A People Who Judge Themselves - Zac Poonen - December 11, 2013

I'd like to turn to a verse in 1 Peter 4 which for many years I have considered to be the verse that indicates who really belongs in the family of God and who does not see there's a sort of easy believe ISM in Christendom today and many are being deceived into thinking that just because they repeated some magic formula they become Christians and they are eternally secure it's obvious that such people haven't read the New Testament completely and it's our calling as a church to expose error to let the light shine in this darkness so that nobody's blood is on our hands in the final day it's an awesome responsibility I see to stand in a pulpit and proclaim the Word of God and to make things so clear that no one who listens is deceived about their eternal destiny I'm not saying they'll all get converted but at least they know where they stand hmm so here's one Peter chapter 4 is the verse I have in mind 1 Peter 4 and verse 17 it speaks you're of the household of God or the family of God and it says here that the time has come it is time for judgment to begin in the household of God so from the household of God and it must begin with us first and then he goes on to say in verse 18 that it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved now most Christians don't believe it is with difficulty that a righteous person is saved it's very easy you just say Lord Jesus come to my heart that's in what do you do with verses like this that it's a bit difficulty that a righteous person is saved a lot of Christians have got some favorite verses which they take ignoring 75% of other verses that if they took would balance out their understanding of truth so I see the family of God or the household of God or the Church of God has a place where people like it says in verse 17 judge themselves first so if you are a person who judges yourself first and not others you're part of the household of God if you're a person who spends your time judging other people I don't know where you are I hope you'll make it but one thing I can be sure that if you're a person who judges yourself first you're definitely a part of the household of God there are many things in Scripture that are a little vague and I think God has kept it that way there are verses that I think God has deliberately put in a vague way to see whether man is really serious about obeying him or whether he's going into Scripture to find some loophole for disobedience some little words from which he can get comfort in his sin I think of a number of well-known television evangelists who very famous people who when they fell into adultery and shameful adultery he stayed away from the television program for a few weeks and then came back and said well David also fell into adultery and he did not lose his position as a king came back so I've come back see they went into Scripture to find some comfort in their sin and God allowed them to find it to deceive themselves forgetting that David was in the Old Covenant and they were in the New Covenant and if they had pointed to Paul or Peter falling into adultery that would be something but they found comfort in their sin by going to the Old Testament and God allowed them to find it to deceive themselves I mean they wouldn't go to a verse like 1 John 3 which says he was he who commits sinners of the devil they wouldn't take that because that would condemn them sin is the main subject in the New Covenant and it's very important to understand that I don't know whether you realize the only time that Jesus used the word New Covenant we use it so often I use it frequently I believe it's one of the major things the Lord's asked me to proclaim and teach but Jesus used the word only once and it's at the Last Supper he said this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for the forgiveness of the sins of men and what I learned from that is the new covenant is all about being free from sin it's got nothing to do with healing our prosperity or comfort or evangelism or anything or ministry it's got to do with being free from sin from that will flow many other things in the ministry would be to lead other people to be free from sin and to enter the New Covenant of course we should do them so I have found great comfort in this verse and I believe Oh God's God gives us his word to make us supremely happy the most joyful person that walked on this earth was Jesus Christ and the reason why God anointed him with the oil of gladness above all other people is mentioned in Hebrews 1 verse 9 Hebrews 1 verse 9 referring to Jesus it says you have loved righteousness and hated iniquity therefore he doesn't say therefore God your God anointed you with the oil of gladness period it says therefore God anointed you with the oil of gladness above all the others so the reason why Jesus had such tremendous joy in his life well there was a reason for it he loved righteousness he didn't just do righteousness he loved it he didn't just avoid sin he hated it and there's a revulsion in him to sin and we we may think we have come to great heights when we've just avoided sin a lot of people avoid sin was still miserable but when a person learns to hate sin and love righteousness God will anoint him with the oil of gladness because there's no partiality with God there's a law Lord God you have anointed Jesus with the oil of gladness not because he's your son because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity more than all the others so what I learned from that is the measure in which God gives us the oil of gladness joy and freedom from murmuring and grumbling and complaining and a life of constant Thanksgiving for all circumstances is if we loved righteousness and hated iniquity first of all in ourselves so the thing I judge myself in is to see whether I hate iniquity whether I love righteousness whether I'm developing an increasing revulsion to sin not satisfied with