Being Full Of Faith by Zac Poonen

we all know of the importance of being full of the holy spirit we read a people in the acts of the apostles who were filled with the Holy Spirit which is an action that took place in a moment and then we read of people who were full of the Holy Spirit it's like saying you filled the petrol tank of your scooter or car that's in a moment and then to be full all the time it's a different thing altogether because that means as it goes down you keep getting it filled up so when the Bible speaks about certain people were full of the Holy Spirit there were people who were consistently living in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and that is very rare to find I've met lots of people who testify about a particular date when they were filled with the Holy Spirit it's like someone saying I filled the tank of my scooter five years ago great doesn't mean anything and that's the tragedy in a law lot of so-called spirit filled churches they are not full of spirit filled people they're all talking about an experience that happened in the past and basically to remain filled with the Holy Spirit if you have first of all you know you've got to Ernest lee desire no one can be filled with the Holy Spirit if he doesn't value God doesn't give his most precious gifts to those who don't value it and that's the reason why we have to sometime hunger and thirst got a hunger and thirst for righteousness to be filled and Jesus said if you want rivers of living water to flow out from you you got a thirst for it not ask for it but thirst for it there's a lot of difference those who ask can get the bare minimum things like forgiveness and but if you thirst you can live a spirit-filled life first means you value it more than anything else on earth and you also the other condition is of course faith you believe that God will do it for you that's all anybody here doesn't matter how great a sinner you're being if you're repented turn around trusted Jesus for your salvation and you thirst for an overcoming life you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that your life can be a victorious one and you can be a blessing to others first and faith that thirst and faith must continue all the time and it's very important that we keep our conscience clear if I have a thirst to live this life I will always keep my conscience clear as I said two things to continue in the spirit for life one is keep your conscience clear always means as soon as the thorn gets into your foot pull it out as soon as you're aware of his sin confess it and the second is humble yourself whenever you get a chance to go down go down the world people are always seeing to go up that's the way Lucifer went and became the devil I'm encouraging it to go the way Jesus went who went down came from heaven to earth became a servant down at the feet of his disciples and the last day of his life on earth that's the way of overcoming go down so keep your conscience clear and whenever you get an opportunity to go down somebody humiliates you great Cora this is humble yourself keep your mouth shut don't try to defend yourself you live the most the happiest life you can ever live but instead of that you try to fight and defend yourself and be like Lucifer and you'll begin to manifest some of his nature as well and it's sad when Christians haven't seen the way Jesus went but there's another part of it which I want to see here in Acts of the Apostles in Acts chapter 6 there's an expression spoken about Stephen the first martyr the first martyr Stephen before he became a martyr was selected to do a very lowly service and that lowly service was to serve food to the widows and it's amazing the standard of life in those days was such in the church that to even find it to give a man the job to serve widows Acts chapter six the Apostle said select verse three seven men full of the holy spirit boy you need people follow the Holy Spirit to serve food to the widows yeah so as you don't show any partiality because it was a conflict you know the guys were giving more food to the Jewish widows and less to these non-jewish widows and so they said we can have you you can't give this ordinary people you've got to give it to spiritual people and not just spiritual people but people full of the spirit that means not just I mean if they had said select somebody who was filled with the spirit almost everybody in those days was full of the spirit sometime they said no no you got to select people who are full of the holy spirit and then that's the type of person God selects even today to do even a lowly service and then it says here this is the passage that really challenged me they chose verse five in the middle of verse five Stephen a man was not only full of the Holy Spirit but full of faith that's a beautiful expression full of faith and the Holy Spirit I like it it's a challenge to me I want to be that type of person and remember Stephen was a very young believer those are all young believers those days recently converted just three four chapters earlier that the Holy Spirit was poured out very new how old a believer was Stephen I don't know maybe two three years in the Lord two three years in the Lord can he be full of faith in the Holy Spirit young man maybe twenty seven years old can we find some 25 27 year old people young full of faith in the Holy Spirit it's a challenge to us it can be in those days they didn't have a Bible the knowledge was much less than all of ours they couldn't explain doctrines like we can they could