Building on the Rock Foundation - Zac Poonen - September 8, 2018

[Music] remember that important verse I shared earlier John 3:17 god did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved so all self condemnation which leads to discouragement no matter which source it comes from is the voice of the devil and not the voice of God I want to explain the difference between condemnation and conviction conviction is from the Holy Spirit condemnation is from the devil the devil is called the accuser of the Brethren in Revelation 12:10 accusing believers to God and accusing you to yourself do you remember that story I said some time ago about a man of God who was mightily used by the Lord and one day that he was sitting alone and the devil was reminding him you remember what you did then 20 years ago remember what you did 15 years ago and remember what you did this sin that sin and everything the devil said was right see all of us have got a past which we are ashamed of and he listened and he listened and he listened and then he told the devil the list is not complete I've committed a lot more sins than that make the list complete and then right across it the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all sin that's the answer they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb but and the word of their testimony to whom their testimony to the devil the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all my sin you are not going to condemn me Satan you can remind me for the next 50 years about my past I will not feel condemned so remember what I showed you earlier you cannot have a control over your memory but you have a control over your will you decide I choose not to remember that because the Lord has blotted it out and I choose not to remember that other bad memory from the past of what somebody did to me it can come to my memory but I'm not going to have anything against that person so I want to tell you a little bit today from you know the story of the two houses with Jesus said very important law a lot of people when they say I probably begin with 1 Corinthians 3 first in 1 Corinthians 3 there is a it says there is no other foundation that anyone can lay other than Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 11 no man can lay a foundation 1 Corinthians 3:11 no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid which is Jesus Christ so what does it mean when we say Jesus Christ is our foundation this is just a question of saying oh I've asked Jesus to come into my heart he is my foundation how are you sure it's the foundation the scripture does not contradict Scripture please remember that a lot of apparent contradictions are apparent they're not real I mean I've studied the Bible for 59 years and I can tell you please believe me there is not a single moral contradiction anywhere in the Bible not even one there is no contradiction so when it speaks about foundation what does it mean you remember the story with Jesus said about two men who built houses once foundation was strong and the other foundation was weak 1 collapsed there we can understand what it is to have Christ as our foundation he's not not just nominally saying I believe in Christ there are about 1 billion billion people in the world who say they believe in Christ they are not on the rock many of them their house is going to collapse when Christ comes again they say Christ is my foundation there are a lot of people who say Christ is my foundation many cult groups say Christ is our foundation how do we know for sure compare Scripture with Scripture the Bible says all Scripture is inspired by God 1 Timothy 3:16 and 17 sorry 2nd Timothy 3:16 and 17 all Scripture is inspired by God so when we come to the story of these two houses we can see what to be founded on Christ really means please listen carefully first of all let's look at Matthew 7:24 that's the next slide therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them or does them can be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock so let's think about that for a moment he heard and he didn't only hear he did what he heard that became the foundation that means he didn't just say Lord Lord calling him Lord means your mind is right calling him Lord Lord means your emotions are excited but Jesus said if you do the will of my father that's what the emphasis here is on doing the emphasis is always on the will do you yield your will there's nothing wrong if your emotions are attracted to something your mind let me take the story of the Garden of Eden here is Eve standing before the tree of knowledge of good and evil which she knows God is forbidden okay her mind says that's really attractive that's got to make your mouth water she has not sinned and the emotions are all excited I love to read this it's so exciting she has not sinned but when she exercised her will and stretched out her hand and took that and ate it that's when she sinned so don't be disturbed when your mind is tempted that's temptation your emotions are stirred by something do you yield your will to that for example a thought is flashed into your mind and you know it's not a good thought okay you rejected you haven't sinned or you men you see a girl and she's very pretty you don't have to pretend oh she's ugly that's telling a lie she is pretty he - electrology it but I'm not going to keep lusting after her that she will why should I fool my mind saying no no no she's ugly that's not the way to overcome temptation I might will is exercise maybe your emotions are stirred when you see some attractive temptation so what I refuse it I refuse to even accept it in my mind see if you understand this principle you'll be free from condemnation and to explain the difference between Satan's condemnation and Holy Spirit conviction Satan's condemnation is usually like you know foolish parents sometimes tell that child you know good for nothing you'll amount to nothing you're good you're useless or humm I've told you a thousand times not to do that maybe they said it twice but they say I've told you a thousand times not to do that that is condemnation and the devil speaks like that a good father will say son my girl that's not the way to do it let me show you how to do it what you did was wrong that's how the Holy Spirit speaks it's a gentle whisper listen my child that's not the way what you did was not right I'll show you a better way to do it that's conviction you know it's wrong but he doesn't condemn you saying you're useless are good for nothing just a little the reason I tell you is nobody told me that when I was twenty years old I wish somebody had told me and so I would condemn myself for years and the things I struggled with I said Lord I'm gonna make sure at least I tell other people how to distinguish it in condemnation and conviction very very important ok so we go to the next verse Matthew 7 26 but everyone who hears these words of mine and that's the next life and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand so listen greeted