========================================================================
  HAS JESUS COMMITTED HIMSELF TO YOU
  by Zac Poonen
========================================================================

Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of being a radical
disciple of Jesus, highlighting the need to prioritize Christ above all
relationships, to die to self and not get offended, and to surrender all
possessions to the Lord. It stresses the significance of seeking first
the kingdom of God, being detached from earthly possessions, and living
a life fully committed to Christ, even if it means facing challenges and
persecution.

Topics: "Radical Discipleship", "Prioritizing Christ"
Scripture References: John 2:23, Luke 14:26, Luke 14:27, Luke 14:33, Galatians 6:14, Ephesians 2:6, Proverbs 6:6, 2 Corinthians 12:14

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sermon emphasizes the importance of being a radical disciple of
Jesus, highlighting the need to prioritize Christ above all
relationships, to die to self and not get offended, and to surrender all
possessions to the Lord. It stresses the significance of seeking first
the kingdom of God, being detached from earthly possessions, and living
a life fully committed to Christ, even if it means facing challenges and
persecution.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brothers and sisters, there's a word that came to my heart today from
John chapter 2. It's something that I thought about many times but it
came afresh to me today. It says here in John chapter 2 and verse 23 to
25, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many
believed in his name. Now that was a, this is the beginning of his
ministry and there were many who believed in his name.

It's even today we see it's very difficult for a Jew to become a
Christian. So when a Jewish person believed in Christ, seeing the
miracles which he was doing, it's really wonderful. But the interesting
thing is that Jesus was not so excited about these people believing in
him.

Because it says in verse 24, and this is a, we have to be careful
because many of us also believe in Jesus in the same way these Jews
believed. But we need to think of verse 24 and 25 in connection with
ourselves. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them.

They entrusted themselves to him, verse 23, which means they believed in
him. But he did not believe in them. So he did not entrust himself to
them.

That can happen today. You believe in Jesus and entrust yourself to him.
He doesn't believe in you and he doesn't entrust himself to you because
he knew all men.

And he did not need anyone to testify concerning man. He did not need
someone saying, Lord, this is a good brother. This is a good sister.

Please trust him. They know so much of the Bible. No, he did not need
anyone to testify concerning him.

Oh, this brother is an elder in a church or in a synagogue or whatever
it was in those days. He did not need anyone. I want to say brothers and
sisters, even today, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He does not need anyone to testify to him concerning you or me. He
doesn't need a recommendation about you from some elder brother or any
such thing because Jesus himself knows what is in every man. So why do
we seek commendation from men? Why do we seek the approval of men? Paul
said he never sought the approval of men.

He says in Galatians chapter one and verse four, oh sorry, verse 10,
Galatians chapter one, verse 10, Paul understood this, that some who
believe in Jesus, Jesus did not commit himself to them. And he was
concerned that Jesus should commit himself to him because he said, Lord,
how can I do your, how can I serve you? How can I live on this earth if
you don't commit yourself to me? And Jesus did not need any man to
recommend Paul to him. It says here, am I now seeking the favor of men
or of God? If you want to follow Jesus, brothers and sisters, say that
to yourself.

Am I seeking to the favor of men or of God? Am I striving to please
somebody? Stop striving. Seek only to please the Lord. If I was still
trying to please men, I cannot be a non-servant of Christ.

If I seek to please men, I cannot be a servant of Christ. Those are very
strong words. Many, many years ago, the time when we started CFC, 45
years ago, I got those words written in a small plank of wood and I had
it in my sitting room for 25 years and more.

I saw it every day in front of me. If I seek to please men, I cannot be
the servant of Christ. That's the way, anyway, I started my ministry in
CFC and I was very thankful that that reminder every day, I don't have
it in front of my, in my sitting room today because I don't need it.

It's been so deeply imprinted in my mind, but in the beginning, you
know, we need something that God speaks to us. We need to keep on
reminding ourselves of it. The Lord told the Israelites to write the
verses of the law on the walls of your house and the doors so that it'll
remind you.

Today, people put pictures. I used to have verses to remind me again and
again of the most important things in life and I was very thankful for
that. In the early days, we had a verse in every room to remind us
because I want the Lord to commit himself to me and I hope that is your
desire also, not that you've committed yourself to the Lord, but that
the Lord will commit himself to you and if you want the Lord to commit
himself to you, you need to be reminded frequently of the things that he
has said.

Very important and if you turn now to Matthew's gospel in chapter 10,
here's another very strong statement of his, which is another thing that
we thought about much in the early days when CFC and the Lord began,
when planted CFC in those early days. Matthew 10, 34, he said, don't
think I came to bring peace on the earth. You know, at Christmas time,
people sing the song, the angel sang, peace on earth and goodwill
towards men.

But if you read the full words that the angel said that time, it is
peace on earth and goodwill towards men, Luke 2, 14, with whom he is
pleased. Peace among men with whom he is pleased. Luke 2, 14, that's how
it is in the NASB or people of his good pleasure.

So it's not peace among everybody. It's peace among those with whom God
is pleased. That's what the angel is saying.

So here it says, don't think I came to bring peace on the earth. He came
to bring peace among those with whom he is pleased, but not on the whole
earth. And he says, I did not come to bring peace.

