A Life That Pleases God by Zac Poonen

I want to turn the second Corinthians and chapter 5 here we have Paul writing about his own goal in life and you know whenever you see a man who's been very successful in living a godly life and living a useful life for the kingdom of God like the Apostle Paul it's good to find out what was it that drove him and made him accomplish that because Paul said follow me as I follow Christ so I'll tell you my personal testimony I have studied the life of Jesus and the life of Paul more than any other life in the Bible I mean we have great examples in Joseph and David and Daniel and those are all good for Bible studies but you can get a lot of interesting points from Bible studies of characters in the Old Testament and there are a few good qualities we can pick out but nobody in the Old Testament said follow me not even one so when I look at Old Testament Bible studies of the lives of Abraham Isaac it's all great but I see when it comes to Jesus and Paul I have a clear command from the Holy Spirit through them saying following and that's the reason why I have studied those lives and I would encourage you to do so you'll find it extremely profitable and the reason why God gave us Paul also in addition to Jesus is because there's a natural tendency and all Christians to feel even though we believe very strongly Christ came in the flesh there's an inward reluctance to believe that we can ever walk as he walked and as we hear about it but we inwardly this mental block in our mind which is no no we can't walk like him and so God given us Paul's example so what about him so here we see in 2nd Corinthians 5 the thing that drove Paul in his life he calls it his ambition in 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 9 he's talking about in the chapter about being at home in heaven or absent from heaven on this earth heaven is our home so he says whether we are at home verse 9 in the middle or that's in heaven or away from home absent here on earth our ambition is to be pleasing to him and I can say that any Christian who has the same ambition will be able to fulfill God's will in his life just like Paul and when he comes to the end of his life he speaks in verse 10 about standing at the judgment seat of Christ you know there are two judgment seats in the Bible one is called the judgment seat of God the Father that is in Revelation chapter 20 where no believers are standing there it's only those whose names are not in the book of life who stand there to be judged and they are also going to be judged we read according to their works because there are degrees of punishment in Hell hell is not the same for everyone there are lots of people who go to hell but the degree of punishment is not the same in hell just like the degree of reward is not the same in heaven now these are concepts which the only way we know it is because Jesus said so he once said that he who knew his master's will and did not do it would be punished with more stripes then he who did not know his mother's masters will and did not do it but here is the judgment seat of Christ prefers to us believers stand at the judgment seat of Christ verse 10 to be rewarded for the deeds done in the body according to what he has done with a good or bad and that brings verse 11 a certain fear of the Lord so it's because of that that ultimate destination at which you're going to stand that Paul says I've got an ambition in life to be pleasing to him so that when I stand with all the Lord in the final day I can get his commendation I'll just show you the other passage so that you know it in case you did not know it's Revelation chapter 20 is the other judgment seat it's called a judgment of the great white throne in Revelation 20 and verse 11 and here it speaks about Revelation 20:11 a great white throne judgment seat of the throne of God and the dead verse 12 the Great and the small the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things written in the books according to their deed and the sea gave up the dead and and death and hell gave up the dead and they were all thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death and if anyone's name was not found verse 15 in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire so even though when an unbeliever dies he goes straight away to hell jesus said that in the story of a rich man but it's only a spirit that goes to hell because his body is buried on the earth but in that day it says the people who are in Hell their spirit is going to come back into their body and there's going to be a resurrection it's not only Christians are going to be raised from the dead every human being that ever existed and died is going to be raised from the dead this one says here I saw the dead verse 12 the great and the small standing before the throne of God and the books were opened means the record of their life which is in their memory was opened and they were judged by what their own memory recorded from the day they were born till the day they died every thought attitude motive word we cannot argue with it because it's their own memory I believe that and God is going to judge us by our own memory not by somebody saying he did this so he said that those things we can argue against what you cannot argue against your own memory that'll be your memory giving a record of your life and every mouth will be shut what is good or bad will all be seen there and this is talking about the unbelievers who are judged according to the books and then they were thrown back not into hell but into the lake of fire which is a bigger version of Hell but a similar judgment is there we read in 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 10 for Christians and that is for rewards the other one is for degrees of punishment and here it is for degrees of reward and Paul says my ambition is when I get to heaven or here on earth to be pleasing to him and like you've heard me say this once before that I'm sure every one of us those of us who do get to heaven when we get there will have only one ambition whatever multitudes of ambitions we may have had on the earth when you get to heaven you'll have only one ambition that is to please God there's no other ambition and Paul says that's my ambition on earth as well so it's like going along a straight line and then I die and I get into heaven I'm going to continue on the straight part same ambition no change whereas people have had other ambitions on earth are going to find hay in heavenly go to alter your ambition and how is it going to be when we get there so it's wonderful to have the same ambition on this earth that we will have when we get to heaven that's the way to ensure that you have no regret when you stand before the Lord just make sure that whatever ambition you're you think you'll have in heaven make sure you have the same ambition here on this earth there are many things we have to do on this earth which