Are you pretending to be godly? - Zac Poonen

do you know that Jesus didn't just teach us to overcome evil he also taught us to pray Lord lead me not into temptation that is too strong for me if I find a temptation too strong for me I should run away if you find there is some girl in your office who is a temptation to you avoid her as much as possible sometimes in an office you cannot avoid these seductive women but avoid her as much as possible and don't let her get too friendly with you don't try to be popular with seductive women run away avoid and you'll keep yourself pure and you'll be a vessel that God can use I really believe there are many many brothers and sisters who are not keeping themselves pure and that is why God cannot use them that is why the church suffers because there's such a lack of powerful ministry from brothers and sisters I'm constantly grieved by that we should have had lots of mighty anointed men in CFC in these all our churches in these 40 years I find very few we should have had many mighty anointed women who bless and encourage the other younger sisters to be godly not who jump on you should go to not somebody who jumps on you with advice where you see her and you want to run away no one who you see a godliness where you want to go and say I want something that you have we need brothers and sisters like that and those are people who will flee from youthful lusts and Timothy was probably 45 years old he is not 20 years old 45 the Bible says resist the devil if you see the devil coming in front of you don't run away resist him in Jesus name but if you see a tempting woman come come in front of you run away that's what the Bible says play from Goliath but run away from Bathsheba she's stronger than Goliath and that woman is stronger than the devil to knock you down because you resist the devil he will run away from you but you don't resist that woman she'll knock you down flee it's not just run flees the type of way where you run if a lion is chasing you flee from youthful lusts and don't just run run alone it's a beautiful verse verse 22 first of all you run away from all these things that cause temptation from Lynx on your phone or computer run away from it people have asked me what shall I do brother when I'm sitting in front of a computer and I'm tempted to go to some polluted link or dirty link or and got a phone in my hand and what should I do I said turn it off and and run away from there run away from sitting in front of the computer if you got a phone turn it off and go and try and find some fellowship go for a walk at least go somewhere out in the open where you and the midst of people where you won't be tempted or go and seek fellowship with somebody if you obey this practical advice to flee you're resisting resisting and you find your resistance is weakening you're about to fall run away I tell you you will come to a victorious life because God sees your desire to run away from there you say Lord this is too much for me this temptation is too much for me I'm not gonna try and stand here in concrete I'm gonna obey your word I'm gonna pursue righteousness faith I'm gonna look for someone who's got a pure heart verse 22 and I want to fellowship with him if I can't find somebody immediately I'll just go out for a walk in the open but I'm not gonna sit here and try to resist something which is too much for me if you're serious about it you will really overcome so in the last days it's gonna be very difficult to be a Christian and it describes here's the type of people there will be in the last days in 2nd Timothy 3 who will have a form of godliness remember all these verses verse 2 3 and 4 are not talking about unbelievers no all these verses 2 3 & 4 may refer to the characteristics of unbelievers but here's referring to believers soaked all believers who have a form of right doctrine and the right language and appears spiritual and say the right things and but you can see that God can see that there are lovers of themselves number 1 they don't really love you they love themselves and they're only trying to show you how spiritual they are you see anybody who's trying to show you how spiritual he is he's a lover of himself and apply that yourself if you are a person who's too trying to show other people how spiritual you are you don't love that person you love yourself think of a father who's trying to teach his son mathematics if he's just trying to show off to his son how clever I am he's not gonna be a good teacher he's trying to just trying to show off what a clever mathematician I am that poor child will learn nothing a good father will not try to show off to his child I know more than you the child already knows you know more than him but that's not what you want to show off to your child you want to help that child to struggling with some arithmetic problem help him to answer that problem in his maths paper which he doesn't know how to solve and don't try to show of how good you are in that subject so that's a good father that's a good person even a good elder brother who's helping his younger brother will not write a show of hey you're in second standard I'm in tenth standard that's not the thing help him to understand if you're really in front of you as if you're a great man of God and he's a nobody and one way you can find that out is this when you're talking to people supposing somebody comes to visit your home whoever it is may be a younger person and you do all the talking there are some people like that they imagine themselves to be a spiritual they are the proudest and most carnal people they are I've heard complaints like that I go to visit that brother and he does all the talking and I sit there like a dumpers and listening to him but he gives me good food so I visit his home what's that that's not Christianity if you're really it's such a person is a lover of himself avoid such people all these people listed here from verse 2 to 4 at the end of it it says in verse why avoid them avoid them avoid them