01. The Principle of Jesus' Life By Zac Poonen

brothers and sisters I'm happy to be here what was the main lesson that God wanted to teach math by sending Jesus to this earth for many people it is only the fact that he came to die for our sins and restore us and fellowship with God that's how what I thought also for many years Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free so the less truth that we know the less we experience freedom the more truth we know the more experienced freedom and I've discovered through the years that it was not just to die for our sins that Jesus came he came to show us how God wants man to live and I want to read a verse in 1 John chapter 2 I would say that's more most Christians do not take this word seriously because they feel it is impossible to obey the one who say 1 John chapter 2 and verse 6 the one who says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same manner as he walked or the Living Bible says anyone who says he's a Christian must live as Christ lived now I don't know if you take that word seriously is it really possible first of all the moment I read a word like that the devil is quick to say that's impossible nobody can live like Jesus [Music] if that is the case and we have to say that God has written something is not true there's something in your Bible which is not true but I don't think any of us would have the boldness to say that I must say that after I was born again for many many years I never took bad words seriously that's why my life was substandard defeated I did not know God as I should but when I took that word seriously and said Lord if you have written that in your word it must be possible and I want to see how I can live as your word says now this does not mean perfection we need to distinguish the things that differ to walk as Jesus walked it is not the same as becoming completely like him these are two distinction things so in chapter 3 of 1 John we read in verse 2 when he appears we will be like him so we're not going to be like him until he appears the second time that is in the future but we can walk like him now do you understand the distinction between these two it's important to know that because most Christians this out was with me so not only going to be like Jesus when he comes so until then I'm just going to be defeated by saying because I'm not like him I will not be like him till he comes and that's all I knew 1 John 3:2 that when he comes I'll be like him and we're not gonna be like him till he comes so I'm just gonna keep waiting till he comes and then I'll be like you but there's a lot of difference between being like him and walking as he walked and this 1 John 2:6 is for us to obey now 1 John 3:2 is in the future the read the difference is walking is a conscious act we don't walk in our sleep we don't walking is not something new unconsciously it's a conscious act whereas becoming like him refers to our total personality all our inner unconscious areas of our life which is a major part of a lie will be completely like him when he comes so if God's purpose is to be fulfilled through your life it is not enough that your sins are forgiven it's not even enough that you're baptized in the Holy Spirit the whole purpose of God filling us with the Holy Spirit is to enable us to walk as he walked so that's what I want to try and explain to you what does it mean to walk as Jesus walked walking is a conscious act I take one step in another step another step I'm consciously walking so to look at the way Jesus lived his earthly life it makes surprise us to see how he lived let me turn you to John chapter five since I presume most of you are born again I don't want to talk about the first step of salvation which is repentance and receiving Christ as our Savior we don't even begin the Christian life that's when we are born again and we become a child of God I'm talking about that to walk as he walked one jaw are sorry John's Gospel chapter five and verse 19 now this may be new to most of you so you listen carefully I believe it will help you to learn something that can change your whole life John 5:19 Jesus said in the middle of that verse the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing so Jesus was always listening to what the father had to say to him he was constantly it was not a conscious you know he did all his other work as a carpenter or he was traveling around but he within there was a year that was always open to hear what her father wanted me to do and we can say that Jesus was in one sense like a little child depending on his father all the time you know Jesus said in Matthew chapter 18 that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven said child Matthew 18 for whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and we know that Jesus is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven we put the two together you'll find that the way Jesus lived on earth was just like a little child a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so in other words when Jesus sought to live on we live on this earth he lived in relation to his father as a little child or just listening to the father all the time and once I discovered this secret I have to tell you my life changed completely to overcome sin habits that enslave me for years and came easy and to understand what God wanted me to do where he wanted me to go became much easier so the P accomplished all that God has planned for us in our life so Jesus let me use administration it's like a two-year-old child holding the hand of his father and going wherever his father wanted him to go this is how Jesus lived his life was so simple all he had to do was respond to the promptings of his father now I want to say to you that is how God wants