not compare this verse with that verse and the other worsened teach so many things like we can but they were full of faith to the Holy Spirit that's what made the early church so powerful that's what you and I need brothers and sisters so I thought I'd share a little bit about what the New Testament speaks about faith in Romans chapter 1 we want to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit you know in Romans 1:17 it says you know that verse 16 the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes the word faith and believe by the way are hardly ever found in the Old Testament in the Old Covenant faith and belief was not so important rizzoli obedience obedience to the law in the New Testament if there is obedience is the obedience of faith that's what it says earlier here in Romans 1 5 we be made apostles to bring Gentiles to the obedience of faith even obedience is the obedience of faith whereas the Old Testament is just plain obedience they were obeying because they'd be punished if they don't obey they'll be blessed if they do obey but in the New Testament I don't obey because I'll be punished if I don't obey or I'll be blessed if I obey that's to be a little child little children we punish them if they don't obey give them a chocolate if they do obey they're in little children we see a picture of Old Covenant life where you obey God because you feel you get some blessing if you obey God you know all these preachers who say give money to God and you'll bless you that's 100 percent Old Covenant is doing business with God so yep so many Christians can't see it and yes they should be ashamed of themselves to stand up in a meeting and say and give tithe to God and God gave me a promotion in my job I said go and hang your head in shame man you testifying about doing business with God have you come here to talk about God as a father or a businessman or a bank that gives you better interest than other banks crazy what is more surprises means all the dumb Christians who sit and watch this and say wow that's what surprises me more not that stupid fellow standing up there and saying that but all these fellows who and even some CFC people who supposed to know the Bible you see why I want to get that you want to do business with God the New Testament is about the obedience of faith you know what the obedience of faith is where you don't do it for reward you don't do it even but even when you don't know the reason the obedience of faith is I do it because God told me to do it I don't know why I don't know if any benefit will come from it but it God said it I'm gonna do it you know that's the only reason we get baptized why do you go and dip yourself in the water or get somebody to dip you in the water is that such a great thing Jesus stood in the queue of repentant sinners he was not sinner but he stood in that queue to get baptized by John the Baptist and John about he said hey why are you coming from baptism you've never sinned he said it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness he didn't go by his reason his reason would have said people will misunderstand you if you're standing in that line of repentant sinners they'll think there's some secret sin in your life you lose your testimony man don't stand there or go privately when nobody's around no the first thing I see in Jesus public ministry is he did not listen to his reason God told him to get baptized go and stand in line with all those sinners he did it I learned something there that the new covenant way is the way of not listening to my reason but listening to God the obedience of faith and because I believe that whatever God has said is for my very best that's faith why is it so many people are reluctant to obey God totally because they don't believe what God says it for their very best why are so many people I think could be people sitting here who have not surrendered every single area of their life to God because they feel that God will mess up their lives and make their life unhappy is a spoilsport and doesn't want us to have any joy in our lives absolutely wrong you'll have more joy in your life if you let you give every area to God nothing you say from today onwards I only want to read what you want me to read lord I never want to read anything which you don't want me to read you think you're like me unhappy your life will be the happiest if you got television and you say Lord I'm only gonna watch on television only only what you can sit with me and watch you think you'll be unhappy maybe you'll miss some of those filthy serials movies etc but you'll be one of the happiest people in the world those movies don't make you happy they give you a temporary excitement and pull out your mind for the next 50 years is it worth it no I am the obedience of faith is I believe whatever God says is for my best if you believed it I tell you you'd never once watch internet pornography in your life if you believed it your Binion's of faith I believe what God says is the very best for me and even though my nature pulls the other way no I'm gonna listen to what God says that's the obedience of faith everything in the New Testament on faith not just blind obedience or doing business with God not if I do this I'll get some benefit there are preachers who preach like that I don't see when God sent Adam into the Garden of Eden he didn't give him ten reasons why you should not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil how many reasons did he give not even one he said Adam I'm telling you