carefully this is not a guy who doesn't come to the church meeting otherwise he wouldn't hear the words this is not a guy who doesn't read the Bible it says he hears the words that means he reads the Bible that's where he heard Jesus words he comes to the church meeting that's where he hears the words of Jesus and he's not like some of these people who come to church and their mind is somewhere else they're wandering here and there they don't even hear you know a lot of people who sit in church and they don't hear what is being said because their mind is on what about what am I going to cook for this evening or something happened yesterday or tomorrow they're not hearing I'm talking about people who hear these are people who pay attention what is the only thing they do maybe they're excited Wow that was a tremendous message I heard but they don't do it they are the people who build on sand some people think because they hear a message they understood it all excited you're not on rock yet you understood it you're excited by it sorry now let me show you the next verse which is important I'll show you here is a picture of mind emotion and will and then you will see the man who builds on sand he he's building on his mind and his emotions on his understanding and his feelings but the one who goes through mind and emotions to will is the one who builds on the rock let me show you the next verse next slide and then I'll come back to this the next one is Luke 6 and verse 48 Luke 6 48 you can see it in your Bible the wise man dug deep through the sand and ladies foundation on a rock you know when I first read the story of the two houses I used to think these were people who selected two different localities to build their houses one found a rocky area and the other found a sandy area but later on as I studied it I found they built it next door to each other on the surface was sand how did he eat how did the wise man hit the rock he dug deep it says in Luke 6 48 that's one of the advantages of comparing Scripture with Scripture you compare Matthew 7:24 with Luke 648 and you learned something more which is not mentioned in Matthew 7:24 that is the rock was beneath the sand so turn back to the previous one now he'll understand it that he had to go through the sand to hit the rock in other words he didn't just say Lord he didn't say Lord Lord but he did the will of the Lord that's how he hit rock and I want to say that to you you hear me mess my message today you may have a brilliant mind that understands it perfectly you're still on sand brother you're all excited about it you say Lord Lord you're still on sand sister but when you go away from here and you do you exercise your will and say not my will my will wants to do this sinful thing but I'm going to do what Jesus says you hit rock that is the foundation and so when it says no other foundation can a manly accept Jesus Christ it's not understanding it's not being excited it is obedience it's hitting the rock and saying Lord I want to do what I have heard the Bible has not been given to us for instruction it's not been given to us to just stir our emotions being given to us for obedience how do we prove our love for Jesus Jesus said in Luke John 14:15 if you love me keep my Commandments if you love me keep my Commandments so keep this picture always in your mind when I hear the word of God am i allowing it just to stir my instruct my mind and I go away feeling you I lot know I know a lot more of the Bible now or it just stirred the emotions and you think you're better than them you know I found as I moved around different Christian churches I was initially in a church which doesn't build which didn't believe it which did not believe in emotions at all it was all Bible study but they were born again people born again people read into a study study study study but they sat in a worship meeting as if Jesus had died but not risen up yet and so you know how it was on the Saturday after Jesus died gloomy and they believed in Jesus all right but they were gloomy and I this church was like that I said there's something missing here but the teaching was absolutely accurate mind mind mind and then some people have reacted against that and say that's not spiritual and you go to another church where it's all excitement and emotion and clapping and raising their hands and yelling and screaming and all that and say they are not obeying the Lord either they just gone to the other they've gone from the extreme of intellectual understanding to emotional excitement it's still on sand and that's what they didn't understand till I saw and I read it scripture I read scripture carefully I said it's not enough to say Lord is not enough you say Lord Lord it's obedience then I understood why so many people who are instructed in their mind or excited in their emotion about carnal defeated by sin because they have never learned to heal their will in the devil who blinds the minds of unbelievers from knowing the truth that Jesus died for their sins and their sins can be forgiven blinds the minds of believers by thinking teaching them or making them feel if you understood it's okay Ori very excited you're better than the guys have understood no you're just the two extremes you've just said one level of sand to another level of sand until you hit rock your one day or the other your house will shake that's why you find so many people ten fifteen years after they are born again they drift away and backslide and marriages that started well around you know unhappy broken because then they call themselves Christians because he never were taught go through the sand brother hit rock the wise man dug deep went into the rock now I want to go to another verse which I quoted earlier which should come back to Matthew 7:21 let's just to remind you of that that's the second slide after that Matthew 7:21 which is after that when Matthew 7:21 not now now see the mind and emotions Lord Lord Lord is mine Lord Lord his emotions will not enter the king of heaven but he who does the will that's the rock will enter heaven that's the Christ is the foundation now I want you to see these two pictures the next one is the house built on the rock you see what he did he dug deep and went all the way to yielding his will and then built the house unshakable storm rain flood anything unshakable I hope you this picture you'll never forget this picture so if you understand that obedience is going beyond mind and emotions to the will the soul is mind emotions and will and I showed you that in the earlier session that is through the will that God enters our spirit now here's the other picture of the man who built on sand see what happened to his house it's a beautiful house probably looks better than the other one because he had more money he didn't waste too much money on the foundation the other marvel guys spend a lot of money on the foundation he couldn't build such a beautiful house but this man had such a lot of money because he's uh not gonna be a fool like the other guy he was spