picture of, first of all, Calvary, where Christ died for our sins and sacrificed for our sins. And second is what in Titus chapter 3 is called a washing of regeneration. That means we are made anew. It's called a washing of regeneration in Titus 3 verse 5. And which we symbolize, which is symbolized in water baptism. So that's what we see there, a picture of forgiveness of sins and water baptism, and you're in the outer court. It's a picture of knowing Jesus as Savior from the penalty of sin. That's it. But that's not the full gospel. That's just the beginning. We need to know that because we must be sure, it's very important that all of us are sure, that we are really turned from our sin. You see, entering through the gate indicates that I have turned from my sin and that I have accepted Christ as my Savior. And going on from there, we come to water baptism, which is the next step of obedience, and I become a part of a local church. I must be sure that my sins are forgiven. The Bible says in Hebrews 8 verse 12, we emphasize that, that your sins and iniquities I will not remember anymore. And the other thing is, we are justified by the blood of Christ, which means not only my sins are forgiven, but I'm clothed with the righteousness of Christ when I come before God. And that's very, very important as well, because so many people live in condemnation, one wondering whether God has really forgiven their sin, and the other hesitant to approach the Holy God. You must be convinced that God doesn't remember your sins anymore, once you've confessed it. The only sin He will remember is the sin that you have not confessed. That is not forgiven. But the sin that is forgiven is the sin that you've confessed. And the other thing is, that we must be convinced that I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I stand before God, not that there is a corrupt flesh in me, but I'm clothed with the righteousness of Christ. It's what the Bible calls justified, declared righteous. Not only forgiven. Forgiven means I stand before God as a criminal who has been forgiven. That's different from standing before God as righteous, because I'm clothed with the righteousness of Christ. That is being justified. I feel that many, many believers have understood forgiveness, but they have not understood justification. Accepted in Christ. And because they are not sure they have been accepted by God in Christ, they live in condemnation, doubt whether they can come to God, hesitant. And that's the devil. Justification is spoken so much in the New Testament. Particularly Romans 3, Romans 4, Romans 5. Read it. Meditate on it until you are sure that you are declared righteous before God. You are not standing there as a criminal, forgiven. But one declared righteous, accepted in Christ. Because I'm clothed in his righteousness. That's so important. And that is what we see in that first picture of knowing Jesus as Savior. But then we go on, there's a covered tent there you see on the right side. Which has got two parts to it. A holy place and a most holy place. And between the holy place and the most holy place was a thick curtain called a veil which was torn when Jesus died on the cross. And in the Old Testament people could not go into the most holy place. They just couldn't go there. Because the veil indicated there's something in you and that was the flesh. The strong self-will of man. Which prevented man from going into the most holy place. But the Old Testament people could come right into the holy place. The priests. In the outer court were only the ordinary people. But those who were priests anointed could go into the holy place where there were three items there. One was a lamb stand. The other was an altar of incense. And a table of bread. Now entering into the holy place is a picture of knowing Jesus as baptizer in the Holy Spirit. The one who anoints me with the Holy Spirit. So I'm trying to explain to you the full gospel. First, you know Jesus as Savior. Who has forgiven you. Says I won't remember your sins. Justified you. You stop there. Some people stop there. That's the first level of the Christian life. Probably some of you are still there. But you need to go on to know Jesus as the one who anoints you with the Holy Spirit. And enables you to serve. And that's where we know Jesus as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. And not everybody went in there to the holy place. It was only the priests. And they were anointed. The ordinary people were not anointed. They could not go there. So here is the second level where we don't stop with just thinking of what we got from God. I got forgiveness. I got justification. We're so grateful and we say Lord I want to do something for you. I want to serve you. And then you think you can serve on your own. To think that you can serve God on your own, your own ability is as foolish as thinking that your good works will forgive your past sins. Now we all know that all your good works will not forgive your past sins. But we don't realize that we don't have the ability to serve God. We think we can. Oh well I can go out and witness. I can go out and do this and do that and the other thing. Yeah you can do a lot of things. Like people in the world, non-Christians, think they can do a lot of things to get their sins forgiven. They light candles, they go on pilgrimages, they dip themselves in some river. That's the same thing many Christians are doing when they think they can serve God without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Exactly the same. You can despise them. Oh those blind people who go and dip in a river thinking their sins can be forgiven. These blind believers, born again believers, who think they can serve God without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Absolutely no difference. They are blind to this. These folks are blind to the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There are multitudes of believers today who have come as far as the first level of the Christian life and stopped. And not gone on to say, Lord I want to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus did not begin to serve the Father till he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. What was wrong with his life at the age of 30? Not a single sin in 30 years. Don't you think a man who lived without sin for 30 years is ready to serve God? You would think so. Foolish Christians think so. Jesus did not. He stood in line, went into the river Jordan, and he was anointed. Then he came out and did things he could never do in 30 years. He could live a holy life in 30 years. But he could not cast out demons in those years. He did not heal the sick in