avoid a person who's got all the right doctrines but he's just trying to show you how spiritually is run away from such a person don't visit his home that's my advice he will not help you to godliness he's only trying to impress you with how spiritual he is or how hospitable he is or some such garbage like that he's not trying to draw you to Jesus Christ he's only trying to draw you to himself all these people are people who draw people to themselves and remember that verse I quoted the other day in John chapter 2 and 10 all who come became before me are thieves and robbers that has two meanings that means everyone who came before me in time was a thief and a robber he was the truth and the life Jesus Christ and the other meaning of before in English has come in front of me anyone who comes before me he's a thief and a robber so if you come before Jesus Christ in the sense of in front of Jesus Christ when you're talking to someone you're a thief and a robber you are preventing that person from seeing Jesus he's seeing you he admires you he's not drawn to the Lord he's drawn to you beware of drawing people to yourself such a is a lover of himself don't let people admire you for your preaching or your singing or your Bible knowledge or your music or anything be one who says like John the Baptist I must decrease so that Christ must increase that is the only person who sincerely deep down in his heart in his contact with other believers wants to decrease in their eyes so that they'll be drawn to Christ that is the only person who can know I'm not a lover of myself so that's the first type of person we are warned against and then the second person mentioned here in verse two is a lover of money not one who has a lot of money many people sitting here have a lot of money I think most of the people sitting here have probably got 10 times what some of our CFC believers in the villages have your salary is 10 times what people in the village M some some people more than that so it's not a question of having money it's not a question of owning a house with many of you own your own houses it's a question of loving it there are many people who have little who love money there are many people who have much who love money and this is a lover of money who still has a form of godliness and I tell you the Christian world is full of it most of these pastors you see on television they are the biggest lovers of money of all and I noticed another thing in Christian television both in the United States and here that most of these Christian television preachers are people who speak in tongues and claim to be baptized and Holy Spirit most of them perhaps 90% of them and they are the most covetous lovers of money on the face of the earth because they are always asking for people's money and they take those poor people's money and buy big car I spirit really he should be more free from the love of money he should be more free from desiring money from other people I'm surprised that so many believers can't see through this deception on Christian television from all these preachers how is it you don't see it how it some of you want to go and listen to some than the inner life you're more interested in head knowledge he want to be moved emotionally there they are not necessarily godly people so we have to be very careful I find these are days of tremendous deception we are mistaking a person's eloquence for anointing I really believe one of the greatest needs in our day is to distinguish between eloquence and anointing eloquence many worldly people have many politicians have there are some politicians I've heard about amazingly eloquent they can hold your attention for a long time they speak in such an interesting way they can speak for two hours and you won't lose your you won't be distracted it's not anointing its eloquence it's a human gift and when such a person can become a Christian and a preacher he can preach without an anointing an anointing will draw you to Jesus Christ not make you just impressed with that person an anointing will convict you of sin convict you of the right the need for righteousness and convict you of judgment because that's what the Holy Spirit does eloquent people won't convict you of sin and righteousness and judgment so lovers of money be very very careful avoid such people I want to avoid such people I want to avoid listening to such people on the internet or television I want to know if this guy's a lover of money and a lover of himself I don't want to go anywhere near that person I don't want to attend his meetings I don't want to listen to him on television because he will not make me godly he will influence me in the wrong direction and Paul said in the last days it's going to be difficult to be a Christian because people will not have the discern to know that this guy's just a lover of himself lover of money because he's got this form of godliness the third person mentioned here is boastful one who I mean this is a crude way of trying to show off to others that also unfortunately there are Christians like that whose say subtle things to show that they are superior to you beware of any person who says things to you claiming to be a testimony but the motive behind that testimony is not to help you to go that way but the motive is to show you see what a great man of God I am beware of such people who are saying things to you only to show off this is avoid such people avoid such people completely and then another you know he uses a number of words for pride so it's not only possible but arrogant and that is a certain attitude and I'm sorry to say I've seen that in some elders and some preachers and arrogance in the way they speak to others not the spirit of a servant I'm not talking about rebuking sin when you rebuke senior to be very strong but there's a lot of difference between rebuking sin and supposing a person has made a mistake anybody can make a mistake even the leader can make a mistake I must distinguish between the way I correct a person