Building a New Covenant Home - Zac Poonen - May 26, 2018

[Music] so we've been thinking of distinctives of the New Covenant how is marriage different or family life different in the new covenant from the old covenant we can get an inkling from the Old Testament and the New Testament if you read the Old Testament in all of God's laws that he gave he gives some very detailed laws to Israel concerning how lepers are to be cleansed if there was leprosy or stains in the walls of a building how to cleanse it and laws concerning if you find a bird with its little ones which one should you take should you leave the mother there and just take the little ones shouldn't take all of it small small things very little details about so many intricate little things but no command on how wives and husbands must live with each other there's and throughout the Old Testament you don't read anything about this our wife and her husband must live with each other a few verses about bringing up children but not too many so family life was not a very important thing in the New Testament about the only family life you read about his Isaiah who was wife as a prophetess like him and they had a child and that's about mention there other than that you don't read anything about the family life of all the godly people in the Old Testament prophets and the kings of course even David had a pretty miserable very lightly at 7 or 8 wives so even some of the godly people it was not a very good family love Abraham for example he had a child through his maidservant so there were not good examples there in marriage and family life in the Old Testament but when you come to the new testament new covenant it is given such a lot of importance and one indication of that importance I'll show you turn with me to 1 Timothy in 1 Timothy and chapter 3 he's talking about the qualifications for an elder that'll be like the prophet in the Old Testament the elder brother in a church the very first thing mentioned about him is he must be above reproach where's chapter 3 verse 2 and the first thing is he must be the husband of one wife if he's divorced he can be forgiven but he can never be an elder he cannot have a public ministry in the church if he's got two wives he one wife is dead then it's okay then he's still husband a one wife man and then not only husband of one wife but it speaks about his family verse four he must be one who manages his own family well there was no such requirement in the Old Covenant because if it were there as I said yesterday Moses and Samuel could not have been prophets they could not have been elders in the New Covenant but there were great prophets in the Old Covenant so you see the tremendous difference in New Covenant on family life so don't ever go to the Old Testament to find your standard for Christian family life so here it says he must be one who manages his own family well and he must be able to keep his children under control with all dignity it doesn't mean the children are perfect but it does mean that they obey Him that's the meaning of under control with all dignity that means he don't have to yell and scream at them ten times before they obey Him but with dignity that he speaks a word to them and they listen when the reason given there's a reason given for this if a man cannot manage his family of five or six children at home how in the world is he going to take care of a church with 5060 people see the logic there that means an elder is like a father in a church this is the verse where we find it an elder is like a father in a church and if he can't be a father for five or six or two or three children at home how in the world can you make him an elder for father to a hundred people in a church or 5060 in a church no out of the question and you know when something's repeated twice in the New Testament you know it's really important there are some verses like that God gives grace to the humble it's repeated James for 1 Peter 5 he resists the proud he's written in 1 Peter 5 and James God Oh words like the righteous shall live by faith three times in Romans Galatians and Hebrews so here is concerning elders you read is repeated again in Titus in chapter 1 see Titus was one of Paul's co-workers and where all could not go himself to appoint elders the pattern in the old in the New Covenant was Paul went around planting churches and usually he wasn't there very long in a place some place few places like Ephesus he stayed three years Corinth one and half years many other places just a few days and he planted a church gathered them together and it was too early to appoint elders because you wouldn't know who is qualified here to be an elder who's the one who's got maturity who's the one who the others can look up to so he moved around other places and came back now I'm saying this from our own experience in India with 7,200 churches that we planned a church and then Paul would go around and come back after a while maybe a year or two later and by the time there would be an evidence as to who are the mature ones and he would appoint them as elders some places he could not go he asked Titus you appoint the elders Titus chapter 1 verse 5 I left you in Crete so that Paul was there in Crete but at that time was not yet right to appoint elders because I they said they've just started but he says I left you there so that you can now set in order what remains and you can appoint elders on my behalf Paul says in not only in Crete but in every city in that area and again what are the conditions number one a man must be above reproach that's the first thing in Timothy to his testimony must be clear there must be no reproach against his name and the husband of one wife again first thing knowledge of the Bible ability to preach and all much later verse 9 it's almost the last thing holding fast to the faithful word not every elder may be a good preacher but he must be a godly man without reproach and again the husband of one wife having children who are believers he goes a little further here than in 1 Timothy 3 where he says the children must be under control of the Father but here he says the children must be believers and they must not be accused of rebellion and dissipation you know wild children like a lot of young children we see nowadays here and there absolutely uncontrollable by the parents you see them in public places absolutely wild and he says in such a persons not fit to be an elder I'm not saying he cannot be in the church but he can't be an elder so we see the high standard that God requires from families now we may not be elders but you can when you see this you see how much God values the importance of family life and so whether you have you may never become an elder but if you see this is what God values you must go after it say Lord this is what you value I'm not