those years. He did not preach any sermons, anointed sermons in those years. For that even Jesus needed the anointing. That's what convinced me as a young Christian. I grew up in a church that preached about being born again, but did not preach the anointing of the Holy Spirit strong enough. A lot of people go to some church where they occasionally mention baptism in the Holy Spirit. That's like going to some dead denomination church where once in a year they talk about being born again. Do you think a lot of people in that church will be born again? Where once in a while they talk about being born again? No. Such churches, the vast majority, will not be born again. And churches that once in a while talk about the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I can guarantee the vast majority of those Christians will not be anointed with the Holy Spirit. They may be forgiven. They live at that first level of the Christian life forever and die there. But God wants them to move on. The full gospel is Jesus is a Savior and Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said that. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And then he also said the same person is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. The first promise in the New Testament is Matthew 1.21, He shall save His people from their sins. The second promise in the New Testament is He shall also baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. Have you experienced that? Very, very important. I remember I grew up in a church that did not preach that when I was born again. I was baptized in water. I was studying the Word of God. We studied the Bible like studying chemistry books or physics books. You don't need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to study chemistry or physics. We studied the Bible like that. We became great scholars of the Bible. But I felt a lack of power in my life. And I said, Lord, I want power. So I began to seek God on my own for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And God anointed me with the Holy Spirit in my room. I didn't need to go to any meeting. I did go to a meeting where they told me to repeat Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. And they're saying your tongue will trip and then you'll speak in tongues. I said, nonsense, I'm not going to do all that. All that counterfeit. I went back to my room and I said, Lord, that is not what I want. That is some cheap counterfeit. I want the real thing and if it takes 10 years, I'll wait for the real thing. God anointed me. My entire ministry changed when God anointed me. I want to urge all of you who think, who are so proud and arrogant, to think that you can serve God without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Just humble yourself. And just like there's no such thing as once saved, always saved. There's no such thing as once filled, always filled. We always need to be anointed with the Holy Spirit if we want to serve. You can have the anointing and you can lose it. King Saul was mightily anointed. He lost it. There are many, many people who were anointed and who lost the anointing. I think Demas, a co-worker of Paul, was definitely anointed. Paul would never have had a man on his team who was not anointed with the Holy Spirit. Impossible. And yet he says about Demas in 2 Timothy 4.10 He has forsaken me, having loved this present world. What happened to the anointing? Gone. So, there we see anointed with the Holy Spirit. But that's not the end of the gospel. Now in the new covenant, what was not possible in the old covenant is go through the veil to the third part of the gospel, which is the most holy place. Jesus as our forerunner. In Hebrews chapter 6 notice how it begins with the foundation, and notice how it ends. Very important. There's a title of Jesus that is only found in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1 begins with let us lay a good foundation. Not laying it again. And it ends with we enter through the veil verse 19 last part we have a hope that goes in through the veil into the most holy place where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. Forerunner means one who has gone ahead of us in this race for us. And so we know Jesus as savior, good. We know Jesus as baptizer. You've got 2 thirds of the gospel. The full gospel is when you go through the veil and know Jesus as baptizer as forerunner. One who went through the veil denied himself, got into the father's presence and lived there all his life. And opened that way for us which was not open in the old covenant. This is the meaning of the rent veil which has made the full gospel available to us. In Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews is a great book you know I took a study of 70 hours through the bible and I took 4 hours on Hebrews alone because I believe it's the most important book for Christians and that's why most Christians don't read it much. They think it's too heavy. That's why they remain babes. In Hebrews 10 it says we have boldness verse 19 to enter actually the most holy place by the blood of Jesus verse 20 by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil. That is the veil is between the holy place and the most holy place. He inaugurated a way for us through the veil and that veil symbolizes his flesh. Do you know the word flesh? It refers to meat sometimes in the new testament but it refers to that which opposes the holy spirit. The flesh fights against the spirit. The spirit fights against the flesh. Galatians 5.17 That is, what is it that fights against the flesh in me? It's not my body. Everything, the root of all sin is my self will. My will. A little child, a two year old child does not lust with his eyes but he's got a flesh. A two year old child does not love money but he's got flesh. A two year old child is not going to commit adultery but he's got a flesh. What is it that two year old child has got? My will. Every parent knows the big conflict is between your will and your little child's will. That child is born with a flesh called my will and it's not love of money it is not lusting with the eyes, it is not any of those things. It is the strength of my will which develops into doing my will when it comes to lusting with my eyes or hating people or not forgiving people or all the other sins you can think of. Jealousy bitterness, everything. The root of it is my will. Jesus did not have sin in his life but he had what is called my will. He says in John 6 38 I came from heaven not to do my will. That means I deny my will to do the will of my father. That is this veil symbolizes that will of Jesus that was torn. Torn throughout the 33 years