we don't do in heaven you know we have to earn our living we got to go to school we got to get educated find a job find a house and so many things we don't have do all that up there but ambition is a driving force in our life behind all these things we do so we're not talking about different thing you're not talking mostly about actions here there are many different actions we do on earth which you will never do in heaven but the question is what is the driving force in your life but I want you to understand one thing that the the thing that determines whether you're a saint or a sinner is not the things you do but what is the driving ambition of your life what is the goal you're living for if the goal you're living for is only to please God that's the mark of a saint he may make a few mistakes here and there that's okay that doesn't determine very often we judge people by the mistakes they make here are the good things they do there and somebody does a good thing or isn't he a good man he's a non-christian but he's a good man or fellow calls himself a believer but he slipped up here God doesn't judge like that God judges by what is the ambition of this man what is he seeking to live for that's what comforts us and if your fundamental goal is to please God I'll tell you something God will ignore these little mistakes and slip-ups you make along the way but on the other hand if your fundamental goal is not to please God but some other earthly ambitions and even if you do a lot of good things like coming to church and giving money to God and helping the poor you'll find it doesn't count for with God at all because your driving ambition is something else so the goal to which your lip for which you're living determines whether you're a godly man or an ungodly man so it's very important to understand that because that that is the word of encouragement for those who got the right goal and certainly it's a word of condemnation for those who try to please God by doing a few good things here and there and so I was reading this verse the other day very familiar words in Matthew chapter 3 an ambition to please God I was reading how when Jesus was baptized you know I was saying how you read scripture and suddenly it hits you in your way so I was reading Matthew chapter 3 where Jesus was baptized Matthew 3:16 and he went up from the water and the Spirit of God came descending upon him and a voice from heaven said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased now when you read something like that how does it hit you well for one thing it makes us admire Jesus well I'll tell you how it hit me the other day I said Lord father will you be able to say that about me will you be able to look at my life and say this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and I say father if you can't say that about me I'm ashamed of myself to call myself a child of God what am i living for if you can't look at my life and say I'm well pleased with you and I want to say that to each of you sitting here my brothers and sisters if you guys that's not the goal of your life you're just a religious person not a spiritual person you could end up as a Pharisee and get a big shock when Christ comes back and discover that you're not what you thought you were so this fits in with Paul's what Paul's ambition was I have one ambition in life to please God and that's not going to change when I go to heaven exactly the same and then when I look at Jesus life and see how the father was so well pleased with him and I asked this question father can you be say the same thing about me and I think the answer I get is there's no partiality with God the Bible says that Jesus is my elder brother and we are his younger brothers we're all children of God he's the eldest brother it's an amazing thing the Bible says that Jesus is our elder brother says that in Romans 8:29 that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and on the day of his resurrection he told Mary Magdalene go and tell my brothers he called his disciples brothers so those of you who have children if you're a good father you will never show partiality to any of your children you will treat all of them exactly alike if you do more for your eldest child some people are like that I'm sorry to say particularly in many Indian homes their favorite is their eldest son you are an ungodly man an ungodly woman I'll tell you that to your face because God is not partial and if you are partial towards the boys rather than to the girls you are an ungodly person I have no hesitation in saying that if you'll do more for one of your children than for the others you are an ungodly person a godly person will treat all his children equally he the clever one is not his favorite the boy is not his favorite over the girls the eldest is not his favorite over the younger ones and the youngest sometimes that's not his favorite either all are exactly the same we don't start like that we have a partiality towards some of our children we got to crucify that and say Lord I want to be like you it's all right for ungodly people to show partiality but if you say you're a child of God and you want to be like Jesus himself like God our Father then there should be no partiality so I believe there's no partiality with God so if Jesus is my elder brother he will not show partiality to him in other words he'll do for me whatever he did for him that's my understanding of my Heavenly Father that's what gave me the faith many many years ago that what God did for geez he'll do for me just this one truth that there is no partiality with God so I see that if the father could say about Jesus this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased it's not an impossible goal for us to expect that God can say that about us as well why not provided I fulfill the same conditions because God has certain laws for example he gives grace wholly to the humble he's never going to change that law he did tests proud people he opposes proud people now tell you something very reverently that if Jesus ever became proud the father would ever post him and that I say that just so that some of us don't think we are special favorites because we've known God for so many years that once in a while if we get proud God Wando pauses I want to tell you he will oppose you because that's just nature he opposes the proud and he doesn't matter one bit to him whether you've been a believer for 6070 years if you're proud he'll oppose you you're humble he give you grace so I see that the reason why jesus never sinned was because he was always under grace sin shall not have dominion over you when you're under grace and which means he was always humble he always decided I am never never going to allow my mind to have high thoughts about myself I'm never going to exalt myself over any other human being that's why he became a servant and took the low place and refused to be a king he was already I mean his last day