don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil if you eat you'll die no reasons that is obedience of faith that's how we teach our children supposing your child is playing around with a live electric wire you say don't touch it he says that two year old says give me ten reasons why I shouldn't touch it and you sit down and try to explain ten reasons why he should not touch an electric wire you would be giving hundreds of reasons for the rest of his life and he'll die before he grows up what did you say I have said it that's enough I hope you bring up your children that way when they're small and they grow up they understand the reason when they're 25 years old they'll understand why daddy told him not to play around with blades and electric wires when they were small but they don't understand it when they're - it's faith so in the beginning I understand today a lot of things which I did not understand 50 years ago as to why God says this is why God says that if I had waited till I understood I'd have been disobedient all these years so faith is so important not just that we trust Jesus having taken our sins but a life of obedience of faith and what stands in the way is our reason and that's why the cleverer you are the greater problem you'll have with faith I've seen that why does it say in James and chapter 2 now this is scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit James 2:5 listen my beloved brethren didn't God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith is that partiality there's no partiality with God why is he chosen the poor people to be rich in faith it's a it's a truth which I have seen because I have worked among rich people and among very poor people in this country and I've seen who's got more faith it's absolutely true what it says in this verse and I'll tell you why let me give you an example supposing you have a massive financial need all of a sudden say a hospital bill and you got you're so rich that you got twenty times that amount in your bank account you need to pray do you need to see God not at all let's say some poor villager faced faced with this massive hospital bill and he doesn't even have ten percent of that in his bank account what's he gonna do well he can borrow going big or he can trust God that's just one example I'm not saying therefore we should be poor in order have a that's not my point what I'm saying is that person is helplessly dependent upon God in that situation and you are not because you can do without God in that situation you know God is non-existent we'll be able to pay your bills so that's why the poor a person has an advantage the rich person's got a handicap dislike change he's on he's being asked to run the race with chains on his legs that person is running without any chains it's a handicap so what's the solution the solution is not to give away all our riches and to be poor the solution is to say Lord I will not trust in my intellectual resources or my earthly resources I will trust in you and that the poor and the rich can both have see a lot of poor people when they are in need they don't trust God no I've seen even in CFC some brothers when they're poor what do they do they go around hinting to everybody else whether they get their needs met they're not trusting God so don't think that every poor person trusts in God a lot of poor person just trust in other generous believers they don't have they have zero faith just as much as the rich so it's not poverty alone that brings faith it's a question over the in our heart attitude is I depend on God whether I have money or no money I depend on God take this matter of understanding scripture why did Jesus say in Matthew 11 and 25 I praise You Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent and reveal them to babies is that partiality that God reveals truth to babies and he sees some clever intelligent person there and says no no I won't reveal anything to him he's God against the rich is he against the clever and the intelligent we need to understand that what can you do if you were born clever and intelligent it's not a choice it's like the color of our skin you can't do anything about it what can you do you're born into any inheritance which you never even thought you'd get does it mean gods against you we need to understand it is dependents what are you dependent on that's the point are you dependent on God or depending on your cleverness to understand scripture you know when I hear different brothers around the world and CFC or anywhere speaking God's Word it's very easy for me now after 50 years of being a believer to see whether this guy is displaying his cleverness or is humble dependence upon God it's a great temptation when you speak to display your cleverness and I've seen a lot of preachers people go to Bible schools in all that they have taught to excel in clever presentation of the world Paul said Paul was one of the cleverest people in the first century brilliant man if he were on earth he'd have been today like an Albert Einstein or something absolutely brilliant but he said when I preached I did not come to you with clever words because I didn't want your faith to rest on my cleverness but in the power of God so how did God use a clever man like father how did God give Paul a clever man more revelation than all the others in his time including Peter who was not 10% as clever as Paul so then we see it's not cleverness father also was a rich man by the way his father was a very wealthy businessman who gave him enough money as an inheritance by the way