and finally when he died on the cross the last part of it was torn on the cross he said I don't want to break this fellowship with you father but even there I give up my will. That is the most difficult of all, the greatest temptation which we will never face of being forsaken by God. He was willing to accept even that for our salvation. That's how much he loved us and his will was completely yielded right up to there and the last thread in that veil was torn and the way in the most holy place was opened. We don't realize what a tremendous price Jesus paid to open the way for us. And do we value it? Think of a father who spends millions of rupees in order to give an education to his child. The child doesn't value it. That's exactly how many many Christians are who haven't understood how Jesus rent this veil to open the way for us to enter into the most holy place. If I realize the price, the student realizes how much money my father has sacrificed his whole life to earn money to give me a good education. Here Jesus sacrificed his whole life and even giving up that which he valued the most. The cup he did not want to drink. Fellowship with the father. He even gave up that so that we might get into the most holy place and most Christians do not live there. The way has been opened but we don't go in. The devil blinds people outside the camp to the fact that Jesus died for their sins. They don't know him as savior. Once people get into the outer court or knowing Jesus as savior, he blinds them to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And once people come to the baptism in the Holy Spirit he blinds them to the fact that Jesus can lead you into the holy place. He's our forerunner. So the devil tries to blind people at three places. Outside the camp, you don't know him as savior. After you know him as savior, you don't value him as baptized in the Holy Spirit. And once you know him as baptized, you think you got it? Everybody thinks they got it. The fellow who knows forgiveness thinks he's got it. Even the unbelievers and atheists out there think he's got it. The devil is amazing how he blinds people. So here is in the tabernacle God has described what the full gospel is. You go through the veil into the most holy place. In the outer court there are lots of people. And if you like always mingling with people, you'll stay there forever. In the holy place there are fewer number of people who are anointed, serving, busy serving and if you're one of those who love serving, you'll come there. When you get into the most holy place, there's nobody there but God your father. And if you're bored with God you'll never want to be there. If you like people more than God, you'll never want to be in the holy place. You say the holy place is boring. Talking to God, what is there? I'll tell you something. God is the most interesting person in the universe. Once you get to know him, once you get to know Jesus personally, you'll never want anything else more than that. You don't have to struggle to say, Oh Lord Okay, I desire nothing on earth but you. Lord, I'm willing to give it all up. It won't be like that. It'll be, God, Jesus, I found you. I don't want any of this rubbish. I found you. Have you got it like that? You remember how Adam saw all the animals and the Lord asked him, Do you want any of these as your wife? He said, No, no, no, no, no, no. And finally he brought Eve and said, Wow, this is it. And that's how it is when a person really sees Jesus. I'm absolutely convinced that most of you have not seen Jesus like this. That's the grief of my heart. Many elders in our churches have not seen Jesus like this. That's why they're gripped with their ministry. They're always in the holy place serving this, that, this. They're not gripped with Jesus. Devotion to Jesus is the main purpose of the gospel. And that's possibly in the most holy place where you rend the veil. That means rending the veil is what Jesus meant by taking up the cross daily. You know what it means to take up the cross daily? Rend the veil. It's all the same thing. Say no to my own will every single day. Somebody gets upset with me in the morning and I say no. Somebody gets upset with me in the evening, I say no to my own will. I will not respond to him in the way he responds. Somebody gets upset with me in the office, on the road, anywhere. I die to my will. I mean the temptation is to respond but I will not respond. The Bible says a gentle answer turns away wrath. And he gets upset with me, I'm going to reply gently. I'm going to die to myself. I'm tempted with 101 pictures and all types of things on the road and I keep saying no, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that. I'm not interested. I'm not interested in these things. I'm not interested in doing something unrighteous to make a little more money. I'm always saying no to my own will. What is the result of it? I live in the most holy place all the time. I fellowship with God. When it says in Hebrews in chapter 12 next page Let us run the race looking unto Jesus. What does this mean? Most people who quote this verse don't have a clue what it means. Run means we are running behind someone who's run in front of us. That means he's the forerunner. So if he is a forerunner, we already see in Hebrews 6, he was a forerunner to go into the most holy place. And I am to run behind him and endure the cross despise the shame. Why did he do that? Because of the joy set before him. He endured the cross. What is the joy set before him? It wasn't money. It wasn't any earthly pleasure. There was only one joy set before Jesus and that was fellowship with his father which he enjoyed for 33 and a half years. In a sense, he was living inside the most holy place, rending the veil, living inside for 33 and a half years. He denied himself every day. He took up his cross every day and he lived in the father's presence and Psalm 16 11 says in God's presence there is fullness of joy. I've made that a rule in myself. Whenever I don't have fullness of joy in my life, I say to myself, I am not in the father's presence. Because in the father's presence there's fullness of joy. There's no complaining. There's no grumbling. There's no anger. There's no jealousy. There's no getting upset. Fullness of joy only in the father's presence. And anytime you don't have fullness of joy, whatever you may say, you are not in the father's presence. You may say you have a clear conscience, but you're not in the father's presence because you're not rejoicing in fullness of joy. Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness all the time because it says in Hebrews 1 9, he hated iniquity and he loved righteousness. Or in other words, he hated doing his own will and he delighted in doing the father's will. He hated saying what he wanted to say. He put that to death and spoke what the Holy Spirit prompted him to say. That is why he was anointed with the oil of gladness more than others. More than others because the others didn't want to walk that way. The others want to say what they like sometimes. Don't you feel like sometimes saying what you feel like? Well, no wonder you don't have fullness of joy. Don't you sometimes feel like doing what you want to do? You feel it's boring to live in God's presence, always do God's will? The most wonderful life that has ever lived on earth was lived by a man who did God's will every single moment. That was Jesus Christ. Okay, that is what it means to live in the most holy place all the time. Fellowship with the Father. Okay, I want to go on to show you a little more of what this means. The three levels of the Christian life also mean number one, forgiven by God. That is coming into the outer court, all you got is forgiven by God. When you go into the next stage of the Christian life, you started serving God. And you think that's great. No. There is still a higher level. It doesn't mean the others are ignored. You forgive and you serve and you fellowship with God. When you are in the third stage of the Christian life, all three are there. You are forgiven and you serve and you fellowship with God and your fellowship with God is more important to you than being forgiven and then serving. This is the message of the Tabernacle. I told you, the fire of God was always in the most holy place. It was not in the outer court. It was not in the holy place. It was in the most holy place. The presence and fire of God is there. And if a person who lives at the highest level of the Christian life, fellowship with God every day is much more important than serving him. I've said that many times. I mean, I've served God for 50 years now. And nearly 50. Next May it will complete 50 since I stepped out of my job. And it's been the most wonderful years of my life. I'm more excited today than when I first started serving him. And I believe if the Lord gives me many more years to serve him, I'll be delighted to do that. It just gets better and better all the time. But in the midst of all my service, even today I can testify before God that fellowship with Jesus Christ and the Father is any day more important to me than ministry or preaching or eldership or any type of service. Why do some elders love to be elders? Why do some people just long to speak in a meeting as main speaker? I'll tell you why. It's because they don't know fellowship with the Father. When you get to know fellowship with the Father, you have no desire to be an elder. You'll do it if you're given the job. And you have no desire to be a preacher or any such thing. If somebody asks you, you'll do it. But that's not your great longing. Your great longing is fellowship with God. And when you come there, you've really come to the highest level of the Christian life. And I'm sorry to say that many people I've met among believers, even in CFC churches, have not got there. Some elders love their throne so much. The thing that would disturb them most is being removed from eldership. I'm just waiting to give up my responsibility to speak at conferences, let other people take over, any day. I say, Lord, I just want to spend my years fellowshipping with you. You know, John on the Isle of Patmos, for him, Jesus was everything. It wasn't service. It was presence of Jesus. Otherwise, why would God allow some of his greatest saints to be in prison for so many years, not serving Him? You say, oh, what a waste. The guy's in prison. He could have been so useful serving God. You think he's doing nothing in prison? He's in the most holy place. Worshipping God. You don't realize fellowshiping God, that is the most important thing. That's what you need to understand. One more. These three levels, also these three parts of the tabernacle symbolize a carnal Christian, a soulish Christian, and a spiritual Christian. The carnal Christian is the one who's taken up with his body. You know, man is, by the way, body, soul, and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5.23. Body, soul, and spirit. That, you know, fits in with outer court, holy place, most holy place. The most important part is our spirit. And if I live thinking of my bodily desires, I like to see things that will satisfy the lust of my eyes. I like to say what I like with my tongue. I like to enjoy good food. I never know how to fast. Fasting is a thing I don't like. Feasting I love any day. Imagine if we had a conference here where we say, one day we're going to all fast. I think some of you will be rushing out to restaurants, right? I'll tell you what, I once went for a conference of leaders in another church where they had three days of fasting with just water. I was, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was wonderful. Three days just on water and sharing God's word with these people. And this was not a CFC church. I was amazed that these brothers, leaders in that church would want to have a meeting like this where the leaders come together for three days and just are on liquid diet. They kept some food there for those who wanted to take it. But I didn't. I really enjoyed it. Body is not the most important thing. Body is number three. As I always tell young people when they're getting married, don't look at a person's body. Face. That's number three. It's important but it's number three. Spiritual desire. Intellectual, that's second. Body is third. So those who live according to their bodily desires are carnal. And some people give up their bodily desires, cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh. But then they live in their soul and this is what many Christians don't understand. To live in the soul is to okay, I'm not a dirty person and indulging, watching dirty movies and pornography and all these dirty habits and I've got victory over my anger also and I think I'm a pretty good Christian. But now I fellowship on an intellectual level. I can only fellowship with people on the same intellectual level as me. I can't fellowship with a poor villager who knows Jesus and loves Jesus but he's not at the same intellectual level as me. You can know the Bible intellectually and discuss the Bible intellectually and a lot of people think we're very spiritual and I discuss intellectual things about the Bible with other people. You know, if you can fellowship with Paul but you can't fellowship with Peter, you're not a spiritual person. You know what I mean by that. Paul