interested in being an elder but I want to have the type of family which you value so what I see here I was not trying to show you the qualifications to be elders because most of you'll never be elders in your life but I'm trying to show you what God values in family life which is never mentioned even once in the entire Old Covenant so distinctives of the New Covenant family life very very important I'll show you further as I told you there's not much detail given in the Old Covenant about how husbands and wives and parents and children etc must live in in the days when the New Testament is written most families consisted of father mother or husband and wife children and slaves many homes had slaves in working in the home just like in India we have most of the homes will have a maidservant working there comes and goes so it's very similar there Eastern culture so Ephesians 5 we read the whole detail about how to run your home Ephesians 5 verse 22 wives we subject your husband's husband out to be with your wife verse 25 and fathers and children chapter 6 children obey your parents first forefathers bring up your children and instruction of the Lord and servants and masters chapter 6 Ephesians 6 5 servants how you should be and how the master should behave towards a servant verse 9 this whole section again it's repeated twice you go to Colossians and chapter 3 like like the saying which says in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established so here we read Colossians chapter 3 verse 18 onwards why if she must be like this husbands you must be like this children must be like this verse 21 father's must be like this Colossians 3 and verse 22 slaves must be like this and chapter 4 verse 1 masters must be like this so turning back to Ephesians now here's a complete description of what family life must be like and this must be the aim of every god-fearing Christian to have a home like this and if it's not like this we press on to this perfect standard now the interesting thing I wanted to show you is this whole section on marriage and family notice the introduction to it and what comes after it the introduction is Ephesians 5:18 let's start there how to bring up your family in a godly way begin at Ephesians 5:18 and not at 22 ephesians 5:18 be filled with the holy spirit the only place in the entire New Testament where there's a command to be filled with the Holy Spirit you mean Acts of the Apostles you read about different people who were filled with the Holy Spirit but you never read a command saying be filled with the Holy Spirit and in the original Greek in which the New Testament is written it's a continuous tense filled means keep on being filled or be being filled that would be the accurate translation be being filled with the Holy Spirit that means all the time there must always be gas in your tank something like that it's no use having people talk about it once for all experience there is no such thing as once for all experience in being filled with the spirit be being filled with the spirit and it is as important a command as the first part of that verse don't get drunk with wine now if you want to know how little Christians have accepted this command I point it out like this see that verse has got two parts don't get drunk with wine which is a command be filled with the spirit which is another command in the same verse how do you disobey it if you're not if you're drunk with wine you disobey it if you are not filled with the spirit again you disobey it now if a man comes into your church drunk with wine you look down on him this guy's drunk but if a man comes in your church not filled with the spirit oh that's normal what do you mean it's normal the same verse says don't get drunk with wine and be filled with spirit this shows how how much Christians have devalued being filled to the spirit it was the most important thing in the days of the Apostles and we have to see it as not being filled to the spirit is equal to disobeying don't get drunk you get drunk that's a disobedience you're not filled with the spirit you're not seeking to be filled in spirit is as much of disobedience as getting drunk that's how I see it if you see it like that you'll pursue it supposing you've got a bad habit of getting drunk and drunk and drunk and drugged frequently wouldn't you take that seriously as a Christian even if you do it once in a while you get drunk I don't mean just drinking but getting drunk be not drunk with wine and if you see not being filled to the spirit in the same category as that because it's written in the same verse I believe will be much more serious about it so once you have filled with the spirit the result will be many things first of all a life of praise Psalms hymns spiritual songs singing and making melody it's really true it's like when you're filled with the Holy Spirit you're so full of joy that you want to praise the Lord for all that he's done and you got a vision of the spiritual world where God is on the throne and the devil's been defeated and the result is you see him on the throne controlling everything in the universe and so you always give thanks verse 20 and in the name of the Lord Jesus now I want to show you a verse husband's be subject to your wives did I read it wrong yes or no are you scared to answer is there a verse which says husbands be subject to your wives No supposing I show it to you in Scripture okay here it is Ephesians 5:21 write our own husbands be subject to your wives in the fear of Christ and wives verse 22 you also be subject to your husband's so before you know a lot of husbands like to go straight to verse 22 I say hang on go verse by verse go to verse 21 and then go to verse 22 this is a balance in Scripture all false teaching comes because of a lack of balance I can see the wives are really excited to see this discover this but let me say it isn't the fear of Christ it's not a sort of album authoritarian type of subjection there is no such thing as authoritarian subjection not even of elders you know having authority over people in the church it's not dictatorial it's the the best way I can describe it is a loving father who longs to bring up his children in a good way and sacrifices so much and those children are told be subject to your dad it's good for you it's for your protection he will protect you when you are little he'll protect you from crossing of the street and getting run over that's why the dad holds the child's hand no the child says no no no I don't want to be subject you'll get run over it'll die in the same way when it's grows up to be a teenager be subject to your dad because he can advise your mom who can protect you from so many harm if we can see that in the New Covenant subjection to Authority is for our protection God never wanted an elder or a father or mother or