for sin which is rebellion and the way I correct him for a mistake that is made okay that mistake caused some problem and that often happens in the church when we work together when we are running a conference or we're doing so many things in the church we got a distinguished shooting rebellion and a mistake your spin but at other times he was very gentle with his own disciples arrogance and then it's me sure about revilers these are all people who have these characteristics but who have a form of godliness revilers are people who blaspheme say things about God in a loose light way there are many people nowadays who crack jokes about the Bible and about hell and about God and they think they're very funny it's blasphemy to make fun of biblical things it's blasphemy to make fun of spiritual things marriage for example is a very holy thing God has created this it's wrong to make fun of it in such a way that people don't value the sanctity of marriage it's there's many things you're very close to blasphemy you don't have to just curse God there are many people are burning in hell and it's terrible I mean I've heard some things even so-called believers speak which are I don't even want to mention them they make a joke about something that Jesus said be very very careful that we don't make fun of biblical things don't be a blasphemer don't be a reviler and you and some of these people who do this I've hurt myself or people who claim to be born again so we want a purity in our CFC churches where people don't have these qualities because you know we have a tremendous form of godliness in CFC we preached among some of the highest doctrines that are being preached in India and it's very easy to have that garment and behind that garment have all these qualities especially in the last days and then it says disobedient to parents this is so fundamental even in the Old Testament he spoke about the seriousness of disobeying parents but to have a form of godliness you young people especially new children you are not at all godly if you disobey your parents let me tell you that straight to your face I'm not saying that you got to obey your parents if they tell you to do something sinful many of you from non-christian homes if your parents tell you to bow down to an idol you have to say sorry dad mom I can't do that because I respect you I'll do it and speak to them in a loving way I respect you I love you I'm thankful for you took care of me from the time I was born and cared for me and educated me all that but dad mom please don't ask me to bow to an idol because not because I don't respect you but because God is above you and I don't believe that God can be represented in the form of some brass statue or wooden statue so please please respect my conviction it doesn't mean I despise you it doesn't mean I devalue you it doesn't mean I'm ungrateful to you for all that you have done but please don't ask me to do that there you have to stand against your parents in a very respectful way or if they ask you to marry someone who's an unbeliever say dad mom I love you so respect you I want to please you but do you want to make my life unhappy you wanted me to be unhappy all my life marry someone who's not going the same direction I'm going in a certain direction and this person may be going in that direction you put us together we will be having constant conflicts which may one day end in divorce do you want me to face that Dad mom please don't ask me to marry someone who's not got the same view as me in spiritual things it's very important there we have to stand against the parents but other things we have to be respectful and obedient that means maybe you're tired and your parents ask you to do something get up and do it don't you see dad mom I'm too tired I can't do it that's disobedience that's got nothing to do with spirituality and if you're like that I tell you God will honor you that when you are tired and exhausted or you urgently want to go and play a game or something and your mum asks you to do something obey her obey your parents is one of the first things that we need to teach children parents as long as you're at home as long as you're dependent on them financially you're living in their house and they are supporting you you have to obey them once you but you don't have to obey them I honored my parents til the end of their life but I didn't obey them once I left home I let the Lord lead me so please remember this it's one going to be one of the characteristics of the last days young people avoid such people don't hang around with people who are have got that spirit of disobedience don't hang around with children in your school who are always criticizing the teacher you may disagree with your teacher but don't speak evil of her for him that's not good Christianity you don't have to fight with those people who criticized you just avoid them you don't have to be a some type of judge or prophet there no no avoid is easy he's not asking you to correct them no don't correct them avoid them and the other thing it says especially you know if you don't start with children when they are young they will grow up there are so many cases I've seen of little children who act in a very rude disobedient way to the parents and the parents take it lightly no it's only a little child yeah but little snakes grow up to become big snakes don't forget that and little Tigers grow up to become big Tigers so don't forget that so disobedience to parents is something that must start from the beginning I believe the most important thing that we need to teach our children is obedience respect for parents and if they respect parents they will respect all older people when you don't teach respect for parents they will not respect older people also and very often let me say this to wives the way you treat your husband maybe what your child is seeing which one day makes him disobedient - daddy he grows up like that it happens we've had a few cases like that in this church of who young men who