everyone at this children to live when God put two trees in the Garden of Eden what he was trying to tell Adam was you can have a choice no two ways to live one is you get this knowledge of good and evil within yourself and then you don't have to refer to God for everything because you have that knowledge of God to give yourself and you can choose what to do and what not to do this is how the most human beings live and this is how unfortunately most Christians live but Jesus the Lord told Adam that if you choose but to live by that tree you'll die but the other tree which is called the Tree of Life was another way of life and that is where you did not live by your own understanding and what is good and evil but you chose to live by the life of God within prompting you to do what is right this is two completely different ways of life one is by our own cleverness and ability which is the way even most Christians live I think I know what to do I don't need to wait on God I don't need to hear what he has to say and that's the way of depth and that is the reason for a lot of confusion or defeat discouragement many of the commands in scripture we find we are unable to obey just because of this reason but if you learn the secret of living like Jesus depending on the life of God within us prompting us all the time in every situation what to do how to react it's another way of life this is the whole purpose of being filled of the Holy Spirit I feel this whole teaching about me feel to the spirit is in soul you know pushed into another direction that has confused a lot of Christians because it's been centered around supernatural gifts I believe in supernatural gifts and we need to experience that if it is if that is our calling but the primary purpose of being filled with the holy spirit is to have the life of God within us which prompts us to do or not to do in different situations listening to the voice of the Spirit all the time I want to show you a verse in Isaiah 50 verse 4 which is a prophecy about Jesus Christ related to what I'm just saying I said 50 verse 4 that whenever Jesus woke up in the morning the father woke him up in the morning and he woke up his inner ear to listen this is the way we are supposed to live every time we wake up in the morning Isaiah 50 verse 4 he says in the middle of that words he wakens me morning by morning to listen as a disciple and it's not just that having a little quiet time in the morning like many people have every time he woke in the morning throughout the day is your was open to hear what is the father wanted me to do and when he was not very sure he'd go and spend a little time in prayer so that he could be sure what the father wanted him to do and the other result of it was that when he had heard the father if he came across anybody during the day who was in need he always had a word for him because it says here the Lord God is worse for the same worse is giving me a tongue to speak a word to sustain this really person so every Harry was always listening always listening so he'd know what to do and what not to do and if somebody came along had a need which Jesus didn't even know the father would prompt him to have a word for that person just imagine if all of us live like this the amount of blessing that you could be to other people in the world is unimaginable and it's possible for every single one of us I believe the devil has deceived Christians into thinking this is only for some special category of Christian it's not true for every single Christian I want you to brothers and sisters to believe this that it is God's will for you to live in such a spirit filled life that you can actually hear God prompting you in your heart telling you what to do and when you come to a fork in the road which one to take that is God's will for you it's our birthright and to have a word to sustain every single person who comes to us when we encounter during the day or I need in fact that is the message the first page of the Bible the message in the first page of the Bible is that God spoke something on the first day and he spoke something on the second day and he spoke something on the third day every day was speaking that's the message in the first book of the Bible and that is to teach us one lesson that God speaks every day and you may not hear what God is saying that's because my ears have become deaf to his voice but God is speaking every single day from the time I was born again God wanted to speak to me every single day but I'm sorry to say I did not have the patience or the time to listen to him every day and I believe I wasted a lot of my life but a time came in my life and I really be woke up and I said Lord this is not the way I'm supposed to live I can end up finally standing before your judgment seat one day and discovered that I wasted a major part of my life because I didn't hear what you had to say I didn't live by The Tree of Life I live by the tree of knowledge of good and evil I see I know I'm intelligent I read the Bible and I know what to do but that's not the way we're supposed to live we're supposed to live by the prompting of the Holy Spirit now in the Old Testament that is not possible you own testimony some prophet or something could hear the voice of God the others had to go to the Prophet to find out what God had to say this is one of the big differences that happen on the day of Pentecost when God established a new covenant my dear brothers and sisters I hope you will be gripped by this because in this new covenant one of the promises is in Hebrews chapter 8 Hebrews 8 in verse 11 they shall not teach every one his fellow citizen and everyone his brother saying know the Lord all will know me from the least to the greatest of them in the old covenant you had to go