anybody to be dictatorial no jesus is our example so be subject to one another in reverence for Christ the word fear sometimes gives us the wrong picture I always say there are two types of fear of God and we got to have the right one in the Old Covenant it the fear that God may hurt me in the New Covenant is the fear that I may hurt God got it and if you got the fear that you may hurt God that's the right type of fear if you're always afraid that God may hurt you that's the wrong type of fear I never live with that fear I'll tell you honestly I do not live with that fear maybe in my younger days the Christian when I didn't know the truth I was afraid God would hurt me he's angry with me or something that's gone but I live constantly I'll tell you honestly before God I live constantly every day in the fear that I may hurt God I don't want to do that so that's the type of fear in when it says in the fear of fear of Christ a husband and wife live with one another with respect it means I don't want to hurt you what a wonderful relationship a husband and wife can have like that and I don't want to hurt you I'm afraid I may hurt you very very good attitude to have towards each other that's how it begins and then wives be subject to your own husbands like they say first among equals husband and wife are equal in the sense that both are human beings and both are equally accepted before God both are forgiven both are children of God there's no first class second class children in God's house but among the two for the sake of order in the home the wife must be subject to the husband and it says here just like the church is to Christ be subject to your own husband's as to the Lord and it says in verse 24 as the church is subject to Christ so also the wives ought to be their husbands so it's an order it's not because one is inferior and I'll tell you I'll point out to you why a wife is not inferior to her husband because if you turn to 1 Corinthians and chapter 11 see how it says here in 1 Corinthians 11 you know the word head head ship is subjection head ship speaks about Authority subjection so here it says in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3 Christ is the head of man so he's the authority over men man is a head of the woman man is the authority over a woman and then it says God the Father he's the head of Christ so what we learned there is if I were to paraphrase that verse when Jesus Christ was in heaven Christ is the word for Messiah that's word in the Greek it's called Christ but in the movie the word is Messiah that means the one who came to the Jews as their Messiah now in heaven Jesus was not called Jesus he was not called Christ he got that name only when he was born of Mary in heaven he was the son of God he was the same person but he was equal with the father and he's always equal to the father the Father Son and Holy Spirit but when he came to earth he voluntarily subjected himself to his father with whom he was equal and the Bible says that all men should honor the son as they honor the father there's an equality there the Bible speaks of RI we worship Jesus Christ we worship the father equal but though equal Jesus was subject to the father in God's order for that period of time when he was on earth he subjected himself voluntarily joyfully and that is the example given for women and wives I would say be subject to your husband's as Jesus Christ was to his father just to show you that it's not a disgraceful thing to be subject if it was a disgraceful thing to submit her to be subject to an authority then Jesus did a disgraceful thing by submitting to the Father but Jesus showed us the glory of submission by being subject to his father and I believe that's one of the very important things for wives to understand that there is a glory in following God's order it's not a disgraceful thing Christ accomplished all the will of God by being subject and what a fantastic ministry he fulfilled by being subject if he had so no no he said if he said I'm equal to the Father I don't have to listen to anything he wouldn't have finished his ministry and the wife who fulfills her ministry and accomplishes what God wants her to accomplish as a wife he's the one who takes the same position that Jesus took in relation to the father I'm equal to my husband but as God has commanded me I'll be subject to him it's the order in the home and there's nothing disgraceful about it it will enable you to fulfill God's plan for your life so turning back to Ephesians 5 still how New Covenant distinct is about a Christian family life be filled with the holy spirit that's where it begins how can a wife be subject to her husband in a godly way be filled with the Holy Spirit if you begin there in Ephesians 5:18 and then come to verse 21 and 22 then we do it the right way you cannot do it properly if you don't seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit as I told you this is the only place in the whole Bible where the command is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately after that it speaks about family life so it doesn't say a word then about tongues or healing or gifts or anything but it says about family life so I say if you are filled with the Holy Spirit it'll change your family life it changed mine and God filled me the Holy Spirit changed my family life that's how I know it was genuine and if it hasn't changed your family life I would question whether you're really filled with the Holy Spirit it'll change the way you talk where you converse with each other because what the Holy Spirit does is you know he read that verse he takes the things of Christ and makes it real to us so Here I am at home living at my wife and the things of Christ are real the Lord says I am with you and he's right there in my home Jesus is not going to be in your home just because you hang a board they're saying Christ is the head of this house and they're silent listener to every conversation if you really believe that he was a silent listener to every conversation many people wouldn't be talking the way they talk to each other at home it's just a board hanging there it's hypocrisy but the Holy Spirit makes it real Jesus is right here when I'm talking to my wife imagine if Jesus were physically standing there when you talk to your wife or when you talk to your husband would you talk in the same way that you're talking right now that is the test of whether you really want Jesus to be in your home how do you like it if one day if this actually happened that Jesus physically came down to earth and knocked at the door of your house and you open it and say Jesus says I come to spend two or three days with you I'm sure you'd be delighted you'd make the best guest room available in the best food and everything else and you wouldn't turn on certain TV programs those