I came to bring a sword and he defines what that sword is. It's not a
sword with which we fight for our rights, like the world uses their
swords. It's not a sword with which we try to overcome people in any
way.

There are people in Christendom who are fighting with each other to
overcome one denomination, trying to overcome another, and one preacher
trying to overcome another, and a lot of criticism and all that. We're
not in that category. We refuse to fight, or I refuse to fight even over
doctrines.

I say, if you don't believe what I say, just forget it. Believe whatever
you like. But I'm not going to argue with anyone over doctrine.

I've had many people come to my house and argue with me over doctrine,
and after a while I say, yeah, let's forget it. It's not because I see
you're not interested in knowing the truth. You just wanted to argue.

So, but we do, where is the sword to be used? I came to set a man
against his father. The same Lord who said in Mark 7, you must honor
your father and mother, says here, I came to bring a sword, a man
against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, and the man's enemies will be those in his
own family, members of his own family. What does he mean? He who loves,
verse 37, Matthew 10, 37, he who loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me.

That's what he means, that the Lord has come to bring a sword that
prevents a man from loving his father or mother more than Christ. If
you're a God-fearing person, you grow up respecting your parents, and
that's right, and you love father and mother, and even in non-Christian
cultures, I know non-Christians respect their parents a lot. They love
father and mother, and then Christ comes in, and he says, I've come in
between.

He always comes between us and our loved ones, and if you don't let him
come there, you can't be his disciple. He who loves father or mother
more than me, he is not worthy of me. See, this explains why Jesus did
not commit himself to certain people, as we read in John 2, 24 and 25,
because he knew what was in man.

He knew that some of these people, they loved their parents more than
they loved me. They loved their, and like it says here, he who loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and the same applies to
any family member. He knew that a lot of those people who believed in
him, they loved their family members more than they loved Jesus.

They believed in Christ, of course. They loved seeing his miracles, and
people want to go to heaven. A lot of people accept Christ because they
want to go to heaven when they die.

That's about it. That's not true conversion. No, it's a hating of sin
more than a wanting to go to heaven that makes a person have a proper
relationship with Christ, a hating of the self-life that has produced
all the sin in our life.

If there's no hater of that, it's a very selfish type of Christianity,
and the Lord saw that a lot of those people in John chapter 2 we read,
they believed in him. You know, they say, Lord, we believe you're the
son of God, and we trust you, and we want to follow you, but this he
knew what was in man, and he sees what is in us today. If anyone loves
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

If you love your children more than you love Jesus Christ, Jesus says
absolutely you're not worthy of me, and you're certainly not my
disciple, and if you don't take up your cross, verse 38, and follow me,
you're not worthy of me, and then there's these words that come
frequently in all the gospels. Matthew 10 39, he who has found his life
will lose it, but he loses his life for my sake will find it. There he's
not referring to martyrdom.

He's not referring to our giving up our physical life. The word there in
verse 39 is our soul life. There are different words in the original
language for soul life and physical life, and he's talking here about
your soul life, that if I try to find my soul life, that means I like to
preserve myself, my dignity, my respect, and I want self to be
preserved.

If you don't, you will lose it, but if you're willing to lose all that,
lose your self-life for my sake, not just lose it for any other reason,
but for Jesus' sake, you will find it. So the most oft-repeated
statement, that is perhaps the most oft-repeated statement of Jesus in
the gospels. I think it occurs about six times.

If you find your life, you will lose it. If you seek to find your life,
you lose it, and if you are willing to lose your life for his sake,
you'll find it. If that is the most oft-repeated statement of Jesus in
all the four gospels, all of us should be able to explain that to
someone who asks us from our experience how we have lost our soul life
in order to find Christ and his life.

Will you be able to explain it to someone how you experienced that in
your own life? If not, you haven't taken the words of Jesus seriously.
This is the most oft-repeated statement of Jesus in the four gospels.
It's not just four times, it's six times if I'm not mistaken.

So we need to understand this very clearly, and if you turn to Luke
chapter 14, we can think about it a little more. In Luke 14, we read in
a similar sort of statement. In Luke 14, like in John chapter 2 where
many people believed in him, here it says in Luke 14, 25, large crowds
went along with him.

Today, if a preacher saw a large crowd following him, the first thing
he'd do is take an offering or at least say something that will make
himself popular with that crowd. Jesus was so different. I tell you,
when you read the gospels, you find hardly any preacher who's like
Jesus.

I remember as a young man when I read the gospels and I looked around to
see preachers who were like Jesus, who couldn't care for the multitudes,
who couldn't care for their money, were willing to be unpopular with
them, but spoke the truth. I hardly found any. Very, very difficult,
even in today's world.

Everybody's after money or popularity, preachers, to build their own
name and their own kingdom. But look at Jesus here, and this is what it
means for any preacher to follow Jesus. When he saw this great crowd
following after him, he turns around and tells them some of the hardest
words that he ever spoke to anybody.

He's speaking about discipleship, and he gave three conditions of
discipleship there in verse 25, sorry, 26, 27, and 33, strong
statements. All of them were, you got to put me above these three, in
these three areas of your life, you got to put me first. Now it's very
important for us to understand this because these are all, in the
concluding statement in verse 26 is he cannot be my disciple.