of his life he was at the feet of his disciples washing their feet that was his whole way of life and that's why the father was pleased with him so if we are really longing that our heavenly father will say about us about you this is my beloved daughter you know my well at least I mean just think for a moment to hear those words from God this is my beloved child personally to you boy to me I cannot think of anything on earth that would mean more to me than that is that how you feel about it so then let me look at Jesus life during those thirty years know very often we hear something like that and we think that well then I've got to do a lot of things in order to please God like witness to others and read the Bible every day and and you know that Jesus never had a Bible to read every day so that it's good to read the Bible every day because I read the Bible mainly to see what the life of Jesus is like to tell you honestly not to get so many laws and all that but the Bible says that the Holy Spirit in a mirror shows us the glory of Jesus so the only reason I read the Bible is to see what Jesus is like and I say I want to be like that but Jesus himself never had a Bible Paul never had a Bible either they could go to the synagogue or wherever there was a scroll which is very very expensive because it was made out of parchment and lead and then they had to keep it in their mind the only way they could read the Bible was bring it back from their memory whatever they had read please remember that that is one reason why we encourage people to memorize scripture not the exact words it doesn't matter I don't remember the exact words with so many verses but I seek to memorize whatever scripture teaches and I would encourage you to really get to know the Bible I mean the way I do it and I say supposing one day I'm locked up in prison for preaching the gospel and they don't give me a Bible I should be able to read the Bible in my mind every day without a physical Bible in my hand I mean if you had the Bible in your hand for 10 years you should be knowing it enough to be able to remember most of it at least the important parts of it the promises the commandments so I want to encourage you to do that take scripture seriously but what was it that Jesus did which enable him to be pleasing to the Father in those thirty years he never did a miracle in those thirty years now remember this is not at the end of his life this is at the beginning of his ministry that the father said I am well pleased with you and I never get tired of emphasizing he had never preached a sermon never cast out a demon never did a miracle and yet the father said he was pleased with him because many of us who don't have these gifts think will icon preach and I can't travel well Jesus never preached I'll travel as far as we know all thirty years he lived in one small little village called Nazareth he traveled less in 30 years than almost everybody here all of us have traveled more than Jesus traveled in 30 years so it's got nothing to do with traveling all of us have met more people in our life than Jesus met in 30 years the people that Jesus met were almost entirely people from his own village three times a year they used to go to Jerusalem and meet a few people that was for a few days but otherwise it was just in a small village that he lived all his life and he was pleasing to the Father so nobody has an excuse saying I can't do this when I can't do that I haven't gone here I haven't gone there if you look at Jesus life let me show you in Luke's Gospel chapter 2 a few things about what made him pleasing to the Father there's very little written about first 30 years but the few things that are written we can learn something in Luke chapter 2 you know he was 12 years old and he went to the temple you read in Luke 242 he became 12 and he went to the feast and when Joseph and Mary were returning he stayed behind in Jerusalem he stayed behind the other bodies were I don't know playing around he stayed behind it was his choice but his parents were unaware of it the parents found him after three days verse 46 you know they have travelled quite a bit of time maybe more than a day they travel and they suddenly look for him and in find him they were all traveling as a community of a whole lot of people like going for a conference a whole group of people and they assumed even for 36 hours they assumed he must be somewhere else with one of the other boys and he's only after 36 hours they discovered hey he's not here and they walked back from 36 hours and discovered that Jesus was in the temple this shows us one thing that it took a long time for them to walk from Nazareth to you so remember that whenever you read in the Bible that Jesus walked from Galilee to Jerusalem that wasn't alone a couple of hours it was one and a half days at least because these folks walked one and a half days and one and half days by little things like this show us how Jesus lived anyway when they came to the temple they found him verse 46 in the midst of the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed first of all it is understanding of Scripture and his answers so the first thing I learn about Jesus life which made him pleasing to the Father was that he had a tremendous knowledge of Scripture even though he didn't have a Bible at all he want to be pleasing to the Father you know that's the first thing we read about Jesus in his life and that is something that every one of us can do because we have more than Jesus had we have the Bible in our own language but as if Jesus wanted to read the Bible he had to go to the local synagogue in Nazareth and ask the rabbi to turn the scroll and read one chapter to him and he had to put it all in his memory maybe ask him rabbi can you please read that again or read that verse again read that please read that again and he couldn't read too much because then he'd forget it and just read a little bit and think about that and then go home and think about it and maybe come back the next day say rabbi can you turn it to the next chapter and please read a little more in the rabbi must have been delighted because I don't know how many boys would have come to him like that 9 10 year old boys coming and asking him to read the Bible to them it challenges me at a young 10 year old boy would go to someone and say can you please wait I don't have a Bible at home can you please read the Bible for me just one chapter a little bit and then that's enough can I come back tomorrow will you read something more to me you know like some illiterate boy who can't read or write going to someone and ask him to read the Bible boy I said what would I be like that do I love you enough to take the trouble to spend a little time cut down some of my other activities in a day just to travel all the way somewhere to somebody's house in his case to the synagogue and get someone to read the Bible because I'm illiterate and to memorize it