days for those two or three days and you would make sure that certain magazines are all hidden away and you'd be very very kind in the way you speak to you each other during those two or three days and it'll be like heaven because Jesus is physically there and when after three days he says okay I'm going and he goes what do you say when you close the door you say oh now I can relax if that is the case you have to face up to the fact that Christ does not dwell in your home that's what I wanted to point out to you he's not there you're imagining you put up a verse on the wall there doesn't bring Jesus into the whole ask the Holy Spirit that's why it says be filled with the Holy Spirit then build your home wives husbands parents chill so he must have asked the Holy Spirit to make the presence of Jesus real to you and he doesn't have to be always in your mind we think that recognizing the presence of Jesus means I must always be thinking in my mind Jesus is here Jesus is here Jesus it's not in my memory Jesus doesn't dwell in my memory he doesn't dwell in my mind he dwells in my spirit which is much deeper than my mind and memory so I don't have to always think and the best way I can illustrate it is supposing I tell you you must always breathe you see boy I have to always breathe is it and I keep consciously breathing you're not consciously be reading you're just breathing whether you know it or not it's become a habit that's the way we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have Jesus it becomes unconscious that even when you're sleeping you're breathing because it's become so much of a part of your life and that must be your goal that the presence of Jesus and the fullness of the Spirit has become so much of a part of your life it's just like breathing you don't have to be conscious of it you may be conscious of it sometimes that you're breathing but most of the time you're not so I don't have to be conscious Jesus is here for example I'll tell you in my own case whenever I preach I say Lord I want you to be there and I I want to recognize that you're there and you're listening to what I'm saying am i saying anything to hurt somebody am i saying something which is not in your word am i holding back something which may make me unpopular but she wanted me to say am i seeking someone's honor to seek somebody's honor his ass bad is seeking preaching for money there's no difference between preaching for money and preaching for honor let me tell you that honor is one form of salary that people take and money is another form of salary that some pastors take both are wrong because Jesus never preached for money or honor the Apostles did not preach for money or honor so I see Laura I want you to be here and I want you to that's why almost every message I preached I go home and I judge myself I say Lord is there something you got to tell me nor any of you who are in the preaching ministry I would recommend that you do that it'll sharpen your preaching and make it more christ-like more and more and more and more and then I'm not conscious that Jesus is here but unconsciously and I find the result of that is that the Lord tells me even what to say while I'm sitting in or standing or sitting and speaking because the presence of Jesus becomes as real as breathing so fullness of the Holy Spirit in your home must be like that Lord I want your presence to be here it's the most wonderful thing to build a godly home the presence of Jesus Christ ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit I believe that's the reason why the being filled with the spirit is mentioned here first of all and then going down into the practical things the husband is the head of the wife that's what it says here the verse 23 the husband is the head of the wife now you know the word head is used in many ways in the world in English head of department in an office head of the country the president and that's another type of head of an organization CEO we call them but that's not the head spoken of here is this physical head like the head of the body because it says nor any a the husband must love his wife as his own body so we some some husbands when they read I'm the head of the wife they think of the head of the department this is an organization here and I am the head of the department that's not the way the word head is used here it's head of the body don't mix up the two because head of department is not like head of the body you see the head of the body is so concerned about the body that if I get a slight injury in my hand immediately the head is concerned about it think of a a splinter got into your hand here how concerned you would be it causes a pain to the head you know pain is felt in the head conscious of pain in us the hand does something about it the head tells us the other hand to do something about it it's concerned immediately if a mosquito come and sits on your hand and bites immediately the head tells the hand get rid of that this is the type of head the husband should be concerned about the problems is why faces and wanting to do something to resolve that problem we may not always be able to resolve it you know if you have a broken hand you may have to go somewhere else you have somebody to fix it you can do it yourself but concern must be there so this is the way the husband is to be the head of the wife and when it says the wife is to be subject to the husband as unto Christ it is as Christ as the churches to Christ the meaning is that the church is a helper to Christ you know when God made Adam and Eve one reason he made them separate was to show the that Adam needed a helper he made Adam first and then he said it's not good for man to be alone to show you that passage in case some of you may not be familiar with it in Genesis chapter 2 it's very important because this is where marriage begins Genesis chapter 2 God made the man and and he looked at him and said Genesis chapter 2 in verse 18 it is not good for the man to be alone this is the beginning of marriage this is the first place where you get the understanding of marriage purpose it's not good for man to be alone so what is the primary purpose of marriage companionship it's not man's got such a tremendous sex drive I must provide of something for him to meet a sex drive that is not the primary goal of marriage that's not even mentioned here is not good for man to be alone it's not even a man must have children so I must give my wife that's also not the main reason it's not good for man to be alone therefore I will make him a helper so why did God make Eve it's not primarily to satisfy Adam sexual drive or desire or that Adam should have children no it's so that Adam can have a companion so your marriage must begin there the wife is meant to be a companion and a friend to the husband and the husband