If you don't fulfill this condition, there's no way of being my
disciple. There's no second class disciples. You're a disciple or you're
not a disciple.

And if you don't fulfill this, you cannot be my disciple. In verse 27,
you don't do this, you cannot be my disciple. And verse 33, if you don't
do this, you cannot be my disciple.

Absolutely. There is no second class of disciples. There are no
spiritual disciples and carnal disciples.

No, there are disciples and those are not disciples. These three
statements are very clear. Now this is important because, let me go back
to the two great commissions that Jesus did.

Some of you already know about it because I often speak about it, but
there may be others here who have not heard me so often. So let me
repeat it. I never mind repeating things for the benefit of young
children growing up who are hearing these for the first time in our
midst and also for the benefit of people who have come in more newly and
who haven't heard it so often.

First of all, in Luke, the first great commission is Mark 16 and verse
15. Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, to
every person. And this is a very simple statement.

We've got to go and preach to everyone in the whole world. And he who
believes and is baptized will be saved. This is the elementary gospel.

And he who does not believe, no mention of baptism there, he who does
not believe will be condemned. And if you go doing this, these signs
will accompany those who have believed. Not every single person who has
believed, but the company of those who have believed, these signs will
be there.

Now you can't go claiming that if you're not going into all the world
and preaching the gospel. A lot of people like to say, Oh Lord, you said
we can cast out demons and speak in new tongues and heal the sick and
all. Hang on, hang on.

Don't rush into that. To whom did he say that? Perhaps not to you
because you're no interest in going to the gospel, going to all the
world and preaching the gospel. No, you're seeking your own.

You're probably only interested in making money. You're going to all the
world to make money. Here he's talking about those who want to go into
all the world to preach the gospel.

I'm not talking about going to foreign countries in the world means that
maybe your neighbor or someone living across the street or somebody in
your office, that's your, that's part of the world you've got to go
into, but your passion in life is to give the gospel to others, to tell
people how they need to turn from their sins and believe in Jesus
Christ. And to such people, yeah, God will confirm your word with many
signs. And we've seen that even in India, you know, those who go into
unreached areas, even today, some people say the day of miracles is
past.

It's not, God doesn't do many miracles in the midst of communities of
people are already born again. And that did not happen even in the early
days in, I mean, Paul lived with a thorn in the flesh. Timothy lived
with a stomach ache throughout his life.

They were not healed, but in the acts of the apostles, whenever they
went into new places, exactly like it says in Mark 16, miracles took
place. And we've seen that happen in India today. You go into a new
place where nobody's ever heard the gospel and you go there to preach
the gospel to people who don't even know who Jesus Christ is.

And I tell you, it'll happen. The sick will be healed and demons will be
cast out. It happens even today.

And they speak in new tongues and they are protected from harm in so
many ways. And they lay hands on the sick and they recover. It happens
even today for those who go into unreached areas to preach the gospel.

That's one part of the great commission. The second part of the great
commission, it's like two sides of a coin or two sides of a currency
note. If one side of a coin is not printed or one side of a currency
note is not printed, it's fake.

In the same way, the great commission has got two sides. This is one
side. In both cases, he said, go into all the world.

The second one is Matthew 28. Here he says in verse 18, this is the
other side of the great commission. All authority has been given to me
in heaven and on earth.

You go, therefore, now it's very important to understand this clearly.
Every word is important. Go and make disciples in the whole world, in
every nation.

That's the same as saying the whole world. There it was, Mark 16, go and
preach the gospel to all the world. Here it is, go and make disciples in
the whole world.

And why should I go? Now, most missionary challenges are, there's a need
out there. So you should be going, what are you doing here doing a
secular job when there's a need out there for preaching the gospel and
you're sitting here making money? Go there and preach the gospel. That's
how missionary challenges are made today.

And a lot of people are moved emotionally by this very clever preacher.
And they go forward and become missionaries and have short-term
missionaries go to Mexico or India or something for three, four weeks,
like a holiday for them, or go long-term, but they go on the basis of
somebody challenging them to go. And I've seen a lot of these people in
India, those who come short-term and long-term, and they are such a
disgrace to the name of Christ.

They're not disciples, first of all, young people. They come for fun.
They're evangelical tourists.

And even some long-term missionaries, they've never known what it is to
be disciples themselves. And they go into all the world. Why? Because
they went on the wrong basis.

Here it says, go therefore, verse 19, therefore, like it has been said,
whenever you see a therefore in scripture, see what it is there for.
What is it there for? Why is the word therefore there? It's based on the
previous verse, not there's a need in the whole world, therefore go. No,
that's the wrong way to go.

All authority is given to me, Jesus said in heaven and earth, therefore
go. In other words, you come under my authority first. Come under my
authority in your home, submit every area of your life to me, and then I
will send you under my authority.

And when you go under my authority, you'll see amazing results in your
ministry. But if you go just because you see a need and you think you're
quite qualified, you've got a few, know a few verses in the Bible, et
cetera, you'll make a mess of your life like so many other people have
made a mess of their life. We got to come under the authority of Christ.

And you don't have to go to a foreign country to make disciples. You can
make disciples in your office. You can make disciples among your
relatives.

You can make disciples among your friends, but you have to come under
the authority of Jesus Christ first. And every one of you is listening
to me. If you are really born again, if you're really made Jesus savior,
you must make him Lord of your life and come under his authority.