that you read in acts 28 Paul could rent a house for two years in the capital city of the world wrong imagine going to London or New York and renting a house for yourself in the middle of the city can he do that he came from a rich family and he got an inheritance that's how he could manage it and he was very clever so there's an example God has given us of a person who was rich and clever but whom God used more than anybody else which shows us that it's not a question of whether you're rich or clever it's a question of your being proud you see most rich people are proud of their wealth and one proof of that is they don't mingle easily with extremely poor people I've noticed that in our conferences here in Bangalore we have people who come from the villages and some of them do know English by the way in fact we say to people from even the village churches only send people to our conference who can speak English but they are very poor their English is not all that perfect but I've noticed a lot of CFC people immediately go and speak to the foreigners the other ones they want to contact you can have the whole conference go by for 10-15 years and they're never once go and speak to these poor brothers and sisters who come from Tamilnadu villages why pride pride pride and I see the development of these believers were like this they remain stagnant throughout I felt as my children were growing up I said Laura I'm thankful that you have allowed my children to grow up in a church where there are highly educated people and very uneducated so that they don't grow up as some elite type of people that they can learn from childhood to learn to mingle with all equally does my great longing for them because I knew that then God's grace would be upon their life I want to ask you parents do you teach your children to mingle with the poor and not so smart but who may be spiritual if you do that you'll be doing them great good in the days to come I'll tell you that observe your children your parents observe your grown-up children during conference time and see who they go and talk to don't be blind wake up see who you go and talk to so God's not against the rich he's not against the clever but he's against that pride which makes a person feel I can only mingle at so-and-so you know it says in Romans chapter 12 have you read this verse it's a command of the Holy Spirit Romans 12:16 middle of that verse don't be proud in your mind but associate with lowly people associate with lowly people how much have you done that how much have you done taught your children to do that message translation says make friends with nobodies how many nobodies have you made friends with in your life as a Christian have you made an effort let me ask you straight some of you who've been in CFC for many years how many nobodies have you met and talked to during the conference's and how many somebodies you go and talk to in the conference's evaluate yourself honestly before God and you'll discover why you get so little supernatural revelation from God I thank you Father you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent I thank you Father that you have chosen the poor of the world rich in faith not because of their poverty not because of their lack of education but because of humility when he said be like babes he means humility says here don't be the great somebody but make friends or nobodies so that's such an important thing faith let me show you proverbs chapter 3 proverbs 3 says verse 5 trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your mind see mind and heart are contrasted here most Christians live in their mind it says don't lean on your mind that's faith in your mind faith in your cleverness so if you put these two things together have faith in the Lord and don't have faith in your mind you know there what is the greatest enemy of faith it is your cleverness and your reason and your dependence on it trusting the Lord with all your heart don't lean on your own clever understanding if you lean upon him if you lean upon him with all your heart he will make all your part straight verse 6 orders a KJV says he will direct your parts oh I praise God four times when I have you know taken a quick decision and the same day said Lord I'm sorry the effect of that decision is not yet taken place so thank you for alerting me I want to know your will and the Lord says cancel it same day I cancelled it even an advice that I give to church elders sometimes the same day I cancel it try to do that yesterday I took a decision earlier in the day and later in the afternoon I was thinking Lord sorry I didn't really consult you enough about that please I want to do your will the evening was over I was able to cancel it now I believe that turnout for the go to that church so in all your ways my brothers and sisters acknowledge your cleverness is not good enough to do God's will it's good for the things of the world it's good for doing your computer work your schoolwork your college work your factory work but when it comes to doing the things of God who don't lean on your own reason yield completely to him say Lord I'll choose your wave the obedience of faith how many of you young men will have the boldness to say Lord for unmarried I'll choose whomever you give me I don't care whether she's pretty intelligent clever she's god-fearing I know that you will it's not that God ignores intellectual compatibility I think intellectual emotional spiritual compatibly are all necessary even physical attractiveness it's not the devil who made