avoiding it but just like you know I often try to picture in my mind what is the most repulsive thing I can think of and I want to hate sin like that it's not just that I'm in the beginning we don't get there soon in the beginning we have lived in sin so much that the first step to that is turning away from it battling it and being drawn towards it and avoiding it and then fighting it fighting it fighting it like we sing in that song yield not to temptation for yielding is sin each victory you win will help you another to win so each time we resist temptation it's gonna make us stronger and gradually we come to the place it doesn't happen overnight it doesn't mean one even happen in a year or two but we can to me this is the mark of progression into the likeness of Christ that we can gradually come to the place where we have a revulsion towards it we hate it I mean like if like we would have a revulsion to lick the floor with our tongue or lick a toilet bowl Oh would you do it for a hundred dollars to have a revulsion for sin like that lord I want to hate sin and ever revulsion against it every type of sin to speak evil of others to have a dirty thought - for even a the smell of looking at anything pornographic or ugly sexually a revulsion to it just like I'd have a revulsion to lick a toilet bowl that's hating sin and loving righteousness just like think of something you really love say Lord I want to love righteousness like that like a good meal or something like that and I want to judge myself until I get there if we judge ourselves we will not be judged in 1 Corinthians 11 says in relation to the Lord's table an expression which is true generally apart from the Lord's table as well verse 31 if we judged ourselves rightly we will not be judged and that is at the judgment seat of Christ I won't be judged for anything I picture this sometimes in my mind I like to read scripture and think in pictures helps me God's given us in an imagination and in our unconverted days we use their imagination for all types of Filth why not use it for something good now I do it all the time I imagine that Christ has set up his judgement seat and I imagined believers through the ages standing before him and one by one being called up before him to be judged and you know the Bible says that each one is going to be judged and here it says in 1 Corinthians 11 31 if we judge ourselves rightly in that day we will not be judged so I've got to judge myself rightly so I think of different ones going up before the Lord and the Lord pointing out various things in them that they didn't set right in their lifetime on earth after they were saved and things that they took very casually in relation to his word or in relation to sin and one by one they're judged now I picture myself coming up there in my turn comes and I want the Lord to say to me it's nothing your record is clear Wow can you imagine how it'll be if it's like that for you are you passionate that it should be like that or do you live forever like evangelical Christian them that says oh it doesn't matter if he's seen the blood of Jesus is always there to cleanse us you're gonna have a shock when you get to the judgement seat of Christ if you ever make it there you cannot have a casual attitude to sin any sin that you know to be sin that you know to be wrong and expect that we can play the fool with sin and be ready to meet the Lord it's not true whoever sold you that lie cheated you listen to the truth it says in 1 John and chapter 2 that when the Lord comes 1 John chapter 2 these are scriptures I'm not going to take you to the Old Covenant to give you comfort for your sin from the examples of men who failed no this is the New Covenant in my blood which is shed for the forgiveness of the sins of many he was pointing out that there was a tremendous price paid to forgive even one sin I have often thought of it like that that if I was the only sinner in the whole world of every human being was righteous and had never sinned and I was the only one who had sinned and I had committed only one sin in my life once I got angry that's it Jesus would still come down from heaven to die for this one man me who committed one sin so I go into God's presence I look at it like that and that's why I've learned to hate sin that's why I've learned to love righteousness not just talk about it or hear about it and that's why I can testify my life is filled with joy the Lord's delivered me from bad moods completely it's not it's the laws are the same if you loved righteousness and hated iniquity it's yours too 1 John chapter 2 verse 28 little children abide in him these are he's talking to born-again believers little children abide in Christ haven't you accepted Christ yes you have accepted Christ abide in him is there a need for that John don't you know that once a person's accepted Christ he's automatically abiding him Farrow John says I don't believe that rubbish right the little children abide in him stay in him he won't forsake you but it's easy for you to run away from him abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him and shame that is coming so they're gonna be two categories of believers one who have boldness oh Lord you've come and the others are gonna shrink away who are these people are gonna shrink away the unbelievers little children read scripture carefully this is the only book that can show us the truth I believe it with all my heart and my eternal destiny is too serious a thing for me to play the fool with people are so careful with a little scan report that shows a little patch in their lung doctor says that could be serious like it's so worried about that which can never send them to hell and they don't seem to be concerned about sins that they take so lightly little children abide in him so that when he appears we may have boldness that we can run to meet him and not like some believers will do in that day shrink away run backwards imagine believers running