to somebody to teach you what the Lord's will is for your life in the New Covenant it says everyone can know me personally you don't need somebody to teach you what's God's will for your life that is the primary Ministry of the Holy Spirit that's Jesus lived by the prompting of the Holy Spirit all the time and that's why he would sometimes go alone somewhere to pray see many people their understanding of prayer is and when you bow to God you tell him 110 tell him a lot of things that's not what Jesus is doing Jesus did not pray the way most Christians pray today my the way I prayed changed completely when I understood how Jesus walked because before that when I went to God in prayer I was just telling him a lot of things I need this and I need that and I'm praying for this person that person the other person but I discovered that Jesus when he went to pray he was not talking so much he was listening more than talking like we read here in Isaiah 50 the Lord God has given me a year to listen so Jesus spent two hours the Father somewhere I think he must have spoken for five minutes have you ever spent two hours with God and spoken only for five minutes I find that there's the most profitable way for me to break it's like you know to let you use an illustration supposing you're sitting with a very godly man who's got a tremendous experience of God you would not want to talk to her much you'd want to listen say hey brother tell me more about your experience with God and I would listen listen listen if I spent one hour with him I probably speak five minutes and listen for fifty five minutes because he has so much to say to me now if I was speaking to a young person then I probably speak for fifty five minutes and that didn't speak for five minutes but if I'm speaking to a much more godly person I would listen more definitely so imagine if I'm sitting with God Almighty that's where prayer is should I be listening or talking if I spend one hour with God should I be speaking for 55 minutes no I should be quiet for 55 minutes speak for just five minutes because what is there that I can inform God with he doesn't know is there anything that he doesn't know which I can tell him you said any burden which I have which he doesn't have is anybody I love more than he loves is anybody I care for more than he cares for I really believe that many Christians have not understood how to pray the way Jesus prayed as part of walking as he walked it was listening like we read in Isaiah 50 in a year was open to listen and that's why Jesus accomplished so much in thirty three and a half years that he could say at the end of his life I finished their work who gave me to do I changed my life also completely because then I realized that I could go where the Lord wanted me to go and do the work God wanted me to do and leave a lot of other things untouched I don't need to do that because God hasn't called me to do that you know Jesus never went to Africa or China or Rome or any place is most of the time only in Israel and yet he finished the work the father came to do many of us have the idea that to serve God means I go here to go there and lot of the preachers boast about the number of countries they have traveled to it doesn't mean they've accomplished counts whew you can travel to 70 countries in the world and not accomplish God's will it's just because you have money and you didn't travel here and there another person who doesn't have the opportunity to travel like that say oh one feeling I'm I'm not doing much for the Lord it's not quantity it's a question of listening what has God wanted you to do and when you look at Jesus life quantity wise ninety percent of his life he was a carpenter he wasn't preaching for thirty years it looks like a tremendous waste of time [Music] and he preached only for three and a half years and he never went outside the nation of Israel what does it mean to learn to walk as Jesus walked not doing so many things traveling so many countries and preaching thousands of sermons no doing what the father wants you to do and those who do that are the ones who will discover the end of their life that they can say to the father father I didn't travel here and there but I finished the work you gave me to do you sent me to earth with a particular task and I finished it this is the joy I have today as I get older and older I know that I'm doing what God wants me to do I don't have any lusts to travel here or travel over there I want to finish what God wants me to do I hope I will be able to get all of you to be great is one thing that before you end your earthly life I was finished what God sent you on this earth to do otherwise you can do a hundred one things you can think you're doing for God I want to tell you you discover when Christ comes again that you wasted your life and I want to save you from that let me turn you to Psalm 139 it's very interesting words in Psalm 139 Psalm 139 it tells us here that before you were born in your mother's womb God planned your life how many of you believe that I hope you do it was wonderful for me to realize that that way back I'm nearly 79 now that way back in my own my own mother's womb in 1939 perhaps in my mother's womb before I came out of my mother's womb my Heavenly Father knew that one day I would be born again and he planned every single day of my life from there till whenever my life is supposed to end which I don't know what it is turn to Psalm 139 it says here in verse 13 you for my inward parts and you wove me in my mother's womb and here is the words I'm thinking of verse 16 one Psalm 139 verse 16 your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in your book that is in God's mind was written what was written all the days that were ordained for me before there