women pretty God made them I'm not saying God will ignore all that but I say if those are important values for you you may miss God's will supposing you why are you afraid young men to say Lord I'll marry anybody you choose I'll tell you why you think God would pick up the ugliest girl in the world and say come on marry her who told you that the devil Lord I'll choose any job you want me to take why are you hesitant to say that he asked you to pick the lowest most lowest paying job in the world to go and take that and live in some Hut you don't know the father that's the problem that's why faith is based on first of all knowing God is a loving father I believe with all my heart that my earthly father desired so much good for me sacrifice so much for me I can think of instances and you know your father's did that for you but I have a father in heaven who's far more interested in the very best for me I told the Lord this when I got converted I said Lord I'll go I'll do what you want me to do you want me to remain in the Navy I'll remain in the name you want me to quit I'll quit and when the time came for marriage I said lord I don't ask for money I'll ask I'll marry anyone you give me I want someone who really wants to live for you that's it I'll choose whoever it is this must be God's choice I had no hesitation because I knew that I could not choose better than God you can go and choose a pretty girl with a character like a witch and ruin your whole life or you can marry a man who is wealthy but you will make you live in a palace and make your whole life miserable but if you give yourself to God you think he'll make you live in a hut told make you live on the streets I have personally seen in the last more than 30 years of work among poor people in the villages and even some poor people have come to CFC in past years I know better than others because I've seen it the villages in here what rock-bottom poverty some people were when they came to the church and we do not preach the prosperity gospel we have never said if you give money to God God will bless you we have said seek holiness of life because Jesus died for your sins no other reason because God wants you to be holy and I have seen every single one of them prosper materially without preaching the prosperity gospel I've seen it in the poorest villages I've seen it in poor people who come here to CFC how it has gone with them and with their children the sad thing is in some cases when it goes well with their children the parents get puffed up and backslide backs why doesn't mean they leave CFC but you can see in their faces haughtiness a pride you know what my children are like you know where we were when you first came to CFC I wish that children were poor that these parents would not be lost we don't give the credit to God you take the credit to ourselves I've seen it happy I'm only warning you brothers sisters don't lean on your reason walk in lowliness before God all your days recognize that you're a nobody it's easy for such people to have faith that's what it means to live by faith don't lean upon your own reason you know what the Lord the option that God gave Adam in the Garden of Eden was really two ways of life one live by your reason knowledge of good and evil you eat the fruit comes in your mind I know exactly what is good and what is evil I can choose or reject that and choose life that's the Holy Spirit it's a life of God and then when you have to take a decision you say I can't lean on my reason now I have to depend on the life of God within me rising up when I think of a decision or subsiding down when I think of a decision thereby indicating to me whether that is God's will or not you know that's how suppose we are supposed to live that's the life of faith by the way see Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 and verse 6 the mind set on the flesh that is on the Adamic way of life we can you can call the flesh Adam's nature Adams Way of life and if my mind is set on the way Adam and Adams children think it will lead to death it might make you a very t-man because you can be crooked and you can cheat and tell lies and become extremely wealthy and you become a great politician or great businessman and even a great preacher but the mind set on the Spirit is life that means it's like a up to surge of life and peace perfect peace where is the mind she said on the flesh is full of unrest and how many of you are disturbed when you find yourself and lying down in bed with your mind tossing about about lot of things which have got nothing to do with God but I've only got to do with earthly anxieties and problems that other people have caused for you which the devil keeps reminding you he's the best you know he's got a time to remind people usually when they put their head on the pillow at night ah now these people are relaxed I can tell them about all the remind them of all the evil that people have done to them and etcetera etcetera is just disturb their sleep a little bit you find that what do you find you can sleep peacefully a good conscience is the best pillow I tell you that well you have nothing against anybody in the world a lie a mind which is at peace hmm because you're forgiving everybody you don't have a grudge against anyone you're not jealous of somebody who's doing better than you you're happy what a life for life in the Holy Spirit this is our inheritance brothers and sisters don't be happy that you make money or your children are doing well these things are trash there's an inheritance God's purchased