backwards when the Lord comes in shame because in that light they will see the seriousness of the sin they played the fool with for so many years and then he says you know that if he's right if you know that he's righteous verse 28 you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him see what a great love chapter 3 verse 1 the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God and such we are for this reason the world doesn't know us because he did not know him is it true that the world doesn't know you or are you popular with the world seeking to be popular with the world the world does not know us because he did not know him I do not want to be popular in a world that rejected my Savior I do not want to be accepted by people who have rejected my Lord I'm not interested why do I want to be popular with people with whom Jesus is unpopular the world does not know us because it did not know him we're not popular with the world because he was not popular with the world beloved to a children of God it has not yet appeared what we shall be but we know that when he appears we will be like him because we will see him just as he is and if you have this hope everyone who has this hope this dual hope that I shall see him and when I see him I shall be like him not only see him that's what most people only think of that is that double hopes the other side of the same coin if you don't have the other side is a counterfeit coin the hope that I shall see him and when I see my shall be like him everyone who has this hope if you want to test yourself whether you have this hope or not we'll keep on purifying himself well keep on judging himself he doesn't have time to judge others because it's so much work to do in his own life there are so many weeds in his own garden that he has no time to criticize the gardens of others he's cleansing himself cleansing himself purifying himself till he reaches his standard of purity that means he's not going to stop until he's reached the pure standard of purity of Jesus Christ that's why we need to live in a cleansing all the time you cannot be satisfied if you really believe that God has predestined us to become like Jesus Christ and that's what he's gonna make us that if that is our goal will purify ourselves just as he is pure and that's why it's important to have the attitude that Paul had in Philippians chapter 3 Philippians chapter 3 and verse 13 he first of all says in verse 12 I have not yet become perfect obviously that was his goal a lot of Christians are afraid of the word perfect and perfection the New Testament is full of it the New Testament also says in Hebrews the law could make nothing perfect so the Old Testament doesn't have that word a person who's not interested in perfection is really an Old Covenant Christian I don't know what that means it's like saying a blackish white or something like what is black is white the Old Covenant Christian it's a anomaly it's a contradiction in terms he says I've not yet become perfect but I press on in order to Philippian 312 but I'm a lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me Jesus laid hold of Paul on the road to Damascus and he became it became clear to him over a period of time why he laid hold of him dear brothers and sisters is it clear to you why Christ laid all of you do you have a passion to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of you Christ did not lay hold of me just to come to church on Sundays and Wednesdays Christ did not lay hold of me just to sort of drift along in the world somehow keep on confessing sin forever no he laid hold of me with a purpose that he made transform me into his likeness and Paul understood that and he says therefore first of all he says I haven't attained it yet I haven't reached that goal yet but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind Philippians 3:13 reaching forward to what is ahead I press toward the goal for the prize of total like mr. Christ that is the upward call of God always calling me upward away from attachment to sin in the world call of God in Christ Jesus now when most Christians take that verse forgetting the things that are behind to refer to the mess they've made of their life in the past but thank God I can forget the mess I made of my life in the past and I can press forward that's good that's a kindergarten way of understanding that verse but Paul was not in the kindergarten he was a mature Christian and mature Christians say when I was a child I thought like a child I spoke like a child when I became a man I put away childish things so it's all right when you're a child born again last month or something like that to say well forgetting the things that are behind I'm really thankful that I can forget them messed up life I lived but when you've been a Christian for 20 years like Paul or more what you're trying to forget is how much you've already become like Christ Paul says I know I've overcome this and this and this and this and this and I've sacrificed this this this this this arguing up this this this and this but I'm gonna forget it that's what he's forgetting he's forgetting the progress he's made not the mess he's made of his life that's the attitude of the mature Christian he says I'm not thinking of how far I've already progressed in likeness to Christ or how much better a Christian I am than some of my fellow Christians in the church that's not in my mind if I keep that in my mind I'll never press on to perfection I'll just keep congratulating myself that I'm a better Christian than some of the others and probably judge them as well no I'm gonna forget it I'm gonna forget the things that are behind and what was behind Paul all that he had suffered for the Lord he's an overcoming life and he had written Scripture and you planted churches he's I'm gonna forget all that I'm only going to see I've not yet become fully like Christ and I've got a long way to go but you say Paul you're already miles