was even one of them before my first day on earth God had already planned I'm talking about myself every day that was ordained for me what I was supposed to do where I was supposed to go I don't know whether you believe that when there was not even one of them before I'd even started the first day it was like that with Jesus his whole life was planned out before he came to earth where he was to be born and what he was supposed to do each day of his life and in God's plan Jesus was not supposed to go to Rome he was not supposed to go to Africa was not supposed to go to China and up to the age of 30 in God's plan he was to be a carpenter and because Jesus lived everyday listening listening like I read in Isaiah 50 he could do what God wanted him to do and when he came to the end of his life see what he said in John 17 John 17 when Jesus came to the end of his life the last day when he was sitting with the disciples in the day of the Last Supper at before he went to the cross in his prayer to the Father he said these words in John 17 and verse 4 father I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do walk as Jesus walked that's the worst I quoted in the beginning this is what it means to walk as Jesus walked to believe that just like God had planned the life of Jesus every day he's planned your life every day and when you come to the end of your life it should be able to look up to heaven and say father I finished the work you gave me to do how much money I earned Conn's for nothing how many countries I traveled counts for nothing Jesus one country that's all how much money did Jesus earn very little how many years was he a full-time worker three and a half years that's all barely humanly speaking is not very impressive that a man spent 30 years as a carpenter three and half years he preached and traveled here and there in he traveled only one country I believe there's some preacher like that today you wouldn't be very impressed by a preacher who spent only three and a half years of ministry and traveled only in one country but Jesus said I've finished the work you gave me to do he knew exactly what he was supposed to do each day and he finished it and he says I'm glorified you on earth many of us pray Lord I want to glorify you on this earth if you really mean it this is what this is the way to do it you have to develop the habit of listening and I'll tell you the devil will try every possible means to keep you so busy that you won't have time to listen to God and if he succeeded there even if you don't commit some Grievous sin and you glory in the fact that I had war don't watch dirty movies and I'm living a fairly clean life and I go regularly to the meetings and do all the things that Christians are supposed to do and I give some money for God's work you can satisfy yourself with all these things I want to say to you my dear brothers sisters when you stand before the Lord you will regret it one of the greatest things I have prayed for my own life is Lord when I stand before you one day I don't want to have a regret that I did not live the way you wanted me to live I don't want to stand before you and my testimony is I went to church regularly and I did this and I gave money for your work and I did all this activity no I want to be able to stand before the Lord when Iced the final day and say Lord my father the work you planned for me to do before my mother's I was born I finished it maybe I didn't travel as much as other people may am bi didn't do the things other people did but I finished the work you gave me to do this is what it means to walk as Jesus walked and I want to say to you brothers and sisters that is the greatest thing you can do for the Lord it's the greatest thing you can ever do and if you don't think like that you're going to change your way of thinking and say Lord this is what you've called me on earth to do and there's no competition here it's not a question of being a great preacher if God has not called you to be a preacher you can still accomplish God's will for your life and stand before the Lord with great joy because you finish what God has called you to do but it will mean you have to change your complete way of thinking because the normal way of thinking most people is do a lot of things for God do this and do that it's quantity of work no Christian organizations are always boasting about the number of things they do for God if you examine Jesus life that was very little in terms of what he accomplished and how many people did he gathered together at the end of his life levan wholehearted disciples and even on the day of Pentecost after three and half years it means the only 120 people met to be filled with the Holy Spirit but with those eleven people think of this Jesus selected eleven people and those eleven people he changed the course of this world for 2,000 years that's what those eleven people I was so gripped by that I said Lord in my life if I can not just gather a big church of hundreds of people I'm not interested in that if I can get eleven people like that who can change the course of history I want to finish the work you gave me to do I want to do a work of quality I want to finish the work you gave me to do I hope all of you would be gripped by this one passion this is what it means to walk as Jesus walked it's not that I walk in perfection because as I said none of us will be perfect if Christ comes again but if you can develop this habit of listening listening Lord what do you want me to do do you remember the story of Jesus going to the house of Mary and Martha it's the same lesson that he taught them there as soon as he went to the house quite rightly Martha was very eager to provide a good meal you know some very honored guest comes to your house you married immediately think Oh making a good meal for him and it was a very good thought ma'am Martha had go into the kitchen and work hard him and Mary did not help Martha in the kitchen because Jesus was speaking his disciples are there and they were all sitting down and Jesus was speaking and Mary was sitting there with those disciples listening that's what we read in Luke chapter 10 Martha welcomed Jesus into the home verse 38 and verse 39 she had a sister Luke 10 39 a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to his word but Martha went into the kitchen and she was always preparing something for the Lord to eat and for his disciples isn't that a good work to do something for the Lord prepare something for the Lord and his disciples a very good work and she was sitting there and she was so disturbed in a heart by what the fact that Mary was not coming to help her and so she comes to the Lord and complains about Mary saying Lord don't you care that this sister of mine has not left me alone to do all the serving alone and she thought that Jesus would tell Mary to get up and go and help Martha but that's not what the Lord did the Lord rebuke Martha and said Martha you worried about so many things what you're doing is not bad you're not committing some sin but that's not what I want you to do [Music] mary has chosen that one thing which is necessary I remember when I was a young Christian and I was seeking to know God what God wanted me to do [Music] the Lord spoke this word to my heart look 10:42 one thing is necessary one thing is necessary and that's what mary has chosen and the Lord spoke to my heart this is the most important thing you need in your life to listen to my word and do that and Martha was doing service for the Lord and I learned that day but serving the Lord and doing so many things for him is not as important as sitting at his feet and listening to this world and I discovered now through the years I've been serving the Lord for more than 50 years and like everyone else I want to know at the end of my life that I have done something useful for God's kingdom before I leave this earth but if only if I did what I wanted to do like Martha go here go there do whatever I wanted to do and a lot of people like that you know they've climbed so many things I'm gonna do this and I'm going to do that I want to do this for the Lord and they have a vacation they say I'll when I take a vacation I'll go to India and I'll go here and there do oh sorry things for God that may not be what God wants you to do the most important thing about a servant is that he does exactly what his master tells him to not just goes around doing whatever he wants we have a completely wrong idea of what it means to serve the Lord I'm sorry to say that but that is true many many probably many of you sitting here you think to serve the Lord means you go and do something or the other for the Lord that is not what God wants you to do do you remember the Lord's Prayer what did he teach us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come and then thy will be done as it is in heaven very important statement Lord I want to do your will as it is done in heaven so then I begin to stop for a moment and think how is God's will done in heaven the Angels don't go running around here and they're doing something on the other for the Lord and Michael and Gabriel are not chasing the other engines come on go and do something for God don't just hang around doing nothing that's not what they do do you know what the angels in heaven do they wait before the father and the father tells them do this do that it's a Gabriel I want you to go down to Nazareth and speak to that girl Mary I want you to go down and speak to that priest Zechariah he goes finishes that comes back and waits before the father what next father they don't run around doing something or the other for God no they wait on God when God tells them something we go and do that and come back and wait on it that is how God's will is done in heaven and Jesus taught us to pray every day thy will be done in my life as it is done in heaven but I'm sorry to say I never discovered that for many many years in my Christian life when God filled me with the Holy Spirit this is one of the things I learned not to run around and do this at that and the other for God and discover at the end of my life that I wasted my life I mean I may have been free from sin but I didn't finish God's work there's a particular task that God planned for me before I was born and if I don't do that and I come to the end of my life and I've not finished that work even if I've done a hundred and one other good things I would stand before the Lord and say Lord I'm sorry I didn't do the work you pointed for me is that possible for some of you seek God seriously we've all made mistakes in our life and God overlooks that it's a wonderful thing I used to think what if I made a messed up so many years of my life and now only I'm discovering this wonderful truth that I have to listen fulfill God's plan for my life what about all these years I wasted then I see the example of the Apostle Paul who wasted 30 years of his life doing all the wrong things what wrong things he was killing Christians and persecuting them you think that such a person can never fulfill God's plan for his life because he lived up to the age of 67 and 30 years of those 67 years he just persecuted Christians and did everything outside the will of God well your man's lived half his life outside the will of God doing whatever he felt like now he repents and comes to the Lord is it possible for him still to fulfill God's plan for his life yes that's the message of hope for that came to me because so many years I didn't think seriously about what God's plan for