to think about it during the day so that I come back maybe come back next day and say rabbi can you please read that to me again I forgot a little bit about what I read yesterday this is the way Jesus studied the Bible I don't know when he started maybe at the age of five because it doesn't you you can't know scripture so well in one or two years it takes years and he went and he came back and he went and came back and meditated and meditate and by the time he was twelve years old all these scholars he was sitting it says in the midst of teachers in the midst of Bible teachers and he was asking them questions which Fox them and when they said no we think is like that Jesus would say hey this is what that verse means and they'd be amazed is boy how we never thought of that but now we can see that that's right and they're amazed that this twelve-year-old boy is giving an explanation to a verse with these guys have been studying for 30 40 years so it shows it's not a question of how long you study blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and the Bible has been given to us so that we can see God and in order to see God you don't need a clever mind you need a pure heart blessed are the pure in heart and they open the Bible they don't get a doctrine they see God they see Jesus and that's possible for everyone else are you a mother with many children no time to go outside the house always busy you can be like Jesus you can be pleasing to the Father just because you take a little time to read the scriptures he doesn't have to be early in the morning I remember my wife could never read the Bible early in the morning when we had little children at home lolly late late at night after the children went to sleep it does require a little sacrifice that's true I mean if you're not willing to sacrifice time to study the Bible you'll never know it it all depends on how much interest you know when people say I don't have time because I'm so busy what if your child was sick and admitted in the hospital would you find suddenly make time to go and see your child in the hospital spend two three hours a day just to do that see what we want to do we can always make time for it's what you don't want to do that you find some excuse I'm very busy I've had people in CFC some of them not here now who said rhythm my work is so much I don't find time to read the Bible every day okay I'm not surprised when such people drop away finally not at all surprised so remember this father one day to say to you this is my beloved child in whom I'm well pleased I'll tell you where to begin make a little sacrifice every day to study the scripture and say Lord I want to see you here in the scriptures I don't want to just get a Jesus certainly wasn't studying to prepare a sermon or to prepare something to share the next Wednesday meeting no he was not at all doing that we don't study the Bible in order to share with other people No we study the Bible to see Jesus no God and if that's our goal there's amazing things that the Lord will show to us even in ordinary scriptures when you read something Bible says blessed are those who meditate on the devil on the word of the Lord and in the New Testament who seek for the revelation of the Holy Spirit on the word of God I'll just give you one example for example this verse that we just read I mean you've read it many times to Jesus when he was 12 years old stood in the midst of teachers and they were amazed at his understanding but have you ever thought meditating a little and asked Lord how that happened and how that can apply in your life and that's all I did I mean I didn't do anything more than you I didn't read anything more than you but I stopped there and I said Lord how can that apply in my life then I realized that he took means to study the scriptures and that's what made the father one day say my beloved son my well-pleased if a father for example writes a long letter to his son who's far away and after a couple of weeks or a month the father says hey son did you read my letter and the son says well I didn't get time dad oh I read one or two sentences in it you think that son is a very devoted son of his father he's really a devoted son and he knows the father's given a lot of good instructions in it he'd read it as soon as he gets it it's one of the first things I decided when I got converted before I was converted in nineteen and a half I had not read the Bible I go to church and hear the stories but I'd never read through it and I said okay first thing I must do is read through this which is God's Word the only book God is written and I read through it in six months it's a list of my work in the middle of my work I took a little time every morning and whenever I got spare time and I finished the whole Bible in six months I know you can do it I didn't understand everything naturally because newly converted but I decided then I didn't know all this that Jesus was like this in all but somehow the Bible says as a newborn babe cries for milk we are really born again you cry for the word of God it says in 1 Peter 2 you don't teach a child to cry for milk it's automatic if it's a healthy child it will cry for milk if it doesn't cry for milk it's a sick child and every truly born again person who is a healthy child will want to know the Word of God and if you a child a person who says he's born again and does not want to know the Word of God is a sick person without a doubt there are loud sick people around who say they have born again so that's the first thing and I see there that Jesus of the way the reason why he could answer people those teachers was because he didn't just read the scriptures when the rabbi has a little boy when he is seven or eight years old and the rabbi read the scripture to him in the synagogue he thought about it and he went home and thought about it that's what we must do with the scriptures Lord what is there in it what is the meaning of this and if teachers who are 60 70 years old can learn from a twelve-year-old that's because the 6070 years old I'm sure they were clever people Jews are usually all very clever they I read and understood it but they hadn't revelation Jesus had revelation because his heart was pure that's the first thing I learned from him which is a great challenge to me and going on from there I see another thing about his life when in verse 48 his mother and asked him why son why do you treated us like this we've been searching for you all this time and look at his answer why were you looking for me you thought you'd find me on the playground haven't you seen me all these years didn't you know didn't you know this that I had to be in my father's house or I had to be about my father's business sir two translations possible so that's the second thing I see about Jesus that please the Father he longed to be in the father's house and to be interested in the things of the father at a very young he a lot of people