must recognize I need this helper not just to do odd jobs in the home but as a helper for me in my life she's the one who completes me and that's why I believe God took the rib out of Adam sight so that he could realize this is a part of me really and he said that later on this is now bone of my bone verse 23 and flesh of my flesh so that is the relationship God originally wanted man and woman to have and he knows sin has spoiled everything sin came into the world and messed up everything because the way sin came was when the woman refused to be subject to her husband you know when the serpent came to Eve and the serpent knew the woman is the weaker vessel I can get her more than I can get at him so he went to her it's interesting that the serpent went to the woman and said hey very subtly has God said you can't eat and you know gets her to sort of compromise and once you begin to discuss things with the devil you are doomed there's only one thing you can say to the devil in the name of Jesus get away from here I resist you but once you get into the discussion with the devil it's like discussing is a very smart person he'll fool you that's what he did and he convinced her that God was a liar God said you will surely die and the serpent said to the woman worse for you shall not die what should the woman have done when the serpent said suggested something into her mind it happens today the Satan comes and suggests something into your mind that's not that's called temptation he even suggested things to Jesus jump off the roof of the temple commit suicide temptation to commit suicide came to Jesus he said no don't get shocked if some terrible temptation comes into your mind it's only a suggestion from the devil temptation is not sin if you reject it it's not a sin so the devil put a suggestion into use mind why don't you eat this she should have been mean if he said God's given me a head let me just discuss it with him and I'll get back to you serpent I'll get back to you just give me a minute the story would have been very different so remember that sin came into the world because a woman did not accept the fact that she cannot take that decision on her own she should have consulted Adam and together they may have thought okay God has warned as one can help the other now I tell you why I say that see if you turn to Ecclesiastes please justice in chapter 4 you know where that is comes immediately after proverbs proverbs Ecclesiastes chapter 4 it says here verse 9 Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse 9 two are better than one that's referring to husband and wife that's why you got married you believed to have better than one they have a good return for their labor if either of them falls or is about to fall one can hold up his companion you see there the purpose of two is Eve is about to fall and if she just turns to Adam he'll hold her so two are better than one but if the one is alone when he falls there's not another in other words if Eve acted on her own not bothered oh I don't need Adams help I'm okay and she falls so that's the thing you had to be very careful about in marriage that if God is united you don't be so independent and browsing I undo all this on my own and the same thing it goes on to say that verse 12 if one can if Satan can overpower one of them who is alone two of them together can resist him verse twelve that's again you see a failure there if both of them were together resisting Satan they could have welcomed him so the Bible says and a cord of three strands verse twelve is not quickly broke torn apart the wonderful thing is in the new covenant we have three the man his wife and Jesus and a cord of three strands you can't break it so that is what we learned from there and coming back to Genesis the woman was made to be a helper to Adam so you know a man can look down upon a woman and say oh well what are you God just made you to be a helper to me I'm the big man here you can do good it like that way or you can look at it another way that God looks at Adam and says guys this guy will never make it unless I make a helper for em so you can look at it both ways this guy will never make it if I don't make a helper for him he needs a helper and so he makes a helper so my point I'm trying to say is that both husband and wife was some value one another that's what I'm trying to say one is not independent of the other both need each other he turn to 1 Corinthians in chapter 11 1 Corinthians 11 what is a woman testifying to when she covers her head this is God is one of those amazing chapters where you have sixteen verses about covering one's head and then another sixteen verses about breaking a bread from the Lord's table and all Christians follow the second half and many Christians say the first half is not important boy what arrogance to turn to God and say we will do the breaking of bread part and forget about the first half this is exactly what's happening what is the meaning of the you know it's in the same chapter two things some people say all that the first 16 verses are saying is woman should have hair on her head which is her covering I said then you gotta accuse the holy spirit of stupidity what could have been said in one verse he takes 16 verses to say that a woman should have hair on her head no it means more than that but the point I'm not talking now by the head covering which I believe in and we practice in all our churches but the symbolism of it like I I ask a man why is your head not covered you know we talk about women covering their head what about a man not covering his head why don't we sit with a cap in the church meanings there's a symbolism there that when a man doesn't cover his head listen to this it says here verse 7 a man here's the answer to it should not cover his head because he's the image and glory of God wasn't my words Scripture and so the glory of God should it be covered in the church or not definitely not so when a man is not covering his head he's saying the glory of God must not be covered in the church that's the testimony in case all your brothers did not know that that's what you're testifying by not wearing a cap on your head the glory of God must be open not covered okay a woman covers her head because she's the glory of man so when she covers her head she saying the glory of man must be covered in the church we don't want any of the glory of man in the church only the glory of God so she willed her head so one who doesn't wail her head is saying oh the glory a man should be seen in the church serious and it says here further that the woman worse then should have this as a symbol of authority because you know how the Angels fell because they rebelled against Authority so it's a symbol also of her submission to her husband but it goes on to say verse 11 this is the important part