my life was I was just trying to do something on the other for God and Paul's life encouraged me some of you who may be hearing for the first time today that God's got a particular plan for your life that he wants to fulfill and you say well lord I never thought that all these years I did so many other things Lord says don't worry if you take it seriously even today you can fulfill my plan for your life because when Paul came to the end of his life do you know what he said in 2nd Timothy 4 and 2nd Timothy in chapter 4 he said 2nd Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course and I've kept the faith that's the same word jesus said father I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do the difference is Jesus did that from day one all his thirty three and a half years Paul started the age of thirty half his life was over he died when he was 67 so he had only 37 years and most of his life he didn't do what God wanted him to do but still he finished his course how's that it's really puzzled me how was it possible that a man just lives in sin and disobey his God for thirty years of his life and then soon when he comes to the end of his life he says I finished my course the reason is because let me explain this to you that God in His foreknowledge you know the foreknowledge is a great truth of God that you need to understand God sees the end from the beginning that means God looked at Paul's life he knew when he was going to be born and he knew this guy would live in rebellion for twenty thirty years but he knew that one day on the Damascus Road he would yield his life to God and become a true Christian so God planned in such a way you overlooked all the past and said okay from that day onwards I can make him still fulfill my plan for my for his life because there's a verse in acts 17 Acts of the Apostles of demons is a very liberating worse if you understand it and I'm sure Paul said that from his own experience in accent the Apostles chapter 17 and verse 30 listen to this I have shared this verse with many people who made a mess of their life for many years and encouraged them to know that brother it doesn't matter if you take it seriously now God can still fulfill his purpose through your life acts 17:30 says God overlooks the times of ignorance what is the time of ignorance the time of ignorance is where you don't know but you're supposed to walk as Jesus walked and nobody told you that you went to some church where they just told you you've got to give your sins forgiven and you go to heaven when you die that's it you are ignorant that God's got a lot more than just forgiving your sins and taking you to heaven when you die he wants you to walk as Jesus walked you didn't know that you were ignorant okay God says I overlooked the times of ignorance maybe some of you have been ignorant until today those of you are really taking seriously what I'm saying right now even if you don't understand it all are you getting a little inkling a little understanding of this glorious truth that God's got a specific plan for your life and you wonder boy I wish I'd known this 20 years ago never mind thank God you know it today you say what about my past life here's the worse God overlooks your times of ignorance and he says from today onwards repent means turn around turn around to accept God's will for your life from today onwards so that's how it was in Paul's life that even though 50 percent of his life he had wasted the remaining 50 percent it could come to the end of his life and say I finished the work who gave me to do like I said because God in is foreknowledge knew that this person is going to not know the truth for 30 years and we'll know the truth only after over the next 37 years and I said okay then I'll accomplish my purpose in those 37 years since God's word is always encouraging it's never discouraging that's one principle you must remember if ever you heard hear a word from a preacher that discourages you or makes you feel condemned that is not from God make it a rule in your life a word even if it's a word that is from Scripture but it condemns you it's not from God make it a rule in your life I have refused to accept any word that I hear which condemns me because I'll tell you why John 3:17 very important verse everybody knows John 3:16 you know John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should never perish we have everlasting like what is the next words very important words God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world it's as important as John 3:16 John 3:17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved so [Music] condemnation is not the word judge means the same as condemnation God did not send his son into the world the King James Version says to condemn the world so Jesus Christ did not come to condemn so if you hear a word either that comes to your mind or you listen from a preacher and it condemns you say to yourself immediately that's not from God I'm not going to accept it I'm not going to listen to it because God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but you mean the Holy Spirit doesn't show us what's wrong a force does he convicts us there's a lot of difference between being convicted and being condemned condemned makes me feel hopeless conviction is different the Holy Spirit has been sent by God to convict us and it's very important that all of you distinguish between being condemned and being convicted I didn't know that I'm sorry to say that for so many years I went to churches and they never told me how to distinguish it did the voice of condemnation and the voice of convictions how much somebody had told me that when I was first converted I had to discover these things myself the result was the so many years of my life