for us a mind which is the peace and a mind which is full of the life of God thinking you know there's a chorus which I think Amy Carmichael or somebody wrote which I sometimes sing to myself shine on me Lord through the ours of night that my very dreams be found about thy business on some holy ground shine on me that my very dreams may be about thy business and found on some holy ground yeah God answers prayer if you really longed for that he'll do that for you but if that's not your longing then you'll get all types of dreams which don't really bless you the mind at peace it's our birthright if a heart is right with God our mind will be at peace and I'll tell you something you don't have to be afraid he'll always give you you know for your needs you'll always take care of your children I'll never I never hesitate to remind you of Psalm 37 verse 25 which says David says I'm 70 years old now he wrote a lot of songs when he was young but this one was when he was old psalm 37:25 I'm young and now I'm old I'll tell you one thing fellas I have never seen a righteous man forsaken I've seen a lot of wealthy people struggling but I've never seen a righteous man forsaken by God and I've never seen his descendants begging for bread I've never seen his children without a job I've never seen his grandchildren without a job I have not seen his great-grandchildren without a job do you want their be righteous wealthy people some of their children become beggars for their grandchildren be righteous live by faith God wants us live by faith and not to live at a static level of faith in Romans 1 we saw that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes Romans 1 15 16 the next verse he says the righteousness of God Romans 1:17 is revealed from faith to faith to faith to faith to faith it's like it says in the last words of 2nd Corinthians 3 that the Holy Spirit changes us from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory to glory it's like telling your child you're gonna go from first to enter to second standard third standard reports nine hundred fourth the standards extended all the way to PhD and to postdoctoral studies there's no end to it it's like that faith to faith to play through faith through it and you tell your child don't be satisfied with what you learned in third standard you've got to go on man I want you to get a PhD and that's how we the Lord tells us to don't be satisfied that you've got just enough faith to take you to heaven your sins are forgiven it's from faith that's the first level that you just join school that's kindergarten you've got to go from faith to faith to faith to faith to pain to pain so the question is are you progressing in your education of faith in the school of faith the school of knowledge oh all of us have made a lot of progress but knowledge it says only puffs up like a balloon you blow into it because bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger the bible says knowledge is like that you think that's a very useful thing like a little child who thinks a balloon wow how big it is knowledge puffs up it's just hot air but faith oh create the fates of hate to pay that'll pick you up make you strong so do you know the difference between knowledge and faith do you find I don't need to ask you whether you're growing in knowledge if you're coming here every Sunday your knowledge is increasing in leaps and bounds the question is are you growing from faith to faith it's like your child comes back from school and you ask him well you play marbles in school right how many marbles do you get this year compared to last year I'm not really interested I see did you get a promotion from first hundred a second standard that's what I'm more interested in then finding out whether you play marbles better this year to get knowledge it's like that you can play marbles better but you're still sitting in the kindergarten first faith is concerned knowledge is increasing but faith is not growing we really need to take heat to that in this matter of faith the Bible says in Romans chapter 3 first about being justified by faith Romans 3:28 we are justified by faith now I've often spoken about this but there aren't a lot of new people here you only come to the church and sometimes we can I don't want to ignore them I want to explain to you what justification is even when all our sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ you have repented you come to Christ he's forgiven you your sins because you believe that his blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and every single sin of yours is forgiven your record as far as sin is concerned is clean you still can't stand before God did you know that how can you stand before God you think of your sins are forgiven you can stand before God that's what a lot of people think that's why forgiveness is not enough because even when all my sins are forgiven I still have within me what the Bible calls the flesh the corrupt nature how in the world can I stand before God with this corrupt nature and say my sins are all forgiven that's filthy there's nothing good in it we cannot stand before God that's what many have not understood I'm sorry to say many preachers don't even explain it so what does God do to cover up this filthy nature he clothes us with the pure righteousness of Christ we haven't part taken away yet that we will slowly partake of it over a lifetime but meanwhile we are covered with it and I stand before God accept it just like Jesus Christ because I'm justified declared righteous clothed