the man the woman is not independent of the man and the man is not independent of the woman very important to understand this in marriage there are lot of things a man can do on his own when he goes to work he works in his job and the woman may not have a clue about the type of work he does equally the way husband may not have a clue about the way his wife cooks meals in the home kitchen they're not independent of each other they need each other and in many other areas too but as the woman originates from the man in Adam she came out of Adam ever since that time every man has come out of the woman so he says there also there's an equality the first woman came out of the man but ever after that all the men have come out of a woman so there's an equality there that means not as one is not more important than the other in fact you can't have a child without a woman as your wife so God is trying to say there's an equality there but for order he is ordained that the man should be the head of the woman and if we can have this what is the example the example is the Father and Jesus Christ the father is the head of Christ and look at that perfect relationship they had for thirty three and a half years the father was delighted this is my beloved son I'm delighted in him perfect submission thinking about her husband could say that about his wife and them Jesus was so delighted with his father he said father all that I have is yours and all that you have is mine John 17 10 think of a husband and wife can say that to each other all that I have is yours and all that you have is mine there was no competition Jesus was never competing in the father the father is never competing with Jesus nobody is trying to show that I'm better than the other each is trying to exalt the other the father glorifies the Son and the son glorifies the father we have to be open in appreciating and valuing our marriage partners very very important I believe appreciation is something which we are very miserly you may not be miserly with money I hope you're not but he can be very miserly with appreciation do you remember what Jesus said to a Roman centurion in Matthew chapter 8 you got to see this it's taught me a great lesson Matthew's Gospel in chapter 8 you read about this Roman centurion who had somebody sick in his home and he came to Jesus saying my servant verse 6 is paralyzed remember this was a military man centurion means he was a leader of a captain of a hundred soldiers and he's been through so many Wars and killed so many people the Romans are in battle all the time and they were ruling Israel and he was he had never read the Bible he does not know head or tail about the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob never been to a synagogue never prayed to Jehovah but he's a humble man and a compassionate man I'll tell you why because see the average military man couldn't care less if his servant is paralyzed seven means a slave so what is my slave is paralyzed get rid of him will get another slave but this man was not like that he was so concerned about his slave paralyzed that he walked all the way to go and meet Jesus to get his servant healed compassion and secondly he was a very humble man because when Jesus said I'll come to your house and pray for him he said no Lord I'm not worthy were saying that you should come to my house I see a humility there let me ask you put yourself in this place supposing you were living in Nazareth 2,000 years ago and you heard a knock at your door and Jesus came and said can I come in what would you say sure Lord come in not this guy I said no Lord I'm not worthy that you should come to my house I'm unfit what do you have that attitude he was humbler than most Christians are he had more compassion for those who are much lower than him like a servant or a slave than many Christians have for those who are junior and inferior to them and that's why he had the faith to tell the Lord you don't have to come to my house you stand here and give a command and my servant will be healed and Jesus it says Jesus marvel at verse 10 can he can you imagine doing something to surprise Jesus you think nothing would surprise Jesus but here say you were surprised I have never seen such great faith and all these fellows who read the Bible and go to the synagogues not even my disciples I've never seen such faith in Israel verse 10 truly I say to you it's very rarely that Jesus used those words truly verily I say unto you you must be born again verily I say to you I've never found such great faith in Israel have you ever appreciated people like that when you saw something good in them it doesn't come to us naturally I'll tell you why I'll tell you why we are not christ-like that's the reason we think we are christ-like when was the last time you appreciated your wife with a good word of genuine I'm not just talking about flattery flattery is from the devil he's always got some ulterior motive you want something from your wife so you flatter or you worn something from your husband and I'm not talking about flattery that's nonsense I'm talking about genuine sincere appreciation I've learned it from Jesus you know sometimes we use such silly arguments that the devil gives us oh he may get puffed up if I say some good things about him so I better not say that really Jesus didn't think so if one of the disciples say Lord Lord don't say that this man might get puffed up and we don't want him to be proud you know pride is a sin Lord in case you didn't know how to tell you that so don't let him get puffed up Jesus had no time to think of such arguments these are all the sinning arguments that come in the minds of I don't want to puff up my wife we're appreciating here I don't want to puff up my husband buy pretty silly demonic arguments be like Jesus to a person who's much worse than your husband a wife a Roman military man who had killed so many people who had never read the Bible who knew nothing about God to such a man the Lord says I've never found such great faith in Israel I want to encourage all of you husbands and wives learn to Express don't just say oh yeah I appreciate her I appreciate him speak it out in the presence of others why not Jesus said it he didn't want anything from him you don't not because he wants something that you say don't say it because he want her to be nice to you or you want him to be nice to you or get you something no no no genuine sincere heartfelt appreciation Jesus meant what he said I'll give you another example just to show you how Jesus was so different from us I'm telling you what I've learned in my life not only towards my wife towards my children but even to other believers and younger people in the church who may not be great Saints but I never worry about oh they'll get puffed up I tell you this world needs a lot of