I just drifted around trying to I was frequently discouraged and frequently gloomy because I felt condemned by so many things you I listened to a message and I feel condemned okay I'll explain to you what it means to let me use an example of an earthly father and his child does something wrong I'm trying to explain how God treats us so supposing that really father tells his son listen that's not the way to do it you stupid fellow you have some father's do speak like that how many times I've told you that's not ability nothing good will come out of you you never do anything I say you always do it wrong and you mess up and look what you messed up you broken all this and you never seem to learn never seem to understand that is condemnation earthly fathers may talk like that God never talks like that even if you have made the biggest mess of your life you won't say that conviction is different it's our good father speaks he says listen my son that's not the way to do it this is my girl it's not the way to do it you did it wrong but never mind I'll help you to set it right and you can still do it right I'll show you how to do it don't get discouraged you can still make it that is the voice of conviction it's always got a hope in it it's the difference between a schoolteacher and a father a good father you know Paul says and 1 in 1 Corinthians 4 1 Corinthians 4 Paul says he said I'm not a teacher and I'm your father 1 Corinthians 4 verse 15 for 15 you can have 10,000 teachers but you don't have many fathers I became your father through the gospel Paul is saying to them 1 father like me is better than 10,000 teachers so he's distinguishing between a teacher and the father and he's saying I'm verse 14 I'm not saying these things to shame you but to correct you that's the difference of condemnation and conviction I'm not saying it to shame you but to convince you this my beloved children okay the distinguish between a teacher and the father let me give you an example here's a 10 year old boy in a class mathematics teacher but it's not able to understand some problem maybe long division or square root or something he's trying to learn how to do square root and it just can't understand and all the others in the class have understood but this poor boy is still trying to figure out how to work out a square root of a number and finally the teacher gets fed up after trying for a few days and say listen you're useless man you don't hold up the progress of the whole class you better get out of the school and gone join some other school I can't waste time with you I've got it go on with teaching the other children and that poor ten-year-old boy walks out of the class goes off weeping and he means dad says what happens then since that I can't figure out how to find out square root something my well teacher was trying to teach me in he said I'm useless he told me to get out of the class and the dad says don't worry my son I'll teach and he sits with him and patiently explains to the way to do it and at the end of the day the son says that I still can't understand he says son don't worry you'll continue tomorrow next day of the father comes back from Ibiza comes to son I'll teach you again again he explains to him explain students it's his dad I can't seem to get it don't worry son tomorrow's another day you can start again tomorrow and see and that father works with his son happy gets it and then this is dad now I understand that excites him so much that he goes on to learn more and more and maybe becomes a mathematics professor one day how did that happen because her father was patient to teach teachers are not like that now I want to tell you God is a father and when he sees that you've done something wrong he's not gonna kick you out of the class and say get out I got other children ever take out now he's patient he says I'll work with you till you learn it are you still having a problem with your anger you know it's like trying to work out square root or coming anger your problem is not square root your problem is not multiplication your problem is anger and you tried so many times and you fail the teacher will say you're useless man get out you'll never get victory over anger have you heard the voice saying you'll never get the creamer have you heard a voice saying your father was angry your grandfather was angry you remember how mangu your mother used to be you got the same you got the same nature and you're just like that condemnation condemnation and you give up and say no I'll never get weaker I was a slave to anger I'll tell you all human beings are but the Lord delivered me 100 percent not 99 percent since a number of years I was a slave to it and it's gone from my life how did it happen because God was patient with me worked with me and it went from my life I was enslaved with discouragement frequently discouraged discouraged discouraged is gone from my life completely because my heavenly father sat with me and worked with me he's not a teacher and I want to say to every one of you I don't know what your the settings sin is but whatever it is I want to say to you in Jesus name that your heavenly Father is saying to you my son my daughter I want you to walk as Jesus world and don't say you can't do it don't speak the word of unbelief speak the word of faith Lord I believe it's possible even for a sinner like me to overcome this wretched habit which I'm having maybe some of you got this evil habit of watching pornography and secret destroying your mind and the devil says to you are you a child of God watching pornography don't you know you're walking straight into my lap into hell and yet you struggle to give it up and you can't give it up just like that little boy couldn't understand square root and the devil says there's