ahead of most other believers and that's fine god bless them but I'm pressing on to the goal I mean I hope they will press on to the goal too and so he says let us therefore verse 15 as many as are mature have this attitude and the margin of my Bible it says mature if we are mature we will have this attitude Lord I want to be more like you and if in any area verse 15 you have a different attitude that means a casual attitude toward sin God will show it to you and when God shows it to you acknowledge it humbly and say Lord I'm sorry I don't have that attitude however let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained brethren join in following my example and observe those who walk according to this pattern this is another emphasis in the New Testament that we you know call people to look at our life it's a completely foreign concept to the apostles to say oh don't look at me look at Jesus that means don't look at my messed up life I'm not a good Christian but look at Jesus you'll never find that in the New Testament Paul says look at me follow me as I follow Christ he said I haven't yet become there but as far as I've come you can follow me see my gold see what I'm pressing on towards and every one of us should have this attitude let everyone who's mature a lot of us think we are pretty mature he may not be you may still be in the kindergarten if you don't have this attitude so this business of judging ourselves the Church of God is a group of people who judge themselves and they have so much to cleansing themselves that they have no time to judge others and it's from that or as John says purify themselves as he is pure like that channel gets purified and purified and purified and as God sends the Living Waters through it flows out in purity without any pollution in the channel so in that light let's turn to 2nd Corinthians in chapter 5 and see something more that Paul says in relation to the Lord's coming and are going to be with him in eternity I said how we don't want to shrink away in shame the Bible speaks about two judgment seats in Revelation 20 it speaks about the great white throne of God where unbelievers are going to be judged for the degree of punishment they're gonna have in hell they're gonna be degrees of punishment in hell it's not just hell it says he who knew his master's will and did not do it will be beaten with more stripes then he who did not do his know his master's will it's Luke chapter 12 so here it says about the judgment seat of Christ at which believers will stand that's different from the great white throne of God mentioned in Revelation 20 here it speaks about our appearing at the judgment seat of Christ in 2nd Corinthians 5:10 we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so he speaks in verse 1 about our earthly house or tent the earthly tent is our body this body is a tent or a house in which the real persons living and what we call death is this person moving out of this house that's death the person doesn't die you know that none of you will never ever die not even an unbeliever dies he just moves out of this house what we call death is the body dies but it's a moving out of this house which is a temporary house and he says this house is going to be torn down we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens but in this house verse 2 we groan because we're sick and tired of living in this house we long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling and when many people think of that they're thinking of sickness and pain and aches in this house I'm thinking of unlike mr. Christ in this house what are you thinking of when you say I'm sick and tired of this body is it Lord in this body I'm still not behaving like you I'm not talking like you I'm not thinking like you not having the same attitude that you have that disturbs me more than the sickness and the aches and pains so when I think of groaning in this body I'm not groaning because I've got aches and pains I'm not bothered about all our aches and pains multiplied by a thousand are not equal to once in a mature Christian is one who takes one sin more seriously than 10 sicknesses I want to have that attitude if I had cancer and leprosy and tuberculosis and AIDS all combined and I say Lord that won't disturb me as much as one sin one sinful thought a word her attitude our motive that I get angry or lust or run after money to me that's more serious than having leprosy and tuberculosis and cancer and AIDS all combined if you've seen it like that you're a mature Christian if you haven't pray that you will I really believe that when sickness is more serious to me than sin I'm in the kindergarten it's okay I'm not saying you're not saved but we don't want to sit in the kindergarden forever we all enter the kindergarten initially how long do you want your children to sit in the kindergarten we want to move on right so we grown in this body to be clothed with the dwelling in heaven so that when we put that on we won't be found naked he says one who's naked is gonna shrink away in shame for indeed when we're in this tent we groan being burdened because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed and I to me that clothing is the nature of Christ that takes over in order that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life and he who prepared us for this purpose his God was given us the Holy Spirit as a pledge therefore being always of good courage knowing that why we are at home in the body in this body we are absent from the Lord our real home is there but now in this body we are absent from the Lord I mean we don't we're not physically with Jesus and so we walk by faith and not by sight we are of good courage I say and we are rather eager to be absent from this body to be at home with the Lord so Paul when he talks about home he's not talking about this earth he says my home is in heaven and right now I am absent from my home he said I long to be home with my lord