would rather be watching television or be in a cinema house or didn't you know that you find me in the cinema theater or didn't you know you find me in some restaurant having a good time but for Jesus it was where do you expect to find me my father's house about my father's business and and a young age that interest in the things of God not just in the Word of God but in God's work and he wasn't the preacher and he wasn't going around ministering but he was interested in the things of the Father he was interested today God's house is with God's people he was interested to be with God's people more than he was with all his worldly friends I'm sure we'll have a lot of worldly boys there in Nazareth and around there and those days just like today who had that dirty jokes and using dirty jokes early in the 20th century you think there were no dirty jokes in the first century sure are all the bad habits that young people have today and they add it in the first century too but there were certain type of people Jesus associated himself with that's what he says to him haven't you seen me all these years mom where do you expect to find me in my father's house that is the way we must bring up our children our children must love the church and the people in the church more than any other young people of their age that is my longing from the time my children were small they must love the young people in the church more than anybody else so that even when they come from that College on a vacation they want to be with the young people in the church and not with all their worldly friends are you training your children that way if you love the church yourself you'll do it but if you love the restaurants and movie theaters that's where you take your children that's why they'll be interested in a lot of dangers when we have a lot of money I'll tell you that one of the blessings that was ours when we were now children were small was we my wife and I never and I didn't have much money then we couldn't we couldn't ever afford to go to a restaurant of course cinema theater is out of the question not just because of money because we will completely against it where do I want to take my children I'll take them where I myself want to go is color ship with the brothers and sisters in CFC just a Sunday morning affair for you and the rest of the time I mean this is an obligation like children have to go to school so this is oh I have to go Sunday at the ball or is it something you love to be with God's people you love to be in like it says in the margin the things of my father I'm interested in that and you don't have to be very old to be there Jesus was like that at the age of 12 this is where I say in if you haven't seen clearly that Jesus came in the flesh he'll always at the back of your mind you say no no that's because he was God it's exactly what the devil wants you to say oh that's what when he was gone so my children can't be like that at the age of 12 sorry sorry you have not seen this mystery of godliness that Jesus came in the flesh once you see it you'll realize he was exactly like us he was like us as a baby he was like us when he was 5 years old he's like 10 years old he's like a son at 10 years old and your children can be like that if we train them right so and that's a good foundation you can lay with your children so that when they grow up they also have this ambition to be pleasing to the Father so to know the Scriptures and then to be in the father's house in the father's business that's the second thing that even though we're not engaged in any ministry see as I said Jesus not engaged in any ministry or preaching or anything but yet he was interested in things concerning the Lord's work the father's business so even if you're not in you don't have a gift for any ministry or you don't have a gift to preach you don't have a gift to even sing or anything oh no ask you a question how much are you interested in the spread of God's Word we just blessed you so much in this country those are the father's business you know a responsible son his father was a businessman who was trying to spread his stores in other parts of the country responsible son would say dad how are things going I mean is our business prospering are you able to expand our business you're responsible son will only say that can you get me some toys or chocolates sir so that's another thing I see about Jesus he was interested even though he's not preaching he was not cussing out demons he was not healing the sick he was interested in things of the Father you don't have to have any gift but you can have an interest in no wanting to know how is the work of the Lord spreading in this land of India where I am or at least don't think of the land of India at least how is the work of CFC spreading in different places do you have an interest to find out I'm not trying to bring anybody under condemnation I'm just saying that if we refocus our interests on some things that concern God he would know whether you're a spiritual person or not I'm just trying to look at the life of Jesus because as I said I said dad can you say about me this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased if you have that longing if you don't start with that longing you won't be interested in anything I'm saying here but if you start with that longing my Heavenly Father can you say about me this is my you're my beloved child in whom I'm well pleased if that's your longing it is mine and that was Paul's my ambition is to please the father then you will want to find out these things then I want you to see another thing about Jesus here and that is in Luke chapter 2 and verse 51 he came to Nazareth and he continued in subjection to Joseph and Mary and thus he kept increasing in wisdom and stature they were with God so this pleasing God began right there the age of 12 it is he kept increasing in favor with God God was delighted with these little things I mentioned and this other thing we see here is that he saw he was subject to Authority now that's thing which man does does not like nobody likes to be subject to Authority you think your two-year-old likes to be subject to Authority the two-year-old is compelled to submit to your authority but left to himself we'd like to break away from your authority do what he likes is there where did it come from in your two-year-old came from you parents we were all like that when we were two years old and where did where we came from it came from Adam who didn't want to subject himself to the authority of God who said don't eat from that tree you know I don't want to submit to that authority we've all got it now where did I didn't get it from he got it from Satan highest angel you know was just by the way we we don't know what his name is it's not mentioned anywhere in the Bible Lucifer is not his name Lucifer is just a Latin word which means only star or something like that but whatever his name was he was