with the righteousness of Christ by faith I accept it do you know that you are justified by faith in do you know that you're justified or you only know you're forgiven these are inheritance there's a story that Jesus spoke about this in Matthew chapter 22 a certain king gave a wedding feast and there's a picture of our salvation and he sent out his slaves Matthew 22 to to invite those who are invited those are the Jewish people first the whole nation of Israel come I've come to save you and they said no the Jewish people rejected that message they didn't come he sent other slaves please come we have been invited everything's ready they said no they paid no attention verse 5 and they went their way that's what the Jewish nation did and the king was angry verse 7 and he said the wedding is ready verse 8 those were invited the entire nation of Israel were not ready they're not worthy now go to the highways and get all the beggars the evil and the good the people in rags you know who they are you and me the beggars from the streets the filthy whether they are evil or think they are you look good whatever it is bring them in that's how we came in and then you see all these beggars in rags and torn floors and filth and dirty you can't come and sit in a king's wedding feast with those clothes the King knew that so at the gate he gave a beautiful white robe to every personal King put this on and your dirty rags will be covered and the beggars were excited and they would all put it on except one guy who came in a suit and a tie he said I don't need this wedding robe I think my robe my dress looks pretty neat as it is I'm not like these beggars with their rags I think ok he went in without the wedding robe and the King comes to see these thousands of people and it's very easy to spot when everybody's in white one fellow in a nice pin striped suit which he thought was excellent and the King asks him one question how in the world did you get in here without a wedding row it says here he was speechless now if you had to pay for the robe he could have said I didn't have enough money it wasn't you didn't have to pay it was free if it was not offered he could say nobody offered it to me it was offered to everyone he did not take it because of his pride it's a picture of people who say who compared themselves with others and say I'm not as bad as them are you like that my brother you're the one we'll never be justified because you compare yourself with other sinners and say well I'm not as bad as them I mean I'm saved and he's saved but it's not as I wasn't as bad as them you know why Paul had such a wonderful experience of salvation because even though as he says he lived with a perfectly good conscience from childhood and kept the law all his life he saw himself as the chief of all the sinners in the world how can a person have you ever thought of this time to show you that acts 23 verse 1 he says I lived with a good conscience all my life Philippians 3 in the first few verses six seven or eight or something he says according to the righteousness in the law blameless now here's a man from his childhood who's lived with a good conscience to the age of 60 when he testifies in acts 23 one according to the law external standard of the law blameless still says in 1 Timothy 1:15 I am the chief of all the sinners in the world how is that possible because all the other things were in the eyes of men have a good conscience before men and I had kept the law before men my external life was clean when he looked at his inner life he says in Romans 7 I found all types of desires there which are corrupt I am the chief of all the sinners in the world he said Paul II people living today all are you worse than for sama bin Laden this is yeah you believe that about yourself you wouldn't say that would you there are two revelations that God had to give me in my life about 35 years ago one was to changed my life that Jesus came in my flesh not with my sinful tendencies no that was not there but of the same flesh by which he could be tempted and he was tempted in every point not only that but exactly as I am Hebrews 4:15 that was impossible if he did not have my flesh that was a revelation that really revolutionized my life and that was one of the results that came out of the baptism in the holy spirit and I started reading the Bible I remember after I was filling the Holy Spirit well it was really the second time I had an experience before my back slid and then God filled me the Holy Spirit again and I said Lord if this is real then the New Testament will become a new book for me because the Holy Spirit brought it and it did become a new book from that and that was the first revelation the second revelation which is equally important was for me to discover that everybody in the world had the same flesh as me a lot of people haven't seen that even those who've seen that Jesus had the same place they haven't seen that that other guy's got the same flesh as me he's a child of Adam just like me once I understood that I'll tell you the result I could never look down on anybody after that you know how some communities look down on certain other communities and say ah I know they're like this I feel sorry for you the part of the country I come from is Kerala and in Kerala people are very proud of the families they come from you know there are family names which they're very proud of them displayed on the gate I like to put atom family they like to display it you know that which especially if you are related to some Archbishop