And then this is your responsibility. It's not the responsibility of a
few full-time workers and preachers to make disciples. No, every single
one of us is called to make disciples who has come under the authority
of Jesus Christ.

All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, why Lord
should I go? Because all authority is given to me in heaven and earth.
The Lord says, and you come under my authority, therefore go.

Where should I go, Lord? Come under my authority and I will tell you
exactly where to go. He may never call you to full-time Christian
service. There are very, very few who are called to full-time Christian
service.

Maybe one in 10,000 believers. Yeah. One in 10,000 believers, I think
are called to full-time Christian ministry.

There are hundreds who go out who are never called. I've seen a lot of
people like that in every country on earth. There are people like that,
but those who go under the authority of the Lord, the Lord backs them up
and go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them.

You have to baptize them as disciples in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. The trinity is very important. Very, very important.

And then that doesn't conclude there. Does he say now, and these signs
will follow those who make disciples? No. No mention of signs or tongues
or demons casting out or healing the sick or being unheard by poisonous
things.

None of these things here. That was in Mark 16. You go to unreached
areas and there are all types of dangers there, and the word has to be
preached to people who have never heard about Jesus.

They don't even know who Jesus is. There has to be some confirmation.
You've got to understand that, certainly.

Like I've often said, you go into some village in India where they never
heard about Jesus. You go and say, I want to tell you about Jesus. They
say, who is he? You never heard of him.

And you say, well, you know, 2,000 years ago, a little baby was born.
You say, how does that affect me? They say, well, he was born to a
virgin. And they immediately think you're off your head when you'd say a
baby was born of a virgin.

They say, that never happens. And this is the Son of God. It's a story
to them.

And he grew up and he did miracles. And then he said, if you believe in
me, you'll be saved. And they killed him and he was dying for your sins.

And this guy who's never heard says, how in the world could he have died
for my sins 2,000 years ago? And then he rose up from the dead. Three
days later, you tell him, and he's absolutely sure you're crazy. You
say, go and tell that story to somebody else.

Then you say, wait, hang on, hang on. This Jesus is alive. Bring someone
who is sick here.

Bring any demon possessed person here and I'll show you what power there
is in the name of Jesus. And the sick are healed. The demons are cast
out.

And that person believes this is exactly how the gospel has gone. It's
going even today in India. And so I was gone in the early days that
hasn't changed, but here now we are talking about making disciples.

These people are converted, need to become disciples. They need to love
Jesus more than their father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children,
property, everything else. And then what do you do with them after that?
Here is the, there it was the word signs following the spoken word here.

What happens after they become disciples? You've got to teach them to
obey every single thing I commanded you. See, that's why we took 10
studies on the Sermon on the Mount. I mean, that's not everything Jesus
commanded, but that's a major part of what Jesus commanded.

And it says here, if you become a disciple, then you have to learn and
understand and obey all that Jesus commanded. Teach, not teach them to
understand. No, I'm not interested in teaching people to understand the
scripture.

That is so Bible schools, they waste people's time. I want to lead
people to obey. It says, teach them to do, which is a lot different from
teach them to understand or teach them to study the Bible.

And you can't teach them to do if you've not done it yourself. I mean,
how can a person who's never been a carpenter in his life teach other
people carpentry? How can a person who's never handled a computer teach
somebody computers? No, teach them to do because you've done it
yourself. What? Every single thing that I've commanded begin with the
Sermon on the Mount, if you like.

There are many other things after that as well. And if you do this,
here's a promise. I will be with you always.

Now that's another word I've seen hanging up in many houses. No, I'm
with you always. I said to whom did Jesus say that? Not to every Tom,
Dick and Harry.

He said that to those who had a passion to go and make disciples and to
teach them everything that Jesus commanded. He says, if you've got a
passion to make disciples and teach them everything I commanded, I
promise you, I'll be with you always. Christians are experts at claiming
a promise without fulfilling the condition.

And that's why so many promises are not fulfilled. They wonder, Hey, God
doesn't seem to answer my prayer. He doesn't seem to keep his word.

Of course he doesn't keep his word if you don't fulfill the conditions.
Without the conditions fulfilled, how can he, even the initial step of
salvation, repent and believe and you'll be forgiven. What if a person
doesn't repent and doesn't believe? Can he be forgiven? No.

What if a person has no interest in making disciples and no interest in
teaching them everything that Jesus commanded? Like it says here, can he
believe that Jesus is with him always? Well, not according to this
promise. It's very important to always look for the conditions. So if
you turn now to Luke 14, that's why we emphasize discipleship because he
told us to make disciples.

And in the gospels, the conditions of discipleship are most clearly
explained in Luke 14, 26 to 35. That's why we go to that passage. In the
early days when we, when the Lord planted CFC in the early days, there
were two things we spent many, many months teaching.

One was the conditions of discipleship mentioned here because it's so
new because they never heard it in any other church where these folks
came from. We emphasized it again and again and again through all the
years we have gone through it again and again and again and again,
because new people have come into the church who've never heard it
before. We're not there in the beginning.

And children have grown up to become adults who never heard it because
it was preached. And we took studies on that when they were little
babies. Now they're grown up.