the highest angel in heaven and he became Satan only because of one reason only one reason he did not want to submit to God's authority if you want to know the root of sin the origin of sin it's here I don't want to be submitted to anybody's authority have you got that spirit you've got the root of sin in your life that's how the devil became the devil and he infected Adam with that and every child of Adam you and I and our children have got that I don't want to be subject to anybody's Authority they go to school and they rebel against their teachers they go to work and they'll rebel against the people who work in the factory boxes and start trade unions to fight against the authorities and and in the world and in politics fight against government and go on marches it's there all over and it's more and more in our day and as I've repeated I've said many times Jesus submitted to imperfect Authority as how he pleased the father there is no perfect Authority in the whole world no parent is perfect no elder is perfect your boss by the way is not perfect but why is it you find many people who are willing to submit to an imperfect boss year after year after year but if an elder does one mistake they question that how can I submit to him he did this already what about your boss who does tend to have 10 times worse things than that how do you submit to him I'll tell you because you get money and you lose your money if you don't submit to your boss but if you don't submit to the elders you don't lose any money money is the driving force in your life that makes you submit to imperfect authority day after day after day after day even though they make you work overtime and do so many things unrighteous things and don't give you a promotion and you still submit because of money but when it comes to elders you have some questions when it comes to your parents you say well they're little they're like this like well well if you think of Joseph and Mary I'm sure they were imperfect I'm sure they've fought with each other I have no doubt about it all married couples at least in their early days fight with each other and if they are not born again they'll fight with each other till the end of their lives and even some born again people who don't have victory over sin keep on fighting til the end of their lives it's not God's will I believe if you get victory over sin you'll stop fighting at home completely zero but Joseph and Mary were not in the New Covenant they didn't have grace the day of Grace had not yet come they were not filled with the Holy Spirit so they were imperfect and I can imagine many of that decisions were imperfect and they're talking to each other was imperfect and sometimes they even got angry with Jesus as well he never judged him he submitted and the father was watching this for 30 years this is my beloved son whom I'm well pleased you know how much God values those who submit to imperfect Authority not an imperfect Authority you have chosen no I was in many different churches and as long as I was there I submitted to imperfect Authority but when I realized that they were teaching things which are not in the scriptures I left it that was not rebellion No there I was submitting to God and his world which they were contradicting now you can't do that in a marriage and you can't do that if you're a child at home because if God's kept you there but you can do that if you're in a church you can leave it if you're in an office you can leave it but you shouldn't stay there and create problems I don't believe in and someone who stays in a church and keeps on you know pestering rebellion and criticism and all that I see if you're not happy with something in CFC I have one bit of advice for you leave this church and find another one and leave it tomorrow find another one where you won't have any problems but don't sit and criticize Authority God will never bless you for it he will say about you here is one who I don't know what he is my child is with I'm whom I'm totally displeased that's what you say here is a person with whom I'm thoroughly displeased you want God to say that about you so I learned from Jesus that one thing that please the father was his submission to imperfect Authority and he wasn't criticizing them behind their back he wasn't talking to his brothers and say see what Dad did or see what mom did see what these elders do or see what that person does he wasn't like that the father would never have said that that he was well pleased with them at the end of his life these are lessons for us to learn brothers and sisters if you really want our Heavenly Father to say about you and me I'm well pleased with you and I believe this is the reason also why God cannot commit spiritual authority to many people as you know I've had a little bit of experience now in working with elders and many many churches CFC churches see a difference in them elders who have come to eldership very quickly and I'm never in their life being subject to any authority in their life they came up very quickly and they never had anybody rubbed them the wrong way I had a very easy way through life and whatever authority they submitted to anywhere it was very pleasant and easy they were never broken and yeah well in some churches we'd have to appoint them as elders because they are the best of the lot you know a one night man is king among the blind so whether a blind people you select a man with one eye and make him another but he find that people are not broken in their life they are never successful in exercising authority as elders God never backs them up they may be able to preach but God doesn't back up their authority convenience elves have never learned how it is to submit to imperfect Authority and be broken so if God allows you in a spiritual situation to face injustice from maybe elders just jump up and praise the Lord leap for joy like Jesus said Oh Lord is great you're giving me an education here instead of complaining and grumbling and going around telling other people what you're suffering and all that rubbish just leap for joy and say Lord you're giving you an education here you're breaking me and you will be surprised one day maybe a few years from now maybe ten years from now God will give you spiritual authority and you'll have a wonderful ministry but and I've seen other elders who've been through breaking really being broken by being humbled and humiliated and such types of things and when God gives them and they accept it they don't complain and God gives them authority they can exercise so well so I see that in Jesus life I don't know what all he went through in those thirty years at home where all he had to deny himself because never to judge Joseph and Mary even once have you thought of it and all the wrong things that Jesus saw in Joseph and Mary if he had judged them once once he would have sinned he could not have been our Savior there you see the amazing way he lived