was an intellectual and spiritual. Peter was unlearned, fisherman, crude, not knowing much of the Bible, but spiritual. That is a test. Do you like to listen to preachers who are intellectual and spiritual like Paul or it's equally good to you to listen to a person who's not intellectual but really spiritual, who's anointed and who brings the presence of God into a meeting. I want to fellowship with people who love Jesus Christ. I don't care whether they are intellectual or not and I feel that all these people who have graduate fellowships and only that type of fellowship, they lose out something spiritually. My salvation has been that in CFC we have PhDs and we have people who are, believe it or not, illiterate who cannot read or write and I fellowship with both of them, both extremes, and it has blessed me immensely. I don't live in my soul. I'm not a soulish Christian. Another aspect of soul is emotions. Tremendous deception. You know, you go to a meeting and you're all emotionally worked up, particularly with music and drums and drums are a tremendous power to whip up your emotions. That's why we don't have it in our church. Because we're not believing in emotionally whipping up people. I'm not against it. You can do what you like but don't be deceived that by music you're coming to God's presence. No. You're still in the realm of the soul. Intellect and emotions are part of the soul and you can be stirred in a wonderful time of singing on Sunday morning and go Sunday afternoon and commit adultery. It's actually happened. It's happened to pastors who lead wonderful singing and then go and commit adultery. How is that? You can't commit adultery if you're living in the most holy place but you can if you're living in the soul. And this is where the devil has blinded people because you're emotionally stirred up. You think you're filled with the Holy Spirit. You are not. You're emotionally stirred. You can be anointed and not filled with the Holy Spirit continuously. You know, Saul's anointing remained for some time and there are people who are anointed even nowadays. Jesus said in the last days, people will come and say, Lord, we did miracles in your name. But he says, get away. I don't know you. You guys were anointed but you didn't follow me as forerunner. You lived in sin. How can a person be anointed and not know the Lord? I don't know you. You don't know the Lord in the outer court or the holy place. You know the Lord, you've got to get to the most holy place. And there you learn why some people the Lord can say, you did so many things for me but you did not know me. You had no interest in denying your will and coming into the most holy place to know me and to fellowship with me. You were only interested in your ministry in the holy place. You're there and everybody's impressed with what you can do and the miracles and casting out demons. We've seen healings in our church. We don't talk about it. Numerous demons cast out. We don't talk about that. Prophesying, preaching, we've seen it all. But to us the important thing is fellowship with God. Beyond all these things. You can live in the intellect, you can live in the emotions and deceive yourself and you'll never be spiritual. Don't be deceived. That is a soulish Christian. A lot of so called baptism in the Holy Spirit is actually baptism in the soul. They call it baptism in the spirit. It's an emotional baptism. They work people's emotions up. In some places there are pentecostal churches where they beat the drum and the speed gets louder, I mean faster and faster and faster and faster and the Holy Spirit has come. Or it can be music gets louder, louder, louder, louder and the drums go faster and faster. The Holy Spirit has come. What is this? And then the sudden people begin to babble something and say, Oh, it's the Holy Spirit. Don't be fooled. If it is the Holy Spirit it will make you holy. If not, there is a tremendous deception going on in Christendom and we stand against it. And the third is the spiritual Christian, the man who lives in his spirit. Who is led by the Holy Spirit. So there is a difference between a carnal Christian who has cleansed himself from the filthiness of the flesh, 2 Corinthians 7.1 and the soulish Christian, the spiritual Christian who is one, sorry, the carnal Christian who has not cleansed himself from the filthiness of the flesh. The soulish Christian has cleansed himself from filthiness of the flesh, but not filthiness of the spirit. His soul is mixed up with the spirit. The Bible speaks in Hebrews 4.12, the word of God comes and divides soul and spirit. Do you know anything of that? Dividing soul and spirit, most importantly, if you go to one of these daring meetings waiting for the Holy Spirit, you better divide soul and spirit there. Otherwise you'll get deceived. You'll get an emotional, soulish baptism which you think, because you haven't divided soul and spirit there, you'll think that's the Holy Spirit. It's not. I've been in meetings like that and I'm not going to be deceived. But when you rend the veil, when you deny yourself, say no to your own will, then you know you're in the most holy place. And experiences that you have in fellowship with Jesus can never go wrong. That's why I tell people, if you're seeking for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, seek for it in your room. Alone. Or with another brother. Not in an emotional meeting. You'll be deceived. And you'll think you got something, you got nothing. Okay. What do these three areas of the tabernacle symbolize? First of all, born of the Holy Spirit. It's all the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be born again without the Holy Spirit. When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, it's the Holy Spirit who comes in. Because Jesus is in heaven. The spirit is the spirit of Christ. Romans 8, 9 says, if you don't have the spirit of Christ, you're not even born again. The spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit. Romans 8, 9 is the clearest verse in the Bible which says that when you're born again, you receive the spirit. In the early days of the church, they used to say, believe in Jesus and receive the spirit. Today, we combine the two and say, receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart. Because in a country like India, if you say to people, receive the spirit, aha! With spirit. Even if you baptize a person in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That Hindu man who goes home and tells his dad, I've been baptized in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He said, that's okay, you were baptized in the name of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. That's