They need to hear it. So we need to repeat this again and again and
again. And they also need to hear the Sermon on the Mount.

So those are the two things we emphasized a lot in the early days, Luke
14 and Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And because of that, we had a good
foundation and we sought to build on that foundation. Now turn back to
Luke 14. In the middle of this section on discipleship, which is verse
26 to 35, the three conditions mentioned in verse 26, 27, and 33, right
in the middle, Jesus introduces a parable.

He says, here's an example of a man who laid a foundation and he did not
complete the building. Because in the beginning, it says here, if you
want to build a tower, we're not building a one-story building here. The
Christian life is not a one-story building.

That's the first thing you need to know. It's not, I want to go to
heaven when I die. That's not true Christianity.

That's all right for a dying thief because he can't do anything else.
He's hanging on the cross and his life is going to be gone in a few
moments. There's nothing else he can do.

Lord, remember you when you come into the kingdom of the Lord. He says,
okay, you'll be with me in paradise. Fine.

That's what we tell dying people. But if you want to be a disciple, if
you're not a dying thief, you're a living thief. And that's what we are
when we come to the Lord.

Then we have to take seriously what he said here. We're building a tower
or in today's language, a skyscraper. We're building a hundred story
building.

That's the Christian life. According to verse 28, the tower was the
biggest thing in those days. Today we'd say a skyscraper, a hundred
stories, not just a foundation.

Your Christian life should be a hundred stories high. You want to
fulfill God's will, but it costs a lot of money. If you're only going to
build one story, it doesn't cost much at all, but a hundred stories, you
better know right at the beginning what you're going to build, because
that is the foundation on which you're building.

And it says here, a person doesn't calculate it. He doesn't think in the
beginning of how much it's going to cost in order to build this
building. So what happens? He starts building and then he realizes, Hey,
this is going to cost so much, much more than I thought.

And so he says, it's going to cost too much. So I give up. So then
people laugh at that.

Hey, what's this? This man years ago, he laid a foundation here. 25
years ago, he built a foundation and he hasn't built anything laying off
on it. It's like many Christians who accepted Christ 25 years ago.

And what is accomplished in the 25 years? They're not become like
Christ. They've not done anything for the Lord. They're not grown in the
Lord, just a foundation.

I'm going to heaven when I die. And it says people laugh at them and
they ridicule him. And then the Lord uses another example.

Also, there are two parables here, all in relation to discipleship. So
from the first parable, what we learned is discipleship means building
the skyscraper, not just saying I accepted the Lord and got baptized. I
don't think I would want a single person like that in a church where I'm
an elder, not even one person who just wants to say, I want to go to
heaven when I die.

I say, brother, go and find some other church. Don't waste your time
here. Or like you've often heard me say, I want to go to a place where
they have a good Sunday school.

I want my children to grow up in the midst of other good children and
get good influences. Brother, go to some other church. There are many
other churches with good Sunday schools with well-behaved children.

We're building a tower here. We're building a tower. We want to be
wholehearted disciples and we're trying to obey every single thing that
Jesus commanded.

That is a tower. So the second illustration here is, again, related to
discipleship, a king, when he goes out to meet another king in battle.
Now this is Jesus.

He's the king. And the other king, Satan is a king of his kingdom. He's
got millions of demons who obey him implicitly more than Jesus'
disciples obey him implicitly.

The devil's got demons who jump when he tells them to jump and go when
he tells them to go. And here is Jesus with his group of people who are
not so obedient, facing the devil and his demons. And he sits down and
thinks, do I have enough people to conquer this huge army of the devil
with all his millions? Now I've got only 10,000 and he's got 20,000.

Maybe I've got only a hundred and he's got 20,000. And then he says, no,
I can't defeat him. So while the man is far away, he sends a delegation
and says, let's have peace.

Let's not fight with each other. Can you imagine Jesus ever making peace
with the devil? This is ridiculous. So what does he mean here? Remember
that section is about discipleship.

If you have 10,000 so-called believers who are not disciples, 10,000
believers who are not disciples, and the devil comes against the
millions, I would say to such believers, go and seek peace with him.
You'll never win. But if you've got 10, not 10,000, 10 disciples, let
20,000 or a hundred thousand or a million come against you.

We don't make peace. We'll conquer him and Satan will be crushed under
our feet. That's the point.

That if you're not disciples, you'll be like this useless 10,000 people.
And Jesus is not going to be a king of such people who's going to seek
peace with the devil. So keeping that in mind that the Lord is seeking
for those who are wholehearted, radical, you know, who are willing to
lose their life in battle so that the devil is defeated.

That's how those early Christians were. They never cared for their life.
They've never cared to make money.

They never cared for honor. Many of those Jewish people were thrown out
of their homes. It says, you know, it's a beautiful description of this
in Hebrews and chapter 10.

It says here in Hebrews 10 and verse 32, you know, Hebrews were the book
of Hebrews written to Jewish Christians. And he writes to those Jewish
Christians who suffered a lot when they became Christians. They were
thrown out just like today, people from non-Christian religions.

And some non-Christian religions persecute Christians more than others.
And they experienced it in those days. And he says, remember these to
these Jews, remember these people who were the former days when after
you were enlightened, after they were born again, you endured a great
conflict of sufferings, the sufferings very often from his own family.