and therefore we have as our ambition now remember this at home means to be in heaven absent from home means to be on the earth so keep that in mind verse 9 therefore we have as our ambition whether at home in heaven or absent from heaven on this earth to be pleasing to him so that means that when I'm in heaven I want to please the Lord and here on earth I want to please the Lord too so in other words I'm going in a certain direction and when I leave this body and enter God's presence my direction is not going to change suddenly it's going to be the same direction I always had on earth to please the Lord it's not that I was running after money on this earth and suddenly I have to turn direction because now I have left the body I'm in heaven or that I took sin so casually here on earth and suddenly I've left the body and gone to heaven and I got to change direction no no it's the mature Christian he says whether I'm here or in heaven the direction of my life is not going to be any different the passion of my life is going to be to please the Lord good way to examine ourselves if the Lord were to take you out of your body tonight and that's not both James says don't boast about tomorrow but say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this tomorrow but if the Lord were to call us home today can you say that the direction of your life will not change you won't have to suddenly change direction because you're now entered God's presence it'll be just the same because you lived in God's presence here always wanting to ambition our ambition is to please him that means a burning passion to please the Lord and I could really do it in a limited way on earth and I'm excited that I can now do it in fullness but my ambition hasn't changed make that your goal if it isn't if it's not your goal already if you're not there already don't don't get discouraged but say Lord I want to come there I want to be a mature Christian so that when I leave this body and come into your presence the direction of my life is not gonna change even one degree it's gonna be the pls yus gonna be pleased you here please you there because we must all appear first in the judgment seat of Christ that each one of us may be rewarded for the deeds that we did in our body whether good that means whether it was to please the Lord or bad which is to please ourselves and please other men whether it is good I only wanted to please the Lord even if I didn't please myself and I offended a lot of human beings or whether it's bad bad in the sense I did what I pleased I did what satisfied my ego I did whatever I wanted to do and I did what would please other people that's bad he says therefore verse 11 knowing the fear of the Lord boy that's something which most people don't know today if we knew the fear of the Lord we would have more wisdom when it says in the Old Testament that the fear of the Lord proverbs 9:10 is the beginning of wisdom it's like saying that is the ABC of wisdom you know children when they go to school they first learned the ABC you can't learn anything else without learning ABC whether you want to study history or geography or physics or science or anything you got to start with ABC and you can never afford to forget it if there was some brain injury you forget your ABC at some time all your education stops as well because your entire education is based on never forgetting your ABC the fear of the Lord is the ABC of wisdom and if I ever lose it my entire spiritual education comes to a halt and that's happened in the lives of many who claim to be believers it can never happen in the life of a believer who judges himself instead of judging others therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men verse 14 for the love of Christ controls us having concluded that one died for all therefore all died this is a mystery a New Testament mystery that when Jesus died on the cross we died with him I as I was saying on Sunday the word of the Cross has got two parts one is that Christ died on the cross and second part is that I died with Christ the first part is foolishness to the unbeliever and the second part is foolishness to most believers that I died with Christ the first part most unbelievers do not accept the second part most believers don't accept because if I died with Christ and I will not live for myself and there are two places in scripture where it says why Christ died in 1 Corinthians 15 it says Christ died for our sins very clear that's the gospel Christ died for our sins to take the guilt of our sins have you seen the second reason why Christ died here he died 2nd Corinthians 5:15 2nd 2550 not so popular verse that those who live should never again live for themselves did you know that Christ died that I should never live for myself again as much scripture has 1 Corinthians 15 that says Christ died for our sins you know how irresponsible children selfish children grow up wanting privileges in their home but not willing to take a responsibility the mark of a spoiled kid who wants all the privileges of being in a good home but doesn't want to take any responsibilities in the home and so it is with Christians who want all the privileges of being God's children and not the responsibility who want the fact that Christ died for my sins I want that privilege but the responsibility that he he died that I might never live again for myself they don't want that so it's very easy when you read these scriptures to discover whether we are going getting closer to maturity or not or we are in a merry-go-round like these carousels and parks where you always come back to the same place you sin you repent confess your sin get forgiven and sin again and repent and confess your sin and you're forgiven again you sin again this is a carousel or a merry-go-round from which the devil never lets you get off get off it say Lord I'm gonna kind of sit there anymore I'm gonna get off it I want to press on he died that I might never