the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to them. That's why when we baptize people, we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not Vishnu and the Holy Spirit. That's called baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles. But it is baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Identifying the Son as the Lord Jesus Christ. When we receive Christ into our heart, in the early days they said, believe in Jesus, receive the spirit. Today we combine it and say, receive the Lord Jesus into your heart. The spirit of Christ comes in. But you may not be anointed, you may not be continuously filled. It's a second stage, when you say, Lord, you will never seek for the anointing if you only want to go to heaven. Let me tell you, to go to heaven you only need to be born of the spirit. But if you want to serve God, you got to be anointed. And if you want to please God everyday, then you go to the third stage, where you are led by the Holy Spirit. It says in Romans 8 and verse 16, as many as are led by the Holy Spirit. They are the sons of God. Have you read that verse? Romans 8 and verse 16 it says, sorry, the spirit bears witness that we are the children of God. But verse 14, those who are, you see the difference between verse 14 and 16. 15 and 16 says, we receive the spirit, he cries out, Abba Father. The moment you are born again, you say, God is my father. And it says, that happens because the Holy Spirit has come in. Because it's the spirit within you, that tells you, you are a child of God. Hey, you are not a child of the devil anymore, you are a child of God. But, if you allow verse 14, the spirit to lead you, and he lead you along that new and living way, that Jesus is our forerunner, to walk in his footsteps, then you will not be just a child of God, you will be a son of God. That's a mature son of God. So from a child of God, if you want to be a son of God, you've got to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. And the spirit of God says, keep quiet. Don't reply to him the way he talked to you. You say, yes Lord. The spirit of God says, turn your eyes away, don't look at that filthy picture. Or, go away from those people. They are talking a lot of rubbish. You are sitting in somebody's home, they are watching a television program, which is not good, and the spirit of God says, get up and go away, and you immediately respond, led by the spirit, you are a son of God. If you are one of those who don't listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, maybe you are a child of God, but you are not a son of God. You are not living in the most holy place. There are three levels of the Christian life, and you are the one who chooses where you want to live. Led by, born of the Holy Spirit, anointed by the Holy Spirit, still, there are many people anointed by the Holy Spirit, who are not led day by day, by the Holy Spirit. That's why you hear of numerous preachers being caught for financial scandals with money, and are committing adultery with their congregation members, or with others, or prostitutes, all types of things. But they are anointed. If you don't distinguish between being anointed by the Holy Spirit, and led by the Holy Spirit, you will be taken up with the person. Wow! What an anointed man! Fine, but I don't want to follow him. Sorry. Have you ever said that? That's a mighty preacher, but I don't want to follow his example. He's great in the pulpit, but outside the pulpit, he's another man. That's not what Paul meant when he said, follow me. That's not what Jesus meant when he said, follow me. Which is more important, the way you live, or the way you minister? Jesus lived a holy life for 33 and a half years. He preached and served God 3 and a half years, anointing. That is 10 times longer. Life, the way you live, is 10 times more important than your anointing. So, to me, when I see an anointed preacher who can preach well, or even heal the sick, or do some wonderful things, to me that is one-tenth of his life. Let me look at the other. His life behind the pulpit, and his walk, and his private life is 10 times more important to me than what he is in the pulpit. That's why I tell you honestly, most preachers whom I listen to, I cannot follow them. They're great, and I'm not impressed by that wonderful sermon. That wonderful sermon gathers a congregation. You can build a mega church. You can't make disciples. You can't build the body of Christ. Don't covet that. When you look at a person, let me ask you, when you listen to a powerful preacher, do you ever wish, ah, I wish I could preach like that. You are a soulish Christian. Maybe you're a carnal Christian. But if you can look at a man's life, his attitude to money, his humility, the way he loves even little children, and he speaks to a child with just as much importance as he speaks to an adult, you see, that's what I want. I want to follow a man who's got a godly life. Maybe he can't preach well. It doesn't matter. Those are the people I admire. I tell you honestly, there are some young people whom I admire more than some preachers, because I see some unselfish, sacrificial godliness in some of those young people. And I admire them more, to tell you honestly, than some people who can do wonderful things and go here and there as invited speakers, even in CFC. I'll tell you honestly, life is much more attractive to me than ministry, led by the Holy Spirit. Okay, we go forward. We think of prayer and praise. There's a very common thing today called praise and worship. In every church they use that expression. It's become Christian lingo. Completely unscriptural. Nobody bothers about it. You show me a single verse in the New Testament which calls that praise and worship. It is not. But I've got so used to Christians using unbiblical language that it doesn't surprise me anymore. But when you use unbiblical language, be sure you'll go astray as well. If you want to understand what worship is, any of you are serious about it, I would encourage you, take a concordance. And many of you have got Bibles on your phones and all, you can search for the word worship in the New Testament. Not Old Testament. Old Covenant worship is different from New Covenant worship. In the New Covenant, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, 23-24, The hour has now come and is going to come when the true worshippers will worship in spirit. Until then, they worship only in body and soul. So, in the outer court, they thank God. Thanksgiving is a very good habit. And they knew in the Old Testament how to thank God. And that's the first step. You come into the outer court and you say, Thank you, Lord, for