of course immediately the devil said ah that's if that's because he was God he did not live on earth as God he lived in our flesh tempted exactly like us tempted when he was young in his Joseph and Mary's house exactly like us when we are under imperfect Authority but he did not open his mouth he submitted to his father and at the end of not the end of one or two days I mean if we endured that for six months we think we have accomplished a great feat by six months I submitted to this terrible elder he's a submitter for 30 years the father doesn't give his approval very quickly he waits and sees 30 years at the end of it the father says I'm delighted we don't realize the importance of this you know we know terrible things like adultery and murder and anger and sexual lust and all that but we don't think of rebellion as a serious sin it is if the root of all sin rebellion against God rebellion against Authority God that's why a child is given only one commandment you know that obeying your parents honor your father and mother there is no other commandment for a child why is that a child is given only one come on because that's the root of sin and that's why it's so important for us never never never to allow our children to rebel against their authority at home to take that very seriously when they are rude to the parents and they are rude to older people even if they are rude to your servant at home who's older than them that's rebellion I would never allow that to respect older people honor your father and mother if you drive that out if that drive out that rebellion from the heart of your child and obedience that when the father mother says something that they obey if you don't take disobedience seriously you're grooming a child for the devil and definitely not someone who will grow up to be useful in God's kingdom if you want your child to grow up to be useful for God in its kingdom I'll give you one bit of advice teach them to honor their father and mother and everything that the father and mother says from the time they are one year old now if you haven't done that you can start now for those of you who have children at home start now make sure that teach them obedience and if they wonder hey dad mom how you come you become so strict with us say well we made a mistake till now what we're rectifying it tell them straight we realize that we were not teaching it's like if you talk you tell them it's like you know all these months I was teaching the two plus two was five now I've discovered the two plus two is four so I'm just trying to teach you the right thing from now on something like that he'll understand it is very important I see that in the life of Jesus that he submitted and as he submitted it says in verse 52 he kept increasing in wisdom verse 52 in favor with God and man say one more thing there are many things we could see but you know you see what a lot we can get from a small part of Scripture like these four or five verses in Luke chapter 2 if you meditate on it and if you meditate on it because you are eager to be pleasing to the Father okay here's one more thing if you turn to Matthew chapter 3 once again it says here that the peep was five and six Matthew three was five and six that from Jerusalem they were going out to him to all Judea all the district around Jordan that means hundreds of people were going to John the Baptist being baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins and there were certain people John would not baptize like the Pharisees and Sadducees he said get away from here you brood of vipers who asked you to come here he was only baptizing people who confessed their sins so if you went to the river Jordan and you saw a big long line of people standing there I mean it's like a railway station you see a line standing there they are waiting to buy tickets you see a big long line standing at the river Jordan you know every one of them is a sinner and why would Jesus want to go and stand in that line to be baptized first of all people would misunderstand him I mean the devil would have told him or his own reason would have said hey listen if you can't stand here a lot of people going to think that there's some secret sin in your life also there was no sin in his life conscious or unconscious or secret or visible but he may be his reason what is then why don't you go and see John the Baptist at night or something man baptized secretly when nobody's around no he went during the daytime and he was willing to be misunderstood because the father told him go and stand in that line and get baptized I learned something there if when I when the father asked me when God asked me to do something and I'm worried that somebody will misunderstand it and I hesitate or I want to do it at some other time when people will not misunderstand I'm not going to be pleasing to the Father I'm sure Jesus reason we see he was tempted like us hey if you stand there they'll misunderstand you they're all sinners remember they're all confessing their sins you know what he told John the Baptist John the Baptist himself said in verse 14 when Jesus came to him standing in line he can pick any picture this in your mind long line of people standing there one by one and in the middle of Jesus standing and everybody's saying confessing their sins John I did all this I did all this okay I'm baptized next fellow John I did all this and it says they were confessing their sins as they got baptized okay next and Jesus walks up and John immediately recognizes need to be baptized by you and Jesus says permitted verse 15 at this time or in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness there was a righteousness in his getting baptized today there are so many people who have taken a baptism as a child and who questioned whether they should be baptized again or not and all that type of stuff but for Jesus he saw something his father had told him to do it it wasn't written in Scripture there was no scripture which says Old Testament which says go and get baptized that was not in the scroll that the rabbi read but he had it prompting in his heart here is a man of God he knew that John the Baptist was sent by the father and the ones who rejected John the Baptist were the people who said now this man is not sent by God and I'm just thinking now if Jesus did not go there people would have thought okay Jesus doesn't accept this guy so probably he's not a man of God at all but Jesus was willing to be misunderstood so I'm going to stand in line and accept the fact that this is a man sent by God and that's one of the things he was proving by getting baptized this is a man sent by God and he went there there was no need for him to be baptized we know what baptism means but for Jesus I'll tell you what baptism meant the others who got baptized didn't were confessing their sins but for Jesus it was something more than that jesus said in John 6:38 and there you'll understand the