live for myself but I must live for him who died and rose again for me and that is the meaning of verse 17 that if any man is in Christ he's a new creature Christians have this bad habit of taking verses by itself without seeing in its context what is this new creature this new creature is the one who doesn't live for himself because the old creature is a race of Adam they all live for themselves that's the meaning of that so it's because I see how Jesus lived on this earth never to please himself and I say Lord that's how I want to live you called me to live like that and that's not a miserable life I tell you the devil keep saying all your life will be miserable if you live like that it's the happiest life you can ever live on this earth the happiest most joyful and most useful life that anyone ever lived on the earth was the life Jesus lived and he was not a millionaire it was not because he had a big house or a lot of resources no it's all a deception of Satan it's because he had a certain attitude towards God that he lived the most useful and the happiest light that any human being ever lived and once you're gripped by that sin Lord that's the way I want to live I see only worthwhile way to live on this earth every other way is second best or third best or tenth best it says about Jesus in Romans 15 and verse 3 Romans 15 and verse 3 it says Christ did not please himself it's quite a verse he never pleased himself we think it's not a sin to please ourselves we think sin is those gross terrible things you know I often feel that if you were to ask most Christians believers to make a list of say five of the worst sins that you can commit I have a feeling that their list will not be any different from the list that an unconverted man makes as well if my understanding of sin is pretty much the same as that of an unconverted person what's the difference between me and him and what light have I got on what sin is where as Jesus spoke about sins like pride hypocrisy pretending to be spiritual when we're not and wrong attitudes to people these are the sins he spoke about unbelief which most people don't even think of it as a sin the Christ list of sins will be very different and the more mature we become our understanding of sin changes from that worldly understanding of you know fighting with people and lusting after women and hating and it changes from that to the most serious sins which the Lord speaks about pleasing oneself for example we read in 2nd Corinthians 5 we have this ambition you know when we get to heaven let's see every one of us is going to have an ambition in heaven to please God you can be absolutely certain of that don't you think so that in heaven when we get there we'll have only one desire to please God and what Paul said in second Corinthians 5 is just the same for me now it's just that I'm in a different body now but the inner desire in this body is just the same as the desire I'm gonna have when I got that body it's not gonna change it's just the body that's gonna change I'll be able to do it better that's all but the basic ambition won't change that's what I want to say my brothers and sisters that's what the Holy Spirit comes to do I feel so grieved that so many Christians are deceived that the fullness of the Spirit is some type of emotionalism which just gets them excited for a few moments when they come to a service and they call that the fullness of the Spirit and they go out from there and live the same old selfish defeated life they've always lived I get mad at the devil when I see how he's fooled God's children like that and that's what gives me a passion to speak out against this deception and Christendom you must do your part to to make it clear to people around you who are deceived don't let that blood be on your hands Christ did not please himself and if you're a Christian you're this is what he laid hold of you he laid all of you that you might lay hold of this life of Jesus these are the bricks with which Christ is building his body and every one of us can be a part of that we may not have gift that's a different thing God gives very few I mean if gift was the most important thing do you think it'd be difficult for God to give all of us a gift of mighty gift of preaching the word not talking about human eloquence talking about anointed preaching God can give that gift to anyone I know he gave it to me I was a very shy withdrawn type of person I wasn't the naturally the type of person who'd stand up before people and withdrawn and I'm a bit like that even now but God gave me a gift and I've often thought you could give that same gift to somebody else I mean if you have electricity in your house you could run any machine in your house that I can run in my house I know if you got the same electricity you can run our washing machine and a dryer and a dishwasher just like I have in mind it's the power and God can do that why hasn't he done it if that is the most important thing why doesn't he give it to all the believers because that is that gift is not the most important thing the Spirit of God has come to producing as the life of Jesus and that is that I do not seek to please myself and this is the area where we need to judge ourselves constantly purify ourselves until he is pure so one last verse in 1 Corinthians in chapter 4 we read about when Christ comes what is he going to judge 1 Corinthians 4 verse 5 it says here don't go on passing judgment before the time he's saying those of you who have a great lust to judge other people just hang on I'll give you an opportunity to judge them but just don't do it before the time the time will come when you can judge other people as much as you like just don't do it right now that's all he's saying do you have a great lust to judge others sure God will give you an opportunity to exercise it but just wait just wait till the Lord comes then you can judge people as much as you want because then you will be able to judge