or bishop or something like that means I mean the archbishop may be in hell but the name is very famous in those circles and they say I belong with that family so sometimes I meet such people and say what's your family I say I came from family that was kicked out of Eden many years ago but Jesus came and saved me are you proud of something that you have inherited family name family well education intelligence no wonder your experience of Jesus is so shallow he came for the humble because he himself is humble he came for those who have no high thoughts about themselves because of their wealth for their intelligence I'm glad he picked up somebody like Paul who was rich and clever so that rich people in Clara people don't think they're excluded that even such a man could really live by faith and depending on live by his heart not to live by his reason so here this man came in the suit and he was thrown out it says he was thrown out because he felt his own righteousness was good enough and the King said bind him hand and foot verse thirteen and throw him out into the outer darkness why he's better dressed than all the others if you remove the garment the outer garment definitely his dress was better he was the best of the lot that's why the Pharisees couldn't find I like to see that picture on the cross where this wicked criminal would live murdering people stealing from people goes into paradise and the holy Pharisees standing on the foot of the cross go to hell never forget that picture at the cross the one whom the world considers a criminal walks that very same day with Jesus in paradise and all those people in the world considered very scholars Bible scholars and religious leaders go to hell not because their Bible knowledge but because of pride pride is the enemy of faith if you don't have more faith my brother's sister the answer is because of pride I'll show you that from Scripture in the Old Testament I showed you one enemy of faith is our reason proverbs 3 verse 5 I'll show you the other enemy of faith in the book of Habakkuk you know where Habakkuk is this offer the book of Hezekiah just turn you find it have a cook it's towards the end of the Bible just we'll work your way backwards from Malachi Zechariah hey guys after I have a cook Habakkuk chapter 2 he has a contrast between two types of people in verse 4 the last by the righteous will live by faith the opposite of that should be the unrighteous know the opposite that is the proud first part of that verse his soul is not right he's not righteous so what is it saying the proud person is not righteous but the one who's got faith is righteous see the contrast in proverbs 3:5 it was the one who has faith and the one who trusts in his reason here it is the one who's got faith and the one is proud so from these 2 verses I get to I get conclusions as to what are the enemies of my faith one is my reason when I trust in my reason for example a lot of anxiety it's because we use our reason so much and if he trusted in God and did not depend on our reason we wouldn't have so much anxiety we'd be free from it you know like these people who study diseases diseases they're not doctors so they study disease they go to the internet and look this look up this look up that look of this and they imagine they have all types of diseases which they don't have use their reason so much they get all worried about something it's like I heard this man who went to a doctor and said I think I have this very complicated disease but he said that disease doesn't have any symptoms he said that's right I don't have any symptoms so I feel I got this very complicated disease that's the result of too much of studying medicine on the Internet imagining I've got this and I've got that I've got the other thing be anxious for nothing you have a father in heaven who cares for you personal trust God like that it's free from anxiety lives by faith and pride the reason the Pharisees could not believe was because of their pride they were too proud so I've learned something from that that if I lack faith in my situation I say Lord I must be proud somewhere that's why I got all anxious that's why I'm so anxious about my health anxious about how will it turn out will I die before my children grow up all these things you know which the devil puts into our mind it's because of a reason and pride let's learn to trust in a Heavenly Father and live by faith walk by faith first of all justified by faith declared righteous accepted by God and then everyday living trusting a Heavenly Father who cares for every need of ours dear brothers and sisters let's go that way it's bow before God let's pray this is not a complicated way the complicated way is the way of unbelief and reason and pride the way of faith is simple it's for the humble if they're the ones who do not boast about their intelligence or their wealth or their children or their family or anything but we'll humbly trust in God and say Lord I lean upon you I want to live by faith all the days of my life Heavenly Father is the way we want to live you know that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith once not only to bring a beginning to it but also an end to make us perf perfect faith we want to go that way Lord every single one of us help us we pray in Jesus name

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 12,863

Rating: 4.7746477 out of 5

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

Id: Gm0Xfy3zz7I

Length: 59min 49sec (3589 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 20 2013