despised their father and it ended up despising the elders in the church the only thing we could do such with such people is put them out of the church and say and never come to see us see again where did it start with I believe it started with the mother not respecting the husband the children learning that and the children don't respect their father and over a period of time they don't even respect the elders some people think this is a small thing it's not a small thing you know what they used to do in the Old Testament you read in Deuteronomy a father had to bring his disobedient son to the elders and say this son of mine has been disobedient and arrogant and you know what the elders did to him stone him to death that was the Old Testament law how seriously God took it what did I do he didn't kill anybody he didn't commit adultery he was just arrogant and disobedient to his father some people think we act too strongly no we don't stone anybody to do that we just put them out of the church because it's serious we don't want people in this church who have a form of godliness and don't respect their parents or don't respect older people and then it speaks in verse two about those are ungrateful now this doesn't look like a very serious crime but it is it's good to go through all these things carefully and slowly and some of us read through these I'm just trying to help you to read the Bible slowly like I often teach ungrateful is that a sin a lack of gratitude I find this is another very common thing among children who are not grateful to their parents for all the sacrifices the parents are made for them learn to say thank you I encourage people at least once a year on the birthday of your father and your mother write a thank-you note to them I want to encourage all of you to do that even even if your dad is 85 years old even if he's not a Christian thank him for the things he did for you I'm not asking you to do it every day don't you do it once a year and if you've never done it so far give him a surprise this year you never know he may be drawn to Jesus Christ just by that little act of gratitude express your gratitude express your gratitude to your father-in-law a couple of years after I got married to Annie and I saw what a wonderful wife she was for me because we were very poor and she was willing to live in the very simple way we lived I wrote a letter to her father I said I'm very thankful for the way you brought up your daughter because that's been such a help for me now that she is my wife I'm sure that letter made his day you know it's I I didn't write to him to make his day I just I was since I meant it 100% sincerely I didn't do it to make friends I was I said this is what I have to do as a Christian as a Christian I have to be thankful when somebody's done something for me if somebody is trained up a girl in a very good way to do all types of lowly jobs and then I get her as a wife don't you think I should thank that person sure I felt it was my responsibility so sometimes we take so many things in the world for granted of course I'm such an important person I deserve all that I'm not such an important person I don't deserve anything I'll tell you what I deserve I deserve hell anybody who does anything for me which is better than that I must thank them and mean it from my heart it doesn't matter if other people don't thank me for what I do because I don't I'm not looking for that learn the habit of gratitude because it says in the last days there'll be a lot of ungrateful people avoid them don't be listed in this category of people grant and grant in gratitude is a sin it's a sin it's just like lover of self lover of money arrogant proud we don't usually put ungrateful along with disobedience to parents and lovers of self no no but it is it's just lumped in there along with that so learn to be grateful for somebody who did something for you even a cup of water like I've often said Jesus would thank a person who gave him a cup of water jesus told his disciples if somebody gives you a cup of water in my name he won't lose his reward so I pictured this in my mind that in the final day of judgment Jesus calls up somebody who nobody knows about and says hey I remember 2,000 years ago you gave a glass of water to Peter when he was really thirsty and come by your town and nobody was there to give him even water you gave it and I want to give you a reward I can believe that that he remembers a cup of water 2,000 years later and there is something I learned from that is I say I want to thank people who helped me long long ago I remember writing to somebody saying brother I remember 20 years ago I was in your town and I needed to go someplace I couldn't get a cab and you took me in your car to that distance I haven't forgotten it brother just want to thank you for that I mean I send it as a New Year greeting but reminded him of this because I wanted him to know that I was thankful for what he did for me at a time when there was no other way to go from one place to another ungrateful I never in my life want to be listed under that category list of ungrateful people Jack Coonan never Lord I never want to be in that list never never never learn to be grateful for your husband and wife and at least once in a while express your gratitude to her I know in the West they bring flowers and all I never brought flowers to my wife I'll tell you that because it I think it's an absolute waste of money that's my opinion get something practical and useful you put those flowers up there they disappear into three days it's far better to get something that she can use for many days which can make a life a little easier maybe a vacuum cleaner instead of flowers now god bless all those people who express their gratitude of the flowers in the West I'm not against them but it's not the type of thing I believe in I believe in practical health I mean if you have a wife who likes to smell the flowers always all the time please go ahead and get that no objection to it but what