Like we said, Jesus said, he brought a sword to come between father and
son and father-in-law and son-in-law and mother-in-law and daughter-in-
law and mother and daughter, a sword that came right between them. And
they had a great conflict of sufferings and they were made a public
spectacle. Sometimes they were dragged through the streets, made fun of,
that happens even today in India.

People are made fun of. I know one brother from one of our village
churches and he accepted Christ and all his parents were non-Christians,
his family and everybody. The father was so upset with him.

I mean, some religions they'd kill him, but in this case, they didn't
kill him. They say, you go and stand out there in the sun. They made him
stand in the sun the whole day till you renounce it.

Of course, he wouldn't renounce Christ and he was still following the
Lord. But there are things like that, that people have faced. They were
made a public spectacle.

Everybody goes by and laughs at that person through reproaches, Hebrews
10, 33 and tribulations. And thus you became a sharer with other people
who are being treated like that in other countries. This is how it was
in those early days.

And then some who were imprisoned for their faith, you showed sympathy
with those prisoners, verse 34. And not only that, because of this, you
lost all your property. The many, many Christians who lost their right
to their father's inheritance got zero because they became Christians
and whatever they had was taken from them.

And they were persecuted and their house and property was all taken from
them in reading verse 34. And what did they do? They accepted it
joyfully. Imagine that.

They say, you come and take my home. You robbed me of all my money.
Well, praise the Lord, because I know I have a better position and a
lasting one in eternity.

This is how those early Christians were. That's what, those are the type
of people whom Jesus selected to be disciples. 10 people like that can
handle a million of the devil's demons.

But if they're half-hearted disciples, then 10,000 or 20,000 or 100,000
can't accomplish God's purposes. So coming back to Luke chapter 14,
basically what the Lord is speaking is about taking up the cross in
three areas. First of all, Luke 14, 26, the cross between you and your
loved ones, all your family members, including your wife and your
children, and your father and mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and
brothers and sisters, wife, children, everybody, Luke 14, 26.

They must come across when Jesus says hate, it is hate in relation to,
by comparison with your love for Christ. That means when you compare
your love for Christ, your love for them is almost like hatred. You
often use the example of your love for your parents and relatives and
friends and everything is like a star.

Stars got light, but when the sun comes up, the stars disappear. It's
like that. That's what he means by the word hate there.

That means the love of Christ is so bright like the sun that it's almost
as though your love for your loved ones don't even exist because love
for Christ occupies your whole heart and mind. You still love them, but
now it is through Christ. It's always Christ is there between, and you
wouldn't do what your dad says if it's going to displease Christ.

A person who becomes a disciple like that from the beginning, he's going
to be extremely useful in God's hands. Sometimes your father is a
believer, but he may not be a wholehearted believer. He may be a wishy-
washy believer like these Babylonian denominations are full of them.

I'm not here to judge them. Maybe they are born again, maybe they will
get to heaven, but they're not interested in discipleship. You are his
child or his daughter or his son, and then you listen to him.

Well, you're not going to be a disciple if you listen to him. You have
to take a stand there even against a so-called born again father or
mother if they are not permitting you to be a radical disciple of Jesus
Christ. It's very clear.

You can't allow your wife to come between you and Christ. You must not
allow your wife to drag you back from following after the Lord. Remember
how Job's wife was very upset when she lost her children and property.

She was more occupied with that, and Job said, no, I'm not going to
commit suicide like you're saying. I'm not going to curse God and commit
suicide. He was under the old covenant, and he didn't do that.

He didn't have the Holy Spirit, so he went through ups and downs, but
God saw his heart, and it says at the end God gave him double of what he
had in the beginning. So, here are the people who throughout the ages
have been people like that who put Christ, God above their own
relatives, and that's very, very important. Otherwise, you'll never
build a skyscraper.

Somewhere along the way, it'll finish. I met lots and lots of Christians
like this. They start building.

They first come to CFC Church, and they hear the message of the new
covenant and say, this is wonderful. I'm overcoming sin in my life. I
got a little victory over my anger, and I got a little victory over
getting upset, and things like that.

Praise the Lord, and then comes along something that dad says or their
mom says and then they begin to compromise, and they're no longer
disciples. I've seen that happen. They built half of the first floor of
their building or the ground floor as it's called in some countries, and
didn't even finish the ground floor, the very first story because some
dad or mom or wife or son or something asked for something, and they
compromised, and then it's like that for the next 25 years.

That's how their building is. They never build the wonderful skyscraper
God wanted them to build, and one day Christ will come again, and they
stand empty-handed before him. Don't let that happen to you, my brother,
sister.

Don't end up with the regrets in eternity because you tried to please
some human being here on this earth. You've got to be radical. Jesus
only wants radical disciples.

Yeah. Don't let your love for any human being be more than your love for
Christ. Christ must be supreme.

He must have possession of every part of your life, every area of your
life, and the second condition of discipleship is in verse 27. It's
included a little in verse 26 where he says you've got to hate your own
life as well at the end of verse 26, and he carries on and explain that
which means taking up the cross is hating your own life, my self-life.
My self-life gets offended when somebody doesn't do things the way I
want him to do, when somebody does not please me.

That can happen with your relatives. It can happen within the church. A
lot of people get offended because somebody didn't do things the way I
wanted it to be done.