forgiving my sin. It's one of the first things I tell new converts to say, Thank you, Lord, for coming into my heart. We begin there, thanking God. Thank you. And it's a habit you must have. I'm not saying these are three alternatives. We have them all the time. We learn to thank God for what he's done for us. And the holy place represents one step higher, where we praise God, not for what he's done, but for who he is. God, you're holy. I'm not thinking now, in the outer court, I'm thinking of what he's done for me. I'm still sort of wrapped up around myself. He's done this for me. He's given me a job. He's given me a house. He's given me a wife. He's got good children. He's given me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Great. How about moving on? And you come into the realm where you praise God for who he is. God, you're holy. You're still not worshipping. Hang on. You're praising God. You're holy. You're merciful. You're loving. You're almighty. Then you move to the third stage, worshipping God. Thanking God, praising God, worshipping God. What is worshipping God? You can't know what is worshipping God unless you're willing to die to yourself. And die to the world. Like the living Bible paraphrase of Galatians 6, 14 says, I have as little interest in this world as a dead man has. That's going through the veil. I have as little interest in this world as a dead man has. You say, how can you live like that? Okay, Jesus lived like that. He used the things of the world. He worked as a carpenter, earned his living, but his mind was not occupied with making more and more money. It was a means of earning his living, but he wanted to live in the presence of his father. See, a lot of us say we want to follow Jesus. I tell you, deep down in your heart, you are not willing to pay the price. Let me tell you the truth. Christianity is just a little an additional thing to what is the main purpose. Your main purpose in your life is something else, but you added on a little bit of Christianity. You'll never be spiritual that way. Maybe you'll get as far as the holy place, but you'll never know the fire of God, which is always upon the most holy place. If there's one thing I wanted in my life, I say, Lord, I want the fire of God in my life. All the time. I want it all the time. The fire of God upon my life. I say, Lord, you can take away my health, you can take away my ability to speak, paralyze me, but I want the presence of Jesus all the time with me. I want to be a worshipper. Jesus said in Matthew 4.10, you cannot serve God before you worship him first. Did you hear that? Matthew 4.10, you shall worship and then you shall serve. To worship God is to be taken up with him, because in the most holy place you may be silent. Most worship is silent. It's not thanksgiving. It's not praising. Most of what Christians call praise and worship is actually thanksgiving and praise. If you don't believe me, listen to the songs that are, the songs we sang today, or go to any church where they talk about praise and worship and listen to the words which are sung. Most people don't pay attention to the words. Every time you'll see the words are either a prayer, or praise, or thanksgiving, or praise. Worship is when I'm taken up with God, and most of the time when you're taken up with God, I think of that verse, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silent before him. It's a verse in the Old Testament, in Habakkuk, let all the earth keep silent before him. In the presence of God, our mouths are shut. We are taken up. Father of Jesus, love's reward, what rapture will it be? Prostrate before your throne to lie, and gaze and gaze on thee. My mouth is shut. That is worship. When we're taken up with Jesus, and he's the most precious thing to us, when we're taken up with God Almighty, and there's a holy awe that keeps our mouth shut, like in the presence of some very big man in the world, in the presence of Almighty God, we're taken up with him. We say Lord, we desire nothing on earth but you. When we get to heaven, we want to be taken up with you. We're not interested in the golden streets or the mansions, and I'll let other people have that. We want you. A worshipper is one who's taken up with God. Move on from thanking God, from praising God, to worshiping him. And then there are three levels of light in the three places. The outer court has got sunlight, which is a picture of human reason, which everybody has, common sense. Good. Very useful. We need it all the time. When you go into the holy place, the light is a lamp stand. That is a picture of, and the word of God is there, the table of showbread. That is God's word gives us light. The bread, the table of showbread speaks about God's word. So there is a light that we get from the Bible. That is a second level of light, more than human reason. But when you get into the God's presence, it's the fire of God there which gives light. There's no lamp stand there. There's nothing else. And that speaks of light that comes from the divine nature. When the nature of God comes in, you know, it's like a cat is repelled by certain things. A pig is not repelled by filth. That's nature. It's not instructing the pig, hey, you should not love filth. You can instruct a pig as much as you like. Nature makes it love filth. And you can't make a cat love filth because it's nature repels itself. The highest level of light is when God's nature has possessed me more and more and I'm repelled by anger. I just don't want to get angry. I don't want to hate people. I don't want to be jealous. I don't want to be unforgiving. See, when you come there, in the beginning it's a battle. You try to follow God's word, but you can move into the most holy place where gradually God's nature takes over. It's wonderful to move into this third level. This is the full gospel. Don't miss out on what God has for you. We preach the full gospel in CFC. We believe in human reason. I use my common sense all the time. But I move on from that. I read God's word all the time, but I move on from that and say, Lord, I want the light of your nature to show me what is right and wrong because there are so many things which my common sense can't tell me and so many situations on earth for which I don't have a clear answer in the Bible. The Holy Spirit within witnesses. Avoid that. It's the divine nature. Do you sense that in your life? Very very important. Okay, we got to move on. Jesus spoke three levels of fruitfulness in the gospel. He said in Mark chapter 4, the seed that is sown on good ground. You know there are three types of bad ground and three types of good ground that Jesus spoke about. The bad ground is the