I mean is something that she really appreciates and values not something which is worthless so we express our gratitude in different ways and then it speaks about unholy I think this is talking about impurity in some way we're little little things we're not we've spoken much about impurity you know the Bible speaks about the pleasures of sin and there are many things in the world today which are impure if you go to the internet many of you do I want to say it's loaded with impurity even you're looking for some sight and then some dirty picture on the column on the right you're not interested in that but it comes up there when you're looking for something important for something else that's how careful we have to be it wasn't like that years ago because you went looking for something for a book or something in the library you won't find some dirty pictures on the right side of that book but now it has become like that the Internet is like a book you look for something there's a dirty picture on the right and you gotta just avoid it you've got to be very very careful these days and people who are careless in like that the last days they will end up with a form of godliness and destroy themselves pray this prayer Lord lead me not into temptation very very important for our time then it speaks about those who are unloving those who don't have a natural affection there's a very common nowadays people mothers who abort their children are all people who have don't have natural affection I'm not talking about a case where the doctors advise that the mother's life can be saved only by removing the child unfortunately there are cases like that but I'm thinking about people who say no we don't have children right now we hear of cases of people who say I want to build a house first and then we'll have children God may sometimes punish such people by never having children because your interest in the house go ahead build as many houses as you want see you without natural affection God has created women when they get married to have a natural affection and they desire to have children but we live in a world where they say no no no we got to make money first money is more important well I tell you I've never seen such a person becoming spiritual they may sit in CFC and speak the right language you've got to be careful about those who lack natural affection irreconcilable that's the other thing mentioned here in verse 3 those are people who will never yield no matter how much you try to convince them they will not yield they are irreconcilable they will not you offended them in some way they just don't want to be friends with you anymore don't be like that Jesus was insulted and hurt and spat upon and he forgave them don't be categorized as those who we must be eager to pursue peace with all men of course be careful about those who want to be reconciled but to carry on the quarrel no but otherwise from our side the Bible says as much as it lies in you be at peace with all men Romans chapter 12 that must be our attitude and when somebody comes wants to come and have a fight with you just stop the conversation say listen let's talk about something else I don't want to pursue that subject malicious gossips do you know the word in the Greek language from which this is translated is a word called diabolic diabolic means devilish the word for gossip personal gossips in the Greek language is devil a gossip a gossiper is a devil I hope you remember that all your life diabolic diabolical is the English word for demonic devilish and that's the word used here if a person who's gossips who speaks about a whole lot of things they don't have any control over their tongue yeah I've seen good believers who just don't have control over their tongue it's as bad as not having control over dirty thoughts it's like a person constantly going to pornography what to do brother I'm addicted to it there are gossips like that they hear some type of bad news about somebody and they spread it I remember years ago reading an article by tozer it's a wonderful article you look it up somewhere sometime on the internet called five spiritual vows find spiritual vows that every Christian should take and one of them was this he said if you hear something bad about somebody don't go and tell others about it tell the elders of the church if they can sort out that problem yes but don't talk about it to somebody else but have you seen in your in your heart a desire to immediately go and tell somebody hey did you hear what happened to this person or what this person did I'm just telling it to you what a lie just telling it to you they go and tell a thousand people say I'm just telling it to you and that person is going to spread it further we don't spread good news like that hey do you know that guy got a promotion his salary got doubled that's not the type of thing we spread usually something evil that shows that our nature hasn't changed this gossiping gossiping loving to say something bad about somebody else loving to show others how good I am compared to that person who behave like this that's essentially the reason why gossips speak gossipers speak to show I hope you can see that I'm not so bad as that person I'm talking about and there are many gossipers in CFC and the Bible says avoid such people gossips we have had gossips who were removed from eldership because they gossiped me so it's very serious thing avoid such people completely without self-control self-control is a fruit of the Spirit it says we must avoid people who don't have control over their tongue over their life see the word was without self-control in the original language is from the word you get important important is a word used sexually for a man who does not have the ability to have children he's important now most men would be thoroughly ashamed if they are important and they cannot have children but that's the word used here if you're not if you don't have self control over your tongue your eyes you are important remember that you