meaning of baptism for Jesus Christ it was not confessing his sins because he had no sin but John 6:38 is the meaning of baptism for Jesus Christ jesus said I have come from heaven not to do my own will or the will of him who sent me all his life he lived by one principle I will never do my own will a lot of things I want to do but I'm not going to do it I'll do what pleases the father that's how he had lived for thirty years never pleasing himself you read that also in Romans 15 and verse three verse three Christ never pleased himself see we have a choice either I please the father or I please myself and Jesus knew that if he pleased himself he wouldn't please the father so he never did his own will so for Jesus baptism men here I'm going down in the water to show that I have died to my own will in everything and he was raised up by John the Baptist see I'm living only to please the father for us it is identification with Jesus in his death burial and resurrection for Jesus it was I'm dying to my own will and I'm I've done it all my life and I'm gonna do it till the end of my life I die to my own will and I'm willing to let other people crucify me I'm willing to let other people bury me do whatever they want to me kill me because that you know you put a man under water you're actually killing him and Jesus was saying also I'm willing to let other people treat me badly because I know my father will raise me out that was Jesus the meaning of baptism for Jesus Christ and he was willing to be misunderstood because other people didn't know that meaning I mean we know that meaning only because after the day of Pentecost Romans 6 I mean written in John 6:38 has been written and Romans 15 3 has been written we understand it the people then didn't understand it and didn't make a difference to Jesus Christ so I see there another thing that the father was delighted with in Jesus case that when he was prompted to do something he didn't bother him that other people would misunderstand him if that is what the father wanted him to do is going to do it so there are lot of things we learn from the life of Jesus as to what was pleasing to the Father and one last thing which we all known that so I don't want to spend too much time on it what did he do in those thirty years Hebrews 4 verse 15 he was tempted in every point as we are and did not sin that's the other thing we know about what Jesus did in 30 years he was tempted in every way a two-year-old can be a five year old can be a 10 year old can be a young 15 year old is there a 15 year old boy here is there a 19 year old a 25 year old Jesus was tempted like you exactly and with greater pressure than you because he came from heaven from purity he came to the sim cursed earth and the pressure therefore was greater than you face having been born in an impure earth and he resisted it it wasn't easy he had to pray we read at times he prayed with loud crying in tears Hebrews 5 and 7 I'm sure even as a young man when he was tempted he would go off somewhere and pray and ask the Father for help you know the pressures young teenagers and young in their twenties faced and he had to resist it and the father saw it day after day after day after day after day for 30 years father said I'm delighted never did a miracle never preached a sermon never wrote a book never did what today we call ministry today Christians appreciate a man who's accomplished something for God oh he's had a great ministry well what what to do we were like that but I'll tell you something that when Christ when Christ comes back it's not just people who had a great ministry who are going to be appreciated in fact jesus said many well first will be lost and you'll discover many many people whom you admired for their great ministry and what all the accomplished for God will be lost some of them won't even be in God's kingdom because he is not evaluating ministry Jesus had no ministry in 30 years and yet the father said I'm pleased with him and Paul says my ambition is to be well pleasing to him because that's what's going to matter at the judgment seat of Christ and I learned from the life of Jesus that ministry is not the matter the life we live and why does he say many who are first will be lost in last two offers t we can sometimes despise a person because they've got no ministry and they're not in the fourth front of the church doing this that and the other and seen by everybody but they may be so utterly faithful in their home maybe some sister who's god-fearing and really seeking to pray for her children and bring up her children and the fear of God who's submissive to a hard-hearted husband or whatever is and God sees that God says I'm so delighted in that daughter of mine who's living in such a godly way and doing it only because she wants to please me that's all and you see that person coming up in front in the day of judgment and say wow who is that I didn't care much for her in the church but you didn't god did because he was watching their hidden life I want to say that for all your encouragement brothers and sisters many who are first in this church will be lost not all Jesus didn't say everyone was first to be lost but he said many who are first will be lost and he didn't say everyone who's lost will be first but he said many who are last will be first so I'm not saying that everyone was lost in this church will be first or everyone was first in the churches we lost but I do believe that many who are first will be lost and many who allow us to be first because God sees in some people the desire for prominence I've seen so many elders and CFC churches who want to be known as elders I'm not an ordinary brother I'm a rabbi just by the way there Jesus you think such people are gonna be first no day of judgment no they'll be at the end of the line if at all they enter God's kingdom God sees those who are faithful in the little thing who have no desire to be great in the eyes of men no desire to impress so please people who would rather be unknown and do things in secret without their left-hand knowing what their right hand did and only to please God and who are submitting to Authority quietly even if it's painful hey Lord I accepted what studying his word in secret wanting to know what God's will is and to please him blessed are you if you're like that don't be discouraged you have a great reward coming up very soon when Christ returns let's pray our Heavenly Father help us to value the things that you value to appreciate the things that you do we told to run the race looking unto Jesus and we want to see Jesus in the first thirty years of his life more than in the remaining three and half years run the race seeing the way he lived helped us each one pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: SermonIndex.net

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: Kofv6OVqPZ8

Length: 73min 46sec (4426 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 24 2017