encouragement there your wife and husband are not getting such a lot of encouragement everywhere they're in there your wife is at home struggling with the children she's not being encouraged by them the whole day your husband is struggling in the office trying to earn his living faces so many hardships they're yelling by his boss and all that he's not getting encouragement the home is the place where you can encourage one another this is how you build up your home in John's Gospel chapter one we read of a man called Nathaniel he was an unbeliever outright unbeliever a Jew who despised anyone who came from Nazareth I don't know what the reason was but NASA Nazareth seemed to have a very bad name in society so when Philip John John chapter 1 verse 45 Philip found Nathanael and said hey you know the Messiah that we've studied about in the synagogue we finally found him Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Nathanael in a scornful way scornful says ah Nazareth can any good come out of Nazareth and Jesus heard it and Philip comes I'll tell you in a while how he heard it Jesus says he says come and see and Jesus saw Nathanael coming and let me paraphrase it long before you spoke those words in Italian you know half an hour ago you were sitting under a fig tree praying I saw you there how did Jesus know that half an hour earlier far away somewhere under a fig tree Nathaniel was praying that's why I say he heard what Nathaniel said can anything good come out of Nazareth Jesus knew a lot of things which we don't naturally know and Jesus heard him say I believe that can any good thing come out of Nazareth he knew that guy was genuine he was not a person who just say flattering things and he said I've seen you Nathaniel that there is an Israelite verse 47 in whom there's no deception he's absolutely straightforward he is what he appears to be no hypocrisy there is a person in which there is no hypocrisy no guile no deceit he was not converted he was one who despised Jesus of Nazareth it doesn't make a difference that guy was genuine you know there are some unconverted people who are genuine they're not converted they're not born again but they don't pretend to be something which they're not there's a lot more hypocrisy among believers pretending to be what they are not Jesus appreciated faith in the Roman centurion Jesus appreciated a freedom from hypocrisy and he expressed his appreciation so even if your wife is not perfect Nathaniel was not perfect Roman centurion was not perfect your husband is not perfect take an example from Jesus to express appreciation for imperfect partners saying something not saying something which is a lie saying something true I believe that's very very important it adds to the health of a marriage I'm not teaching psychology not at all I don't believe in psychology I'm teaching what Jesus did in his life it's very very important makes a lot of difference even with children we correct our children so much but a word of encouragement can sometimes do so much more I believe parents do not encourage their children as much as they should we correct them that's important it says father's bring up your children in a discipline and instruction of the Lord very important discipline in instruction that's what it says in Ephesians 6:4 there are two things we have to teach our children I'll do without children one is instruct them in Scripture I was very keen on that with all of my four sons to teach them the Word of God to get a picture Bible and ask questions and get them interested in reading it themselves and getting to know the Bible themselves ask questions and get them interested and then in the church that they would hear God's Word and so that by the time they left home all my boys left home at the age of 18 they really knew the scriptures I was confident that they would not go stray from scripture they were born again and they were baptized and I felt safe if they go out of the home but it's very important that we encourage our children not just correct them we have to correct them sometimes we need to use the rod at least maybe up to the age of 12 not beyond that if you've done a good job up today to trial you won't need it after that but encouragement they need continuously till the end of their lives and I'll tell you we all need it every one of us needs it so let's develop this habit if you have not had this habit let's practice it more in our home it'll make a world of difference and your children when they get married they'll do the same thing you're going to reproduce yourself in your children there so these are some of the important principles by which we can we're just looking at Jesus example the way he dealt with this desire think of how Jesus spoke - I see this beautiful balance Jesus Jesus a balanced person there was grace and truth perfect in the glory of Christ turn with me to Matthew 16 you know when Jesus asked the people who do you say that I am he asked all his 12 disciples in Matthew 16 okay people are saying that I'm Jeremiah or Elijah or something like that who do you say that I am Matthew 16 verse 15 anybody could have answered but Simon Peter says I know who you are John Matthew 16 verse 16 you are the Messiah the one we've been waiting for the ones the Jews have been waiting for for 1,500 years you are the Messiah the Son of the Living God I mean today when we read it it's common knowledge but you know the Jews never talked about the Son of the Living God they didn't have any understanding of the Trinity where do you read about the Trinity in the Old Testament when you read about the Son of the Living God in the Old Testament nowhere how did Peter suddenly use that expression and how did he just look at this person who looked like an ordinary carpenter say this is the Messiah and look at the way Jesus fries praises him another expression example of Jesus appreciating somebody blessed are you can you imagine how you would feel if in the midst of others Jesus spoke to you and said you're really a blessed man Paul you'd never forget it for the rest of your life Simon my father in heaven has revealed this to you appreciation so why do I say Jesus is balanced because three minutes later verse 23 - the same Peter he says get behind me Satan you're a stumbling block to me I like that grace and truth the glory of God was seen in Jesus Christ full of grace and truth and that's the example we have without we correct them we appreciate them I see that beautiful balance in the life of Jesus he corrected and he appreciated and I'm sure that made a lot of difference to him you know when when all the disciples left him and you read in John chapter 6 is very interesting John chapter 6 when all the disciples left Jesus because Jesus spoke some very strong words to them if you don't need my flesh and drink my blood you