people too rightly right now you're seeing only 5% of their life most of us and not most all of us know 5% of the others here maybe you know a little more about your spouse your wife or a husband but even then not everything you know you can live with your wife for 50 years and she may still not know whether you love money or not because it's an inward thing she can know the external things you can live with your wife 50 years and she still may not know whether you lust after women that's what I mean a lot of things you don't know I swear sir you don't know what's going on through your wife's mind so a lot of things we don't know about others we know about 10% of the most and we judge on the basis of ten persons absolutely foolish the Lord says wait till I show the whole hundred percent then go right ahead and judge everybody and what's he gonna expose in that day two things one he's gonna bring to light all the things hidden in darkness that means all those areas in our life a thought life which nobody could read which is darkness to others now the private areas of our life where we did things in secret that nobody in the church knows and perhaps even your spouse doesn't know the areas of darkness it's going to be exposed in that day every bit of it that's number one don't forget that if you fear God you'll take those areas seriously and secondly the second thing God's gonna just disclose he's the motives that means the good things I did which other people commended me for the Lord will say now I'll show you the motive with which he did it the motive with which he said that the motive with which he gave that money or spoke that word or preached the church or motive motive motive not what he preached or how well he preached but motive was it the glory of God or was it his own honor his own glory and that wonderful sermon which looked so pure white you will see his pitch dark and black in that day when we see the motive and a lot of things that appeared good in the eyes of others we've seen that day was ugly repulsive so the Lord says don't judge till that day because you don't know and we judge people sometimes the person can do something foolishly but he did it with a good motive he tried his best and he bungled up and you give him zero and God gives him 100 out of 100 he says he did it with a good motive we can walk the other way around - so these are the two things two areas where we can profitably judge ourselves the hidden areas of darkness and motives it's a wonderful thing that God has given us his word I I often use the example in India of of a final examination for a very important examination and everybody doesn't know what questions aren't going to be asked but you've been given the question paper in advance and Lord says here's the question paper which I'm gonna check up in the final day the things hidden in darkness the motives of men's hearts was it to please God or to please yourself or the policeman that you did said or didn't say who didn't do certain things that's great I mean if if my son was going to having two subjects tomorrow for the examination Mattson science I'll tell him listen forget about geography and history now it's not in science you gotta concentrate on that's all don't waste your time reading these other books now that's not coming in the examination these two subjects so I see Joe the Lord is say there are two subjects coming that things hidden in darkness and the motives of men's hearts these are the things or what impression you make upon people forget it it's not going to come in the final examination how many times you want to church how much money you gave for God's Word forget all that what what is the condition of your hidden life and what are the motives are you really seeking to please God oh please yourself and please man these are areas where God judge me I seek to live in the light of that and I can say as I lived in the light of that I've learned more and more what it is to love righteousness according to God's understanding not just being upright in money matters and many people's understanding of righteousness as you speak the truth the upright money matters a lot of godless unbelievers will live according to those standards but righteousness in these areas in the hidden areas of darkness and the motives of men's hearts to love righteousness and hated iniquity so that our life can be filled with joy for many years I put a little I printed something out on a piece of paper and stuck it in front of my table for 25 years it said the happiest people in the world are those who judge themselves always and never judge others I kept looking at that looking at that for 25 years it's in my head now I really believe that it'll make you happy as a by-product a by-product the main result will be that you'll please the Lord its power hence before God and don't let the devil say to you this is impossible shame the devil by saying by the grace of God this is how I'm gonna live and if it takes me 10 years to get there I'm gonna get there I'm gonna turn around and pursue this path I'm gonna press on forgetting the past pressing forward to the things that are ahead determined to hate sin more than sickness determined to seek to please God more than to please myself for human beings for I see now this is why Christ died thank you Lord for opening my eyes thank you Lord for your word the entrance of your word gives light the unfolding of your word brings light and understanding help us to live in this light each one of us that we shall not shrink away in shame when you come but run to meet you with boldness even if you are to come any moment by surprise thank you in Jesus name Amen

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 17,726

Rating: 4.6958175 out of 5

Keywords: people, judge, themselves, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church

Id: SoEq6vaBC2g

Length: 63min 29sec (3809 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 11 2013