He didn't please me, then that's the time to die. What does it mean to
take up the cross? It means to die. I'm crucified with Christ.

I've crucified the flesh with its affections unless and God forbid that
I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians
6, 14, whereby the world is crucified to me and I am to the world, or as
the living Bible puts it, I have as little interest in this world as a
dead man has. Yeah, that's quite a place to come to. We should aim for
that.

It doesn't mean I don't live. I do live unto Christ. It is no longer I,
period, full stop.

No, it's no longer I, that's one side, but Christ. Christ lives in me.
The self is gone.

It's no longer self, but the throne is not empty. The throne which is
occupied by self is now occupied by Christ. There is a life that comes
forth.

It's not a laid back doing nothing. No, it's doing something positive,
whereas in the previous life, it was all negative, negative things as
far as kingdom of God is concerned. And so we see here, this is what the
cross means.

That means I often think of this, you know, in the early days, I decided
that one of the things I'm going to get really overcome is this mission
of getting offended. I've often said this for many, many years, getting
offended is one of the first things you've got to get victory over.
Overcoming anger, overcoming dirty thoughts, overcoming the love of
money.

These are all powerful things that take time to overcome because there's
inbuilt desire in us for sex and for our rights and for money, et
cetera. But when it comes to getting offended, that's because of pride.
There's absolutely no other reason than pride for getting offended.

And I discovered long ago that I said, that's the first thing, that's a
kindergarten lesson I need to learn in the Christian life. I want to say
to all of you, here's the kindergarten lesson for your self-love to be
dethroned. Refuse to get offended.

And what I would say to myself is if somebody did something that hurt me
or offended me, I just ask myself, are dead men hurt by anything? Is a
dead man disturbed by anything? No, I'm not going to be disturbed. I
died. I died with Christ and I refuse to be offended.

I refuse to complain here. I refuse to say anything. I'm going to die.

I'm going to be a dead man. I've died with Christ. My life is hid with
Christ in God and hid with Christ in God.

There's no such thing as getting offended. There's no such thing as
retaining a hurt what somebody did to me. Oh, I remember what he did to
me.

Forget it. Dear brothers, if you want to be a radical Christian, if you
want to be a disciple of Jesus, take these things seriously. Otherwise I
have to tell you, you will not build the skyscraper Jesus wants you to
build.

Die. Die to yourself. Be like a dead person.

When people insult you, people hurt you. When people don't give you your
rights, you say, what rights does a dead man have? What respect does a
dead man deserve? Sometimes we think that because we've been in the
church for so long, people should respect us. I say, rubbish.

I don't expect respect from any person in any church in the whole world,
not even from CFC churches. Not at all. I say, I'm dying.

My life is hid with Christ in God. And I refuse to come down to the
level here. It says, God, when Jesus died, I died with him.

When Jesus was buried, I was buried with him. Have you understood the
gospel? This is the gospel we preach in CFC. And when Jesus was raised
up from the dead, because God knew me from the foundation of the world,
I was raised up with him.

And here's the wonderful thing in Ephesians chapter two, when Christ
ascended up to heaven, believe it or not, I ascended with him. My name
was there because God knew me from the foundation of the world. And when
I understood that truth myself, a few years ago as a Christian, then
what happened 2000 years ago became a reality in my life, that I could
have my place with Christ in heaven.

If you then be risen with Christ, it says, seek those things which are
above, that Christ sits at the right hand of God. And don't let your
mind be upon the things of this earth. We are not to be, you know, in a
way, if you understand it as a picture language, is not me sitting up
and looking up to heaven.

But for me from heaven, looking down to earth, that's where I am seated.
It's not standing at ground level and seeing everything on earth so big.
No, it's going up to the moon, let's say, and seeing everything so
small.

And then he goes to further up to heaven, and even the entire planet
earth is like a speck of sand or smaller. Imagine everything on earth,
the whole earth being a speck of sand. And what are those valuable
things that mean so much to you on this earth? Somebody's approval and
your dignity and your position and the way somebody insulted you or
somebody robbed you of some money in your bank or cheated you or your
father-in-law did not give you your share of your wife's inheritance or
all this garbage.

You'll be finished with it if self has taken its place, crucified with
Christ. You cannot be a disciple. Jesus said, go and make disciples in
all nations.

And this is what it means to be a disciple. Otherwise, you'll only be a
foundation. And Jesus will not say, oh, with you, we can't go battle
against the devil.

Sorry. Sorry, not selected for the army. I want those 10 people.

That's all I need. I don't need this 10,000. No, with these people, you
got to seek peace with the devil.

Sorry, we don't want it. And then the third condition of discipleship is
verse 33. If you don't give up all your possessions, and you've often
heard me explain how that is, possessions are what you possess.

Yes, these are all my earthly possessions. This is possession. I hold on
to it.

You know how little children from birth, they come with a fist like
this. You put your little finger into a little child's hand and it grips
it immediately. We are born as grabbers.

This is possession. To give up my possession doesn't mean I have to sell
it. I have to open my palm and say, Lord, it's no longer mine.

It's yours. I don't give it to the devil. I don't give it to the world.

I don't give it to another man. Jesus didn't ask me to give up my
possessions to another human being. I can help human beings from my
possessions.