could don't have any eternal life and it says there when he heard this many of his disciples left him we read that in verse 66 john 6:66 many of his disciples withdrew not the jews these are not jews disciples not the twelve there were many other disciples they left him and Jesus turned around to twelve people who were left it was about ten thousand in the beginning of the chapter five thousand men and many women and children and he turns around to the twelve were left after all have gone away thousands have left he said do you want to go away and again his Simon Peter Lord to whom shall we go you have words of eternal life I like to put this statement of Simon Peters along with the first one get behind me Satan you're a stumbling block to me Lord these are the words of eternal life thank you for that I like to put these two together they were the words of eternal life that strong correction which the rebuke that Jesus gave to Peter and I I thought of this sometimes after a while maybe the next day one of those guys who left comes back to Peter and says hey Peter you stuck around within this man saying he's got the words of eternal life tell me what did he mean by saying you gotta eat my flesh and drink my blood and I tell you Peter would not even finish school said listen buddy I don't have a clue I'll tell you but I know this man is genuine I've never seen anyone like him in my life I know is the Messiah so it doesn't matter if I don't understand the basis on which the disciples stuck with Jesus was not because they understood everything he taught but because they saw he was genuine this is how a Christian leader should be because the man is genuine wife submits to a husband because not because he's perfect but because he's genuine there's no hypocrisy in it it's the way we submit ourselves to leadership in the church so that is new covenant home for a husband and wife live together like this I'll say one word of encouragement and that is the same word used for a wife in Genesis to help her is the same word used for the Holy Spirit in john 14 jesus said i'll give you another helper so the ministry of the wife to the husband i see it's very similar to the ministry of the holy spirit both are called helpers in john 14 the holy spirit spirits called a helper in Genesis 2 Eve is called a helper so what I learned from that is a wife's ministry is the Holy Spirit's ministry is hidden for example I'm absolutely convinced the Holy Spirit helps me when I speak throughout these days did you see him no he doesn't want any honor he sees you appreciating me and the Holy Spirit Squad happy of that he wants to be hidden that's how her wife is she's quite happy for the husband to be appreciated and she's there behind the scenes doing everything supporting what a wonderful Christian home this is this is how a New Covenant Christian home should be this is the type of home we must show to our children so that they leave our home and build such homes themselves and so that we can be a testimony to others around us in I often thought of the book of Joe we're not in relation to a man but if God could point out to Satan saying in the midst of all these homes where people are fired growling and yelling and screaming have you seen this home like he said about Joe have you seen this man there's no man like him he fears God and turns away from evil he's not perfect we know job is not perfect because you read the rest of the book of Job he is not perfect so can the Lord point out to your home that's what I asked myself about my home forget about what people think about me when I'm in the pulpit and how they are helped by my message what does the Lord think about my home which you all never see how I live with my wife at home the devil sees it and can God say to Satan have you seen this home that's the challenge my brothers and sisters that should come to us and say Lord I want to build a home not just something that the church will appreciate you know we can get a name for hospitality and we're so generous and we throw a lot of parties and invite people that's all honor before men but something that Lord can point out to the devil and says in those times when nobody is there it's just the family members in the home do you see how these people conduct themselves do you see how frugal and careful they are with money that they don't go throwing around and wasting it they're careful and I'm not saying you can't enjoy yourself with the wealth God's given you but everything godliness if the devil can point out your home I'll tell you my brother's sister that's much more important than people in the church thinking you've got a wonderful home so in conclusion let me just show you one verse Ephesians chapter 6 we spoke about the marriage being described in Ephesians 5 and I told you how the home the section on the home begins with be filled with the Holy Spirit and then husband wife parents children servants masters how does it conclude so the there's like two brackets one bracket this side is be filled with the spirit and the whole section on the home what's in the other bracket on the other side be strong worse vision 611 put on the armor of God and stand against the schemes of the devil and the first side is the only place in the Bible in the New Testament it says be filled with the Holy Spirit and the other side the only place in the New Testament read speaks about the schemes of the devil how we have to stand with the armor of God isn't it interesting that the section on the home comes between being filled with the spirit and standing against the devil in our battle of spiritual warfare so the home is the center of spiritual warfare and there it says here let me read this having overcome everything vs. 613 stand that you will be able to stand firm verse 11 against the schemes of the devil and that's mentioned immediately after the Christian home and you and I know how much the devil seeks to attack our home but murmuring complaining grumbling argument anger stand firm stand together two are better than one if both resist the devil he will flee don't become enemies against each other and allow the devil to come between let's pray Heavenly Father we pray that we'll be able to build godly homes for your glory alone in all the homes represented here and that all that we hear today will and is much more than you have to say to us through the spirit will encourage us to build godly homes in the days to come we pray in Jesus name [Music] you

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 2,804

Rating: 4.826087 out of 5

Keywords: building, home, distinctives, new, covenant, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, family, conference, 2018, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: Hi16Xu9Q82Y

Length: 65min 29sec (3929 seconds)

Published: Tue May 29 2018