no hope for you you've tried so many times and you can't even slave to it and he says to some of you you're a married man and you're doing all this in secret you call yourself a Christian and you feel more and more condemned condemned condemned but you can't yet victory I want to say to you your father can help sit with you and work with you till you're completely overcome that habit there is absolutely nothing that God cannot help you to overcome believe him today and say Lord if your word says that I am to walk as Jesus walk I can walk as Jesus walked but you must God you know God's not going to force you he doesn't make you into a robot you know robots are they're programmed to never do the wrong thing it's a computer program inside this robot now if God it made Adam made a flesh and blood but program inside like a robot with no choice of his own I'll tell you what had happened Adam would have walked up to the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the program inside would have said turn right they would turn right walk forward now he'd walk up to the tree of my life eat from there and he would eat from there now go back to God you go back to God he's not choosing anything he's the program is making him do that God did not want and had him like that and he doesn't want you to be like that either you know because that way Adam would never have sinned look at the Stars they don't sin for thousands of years they've been just spinning exactly split-second obedience to God they're like robots but God doesn't want robots do you want children or robots in your home supposing you have a small robot looks like a three-year-old child and you come back home from work and that robot comes up open the door and say hello daddy and so happy to see you come what can do for you do you find any happiness in that because it's programmed you can program it to say anything daddy I love you so much the program to do it what a difference there is when a three-year-old child hugs even sees the harriel of you that's a million times more than a robot because it's come out of personal choice that's what God is waiting to make you out of personal choice you can disobey if you want but you don't it's Lord I love you I want to please you I want to tell you that is the reason why God has given us the fullness of the Holy Spirit I want to encourage you to open your hearts and say Lord I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit not to speak in tongues that's not the main thing I speak in tongues I've spoken in tongues from 40 to 43 years and it's a great blessing in my life but that's not the main thing no it isn't speaking in tongues is my when I'm speaking to God alone it's a private love language that I used to speak to and God may give it to you it may not give it to you but the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help us to walk as Jesus walked definitely if God were to say it to me saying saying c-czar i can give you a choice either the power to walk as jesus walked or to speak in tongues which do you want I sit it out any day to walk is Jesus walk without a doubt I don't care if I never speak in tongues for the rest of my life because I know this is greater than tell you why because jesus never spoke in tongues the most spiritual man who walked on this earth was Jesus Christ and he never spoke in tongues he didn't need to speaking in tongues is a gift God gives because we are limited in our mind in this world because of the flesh and sin and it helps us to overcome that limitation Jesus didn't have that limitation that's why when we go to heaven we will never speak in terms because all the limitations are gone so the greatest thing is not to speak in tongues God gives it to you take it he gave it to me I took it but the greatest thing is to walk as Jesus walked I tell you that and if you can somehow be gripped by this I told you at the beginning of this message why did God send his son to this earth not just to die for our sins but to show us how God wants man to live listening every morning he opens my ear to hear are you interested and I want to say to you in Jesus name do every one of you no matter how much you have made a mess of your past life till today God can pick you up today and sit with you like that father sat with his child who is kicked out of school and says I'll work with you I'll make a new man out of you I'll make a new woman out of you that's the message of the gospel let's hope for every single person sitting here I don't know about your past life and I don't know what all wrong things you've done in your life but I want to say to you today in Jesus name he can do a miracle for you change you completely believe in don't don't I tie his hands by unbelief some of the saddest words written in the Bible is the last words of Matthew 13 Jesus could not do many mighty works with their because their unbelief but he can do great things if you believe you say Lord I believe that you will do something even with a wretched sinner like me you will do something for me you will teach me to walk as Jesus walked it may take a little time to learn it but I'm going to learn it and you say that to God we'll have a break and then continue that's pray Heavenly Father please help us we don't want a single person going away from your discouraged but gripped by the truth the tremendous possibility that lies ahead of every single person here to do something useful for you on this earth before we leave help us we pray in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: CFC DUBAI

Views: 8,183

Rating: 4.8571429 out of 5

Keywords: Zac Poonen, CFC Dubai, Blessing, Gods Love, Jesus Christ

Id: v38iY9I4BJw

Length: 60min 10sec (3610 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 15 2018