That's another thing. But I have to give my possessions up to the Lord.
He's my master.

And I say, Lord, I don't possess them anymore. Once upon a time, I did
possess them because I was master of my own life. But now I have made
you Lord of my life, and you don't only own my life, you own my
possessions as well.

So that means I have it in an open palm. It's yours. You tell me what I
should do with it.

You tell me to give some of it to somebody, I'll give it. You tell me to
keep it or invest it or support yourself with it, care for your family,
etc. Lay up something for your children, like it says in 2 Corinthians
12, 14.

Sure, I'll do whatever you say, but it is not mine. I will not lay this
up as a treasure for myself. Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth.

That's the meaning of it. I don't possess it. I have it, but I don't
possess it.

That house is in my name. That car is in my name, but I don't possess
it. It's for the Lord.

Everything is for the Lord. This is discipleship. It's not unrealistic.

It's very realistic, and it's possible for every single believer to be a
disciple if he wants to. Now I'll tell you something, you won't be the
loser. If you give up anything to the Lord, I guarantee he'll give you a
hundred times back.

Not necessarily in terms of earthly wealth, but something far better
than earthly wealth. He'll take care of all your needs. Seek first the
kingdom of God.

You know, why do we possess so much? Why do we possess so much? Hey boy,
if I lose this, how will I live? How will my family live? How will my
children live? And you keep on possessing it and one day something or
the other happens and the stock market crashes and it's all gone in any
case. Then what happens? You try to hold on to it and you couldn't hold
on to it. Circumstances and other things happen in the world and you
lost it.

The best thing is to give it up to God. Seek God's kingdom first, and
I'll tell you whichever stock market crashes and whichever, whatever
happens in the world, there's maybe an atom bomb fell somewhere and blew
up so many things. You're a child of God.

He will provide everything that you need and your family. Seek the
kingdom of God first and His righteousness and all the things that you
need on earth will be added to you instead of being worried about what
shall I eat and what shall I wear and what shall my children eat and
what shall I wear? How shall I educate them? All these are legitimate
worries. They should not be worries.

They're concerns. Yes, that we should be concerned about these things.
We must be wise in providing and wise in saving also for the future.

Go to the ant. It says in Proverbs 6 and see how the ant prepares for
winter by saving up in summer. That's the scripture.

Scripture says you've got to do that. Second Corinthians 12, 14 says the
same thing. You've got to lay up.

That's okay, but we don't possess. It's very important to have a very
detached attitude to money if you want to be a disciple of Jesus. I'll
tell you that this is one of the biggest problems I've seen in India
with people who started out very well in CFC.

They were very poor. They came. They became disciples and then God
prospered them and they got more and more and more and more and more and
you know what happened? Their mind and their heart got into their money
and they drifted away from the Lord and left the church.

Some are sitting in the church where they've drifted away from the Lord
because something on earth has become more important for them. Be very
careful, dear brother, sister. Life is short.

We don't get another opportunity to show our love for Christ except the
one life God's given you and if you have wasted it, you're not going to
get another opportunity when you stand before the Lord and if you wasted
it upon up until today, say, Lord, I've had enough of living for myself.
I'm going to live for you. Don't give up your job.

Earn your living like the apostle Paul. Great example. Paul was not an
apostle.

He was a businessman supporting himself and doing the work of an apostle
but he supported himself. Be like that. Great example.

That's what I've sought to do all these 45 years in CFC and all the
other brothers in all our churches. That's what we've taught all the
more than 100 elders we have to support themselves and serve the Lord
and be a disciple of Jesus. I don't know how many of them in their inner
life.

I don't know their life but I certainly want to be one whom Jesus can
commit himself to. Let me close with John chapter 2 again. Remind you of
what he read in the beginning.

Many believed in his name. John chapter 2 verse 23. But Jesus did not
commit himself to them.

He did not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in man. I
say, Lord Jesus, please, you know what is in me. Show me what I haven't
given up.

Please show me where I'm not willing to die to myself. Show me if
there's any human being I love more than you. I'll get rid of it
immediately, Lord.

Show it to me. Show it to me. Anything I possess which I'm hanging on
to, any person's opinion I value more than yours and any area of myself
that's hurt, that gets offended.

Lord, I want to die. I want to have as little interest in this world as
a dead man has and I want to be alive to you all the time. I want to be
a responsible Christian who takes care of my family, takes care of any
church God entrusts to me and all that but I'm not going to live for
myself now.

Please help me, Lord, that I don't end my life with just a foundation. I
want you to entrust yourself to me. If that doesn't happen, I'd say my
life has been wasted.

Do you feel like that, dear brother, sister, that your life on earth as
a Christian was an absolute waste? If you gave yourself to Christ but
Christ did not give himself to you, like it says here, because he knew
what was in you, I pray there'll be a repentance in our lives today.
Let's bow our heads for a few moments and think about what we heard.
Heavenly Father, please help us each one to take what we have heard
seriously, that we can not just respond to what I said, that's
unimportant, but what you spoke through the Holy Spirit in the midst of
what I said, whatever that they heard of that, that is the most
important thing.

I pray that they would respond to that. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

========================================================================
Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/AuVWLM8ANnE.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/has-jesus-committed-himself-to-you/
========================================================================