first of all on the roadside. The other is the rocky soil. And the third bad ground was where the thorns came up. Mark chapter 4 verse 3 onwards. But then there are three types of good ground mentioned in verse 8 of Mark chapter 4. The first good ground brought thirty-fold. Second good ground brought sixty-fold. And the third good ground brought hundred-fold. Three types of bad ground, three types of good ground. All three had an honest and a good heart. But why is it some people brought thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, some hundred-fold? In another parable Jesus spoke about someone who brought from one talent, he brought five, another brought ten. So different people produce different results depending on how wholehearted they are. Yeah, the people in the outer coat also produce some fruit for God and you can be satisfied with that. The people who go into the most holy place produce some more but the people in the most holy place it's hundred-fold. Are you satisfied with producing a little bit of service from God? Are you satisfied with a little more? Or you say, Lord I want the maximum. I talk about minimum and maximum Christians. The minimum Christians are, their whole attitude is, what is the minimum I have to do for God to go to heaven? What is the minimum money I must give to God? What is the minimum amount of time I must give to God? What is the minimum amount I must be involved in this church to serve? I want to be a member of the church but I don't want to get too involved in it. And there are others who say, Lord what is the maximum you can get out of my one earthly life? I've got only one life to show my thankfulness to Jesus what he died for me. What's the maximum you can get out of it? Please. I'm willing to sacrifice a little bit of sleep. Sleep is not so important for me. I need sleep. But I'm willing to sacrifice sleep many a time. I mean, I've been traveling for 50 years and when you travel I tell you, you can't sleep properly every night. Even when you go to some place you don't get proper sleep. But that's not so important for me. If I can live for God, sleep is not so important. So many things, you know, if you really want a hundredfold in your life, money is not important, sleep is not important, food is not important, you're willing to eat anything, you're willing to sleep anywhere. I want my life to count for God 100%. What's the maximum God can get out of me? It doesn't mean I don't relax. I believe in relaxing. I believe in light, clean entertainment. No problem. But I'm not a fanatic for entertainment. I see everything in balance. If you don't discipline yourself like this, your life will not count a hundredfold for God. Make sure you don't produce 30 or 60. Okay, finally, three levels of maturity. In 1 John chapter 2, verse 12 to 14, you read about people who start as babies. Just like in natural life, you start as babies, you grow up to be young men, and then you become fathers. Babies are those who are always dependent on others. They always want somebody to encourage them, somebody to visit them, somebody to speak to them. They can never get anything from the Bible themselves. They always have to get somebody else to feed them. You know how you spoon feed a baby? And most Christians, I'm telling you, a lot of people sitting in CFC, they don't get much from the Bible themselves. They have to be spoon fed in the meetings. That's a baby. If you're like that, you're a baby. Young men have gone to another stage. The three stages of the Christian life of maturity. They've come to battle the devil, it says in verse 14 of 1 John 2. They've overcome Satan. The word of God dwells in them. They've overcome Satan. They've gone to one more stage. But that is not also final. The third stage is where you're a spiritual father. Many times you read to the Corinthians and Hebrews, the Bible says, the time has come when you should have been fathers. Hebrews chapter 5. But you're not fathers. You're babes. I really feel like saying that to many people who have sat in CFC. If you have been in CFC for even 15 years, you should have been a spiritual father by now, spiritual mother to others. One who cares. One who guides. One who leads. If you're not that, I'm not asking you to condemn yourself. Ask yourself why you're not growing. Supposing you had a child that is not growing 15 years in the kindergarten. You don't hate him. Do you hate a child who's 15 years in the kindergarten? You feel sorry for him. You tell me, how many of you had one child sitting in kindergarten for 15 years? God has got numerous children in CFC churches sitting for 15 years in the kindergarten. They're not growing. They're not overcoming Satan. They don't have a spiritual responsibility for others. You know, a little baby can't be a father. Five-year-old. He always wants to be fed and fed and he wants toys. He doesn't want serious responsibility in his home. He wants toys and he wants to get up when he feels like and mommy and daddy have to do everything for him. They do nothing. We need to grow up, brothers and sisters. And I hope what the lesson of the Tabernacle will teach us that there are three levels at which you can live. You can know Jesus as Savior, Baptizer or Forerunner. You can be a baby or you can be a young man or you can be a spiritual father. And the great need right now in all of our CFC churches is for spiritual fathers and mothers. People who press on to perfection. Who forget the things that are behind. Okay, I forget the outer core. I forget the holy place. I'm pressing on more and more and more into the most holy place to learn more and more of God. There is no end to knowing God. There's no end to discovering the wonders there are in God. There's no end to knowing God more through the Bible. I feel that I know so little of God even now. I thank God because God is so vast and so infinite. To know Him as Father. This is the ultimate of the Gospel. To know God as Father. Secure in Him. To know Jesus as bridegroom and friend. It's far more important than serving. All our service will become rich and a blessing. And the anointing will be continually upon us and increase if you live in the most holy place. I've just given you a little taste today. I hope you will meditate on it and say, Lord, this is where I want to live. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow before you. Please help us to live in your presence. Denying our own will and living, doing your will every day. We humbly ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Three Levels of the Christian Life
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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.