should be as ashamed of it as your total inability to have children even though you're married you rejoice in the fact that you're not important that you're very important sexually well then also rejoice in the fact that you have self-control over your eyes and your tongue that is the meaning of without self-control it's exactly the same so put these in the same category and you'll see how evil it is how you would be ashamed to be important sexually and be equally ashamed that you're without self-control well I want to rest through this you can meditate on yourself says about brute that means very hard and haters of good and treacherous treacherous means they are not loyal to one another they betray one another reckless reckless means they you know there's a saying in English that you look before you leap before you leave jump reckless means careless in the way they go into something without realising where's it gonna take me to be careless they don't think seriously about what if I go and take this job where am I going to end up am I going to end up without any fellowship for years and years and years and may just make a lot of money reckless in the way they take a decision take a decision without considering spiritual factors holy money and how much I'll gain there are many people who do this they're reckless conceited and see again already there are words like boastful arrogant and again conceded see how the holy spirit emphasizes pride pride pride in different ways and finally I don't have time to meditate on all of this lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God when I love pleasure and comfort and ease it is an opposite to loving God that's what I see here lover of ease now this pleasure that is clean and good like having a good meal the pleasure in that or going for a picnic or enjoying a vacation that I have a pleasure is good but it's referring to pleasure that is sinful or that which just makes me lazy it's alright for little children to play video games but if you're an adult and you get the pleasure out of video games all the time so you're you're a kid you're a child if that's what you're interested in you should be more serious about studying the Bible I mean video games are all right for little children will below the age of 12 I think once you get it well you should have grown out of it otherwise you're like a dwarf you know that's what it what it really some of these things talk about being a dwarf not really groan you know it speaks in verse six about weak women who weight down with sins and let down by various impulses always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth that means that dwarf I mean some of you would not be very happy if when you're thirty years old you were just about three feet high how would you feel if you're just three feet high one meter high and you're thirty years old that's what he's talking about people who are spiritually at that level I mean just like you'd be so sad Lord what is wrong with me I mean everybody else is at least more than five feet man three Peter I'm thirty years old that's the way you should feel if you've been so long in the church and you've heard so much and you still only have a form of godliness and you don't have the power you know if we compare ourselves in this physical realm you see how serious it is these type of things and the Bible says avoid such people and I believe the reason why many of us have not grown as much as we should have it's because we have not taken these things seriously and especially in the last days is going to be difficult to be a Christian because there are a lot of people who are going to claim to be Christians who have all these qualities and why is the Holy Spirit taken pains to write so many individual bad qualities this is just for me to read through in two minutes and go to the next words you think I wasted time for one hour going through in this in detail because probably some of you have never in your entire life even though you've been a believer for thirty years gone through these verses in detail because yeah I know really ever learning verse 7 always learning and never able to come to spiritual knowledge of the truth let's not let that not be said about any of us my brothers and sisters I'm not saying all this to condemn any of you in the church like we sing I'll always be in the church because I've never heard a discouraging word I believe that any godly person who gets up here to speak will not speak a discouraging word it'll be a challenging word it'll be a convicting word it'll be an uplifting word to show you your true condition it'll be a true scan of your heart but it will never be a discouraging word it will not be to push you down but a word from heaven saying my son my daughter come up higher and I hope you've heard it like that today the Lord Jesus saying to you my son my daughter come up higher don't be one who keeps on having knowledge of the truth but not coming to a spiritual understanding of it it's about before God our Heavenly Father thank you for being so specific and detailed and all the trouble the Holy Spirit has taken to mention one after the other a big list of different different things that we can have and yet pretend to be godly please have mercy on us and give us light first of all if we have any of these qualities ourselves to cleanse ourselves purify ourselves and secondly to have the discernment where I see other people having it not to judge them but to avoid them we're not here to judge anybody but you've commanded us to avoid peace in and we don't care who we offend who gets offended with us we want to please you more than anything else help us to be men and women like that we pray everyone here we pray that you raise up an army of godly men and women in CFC in the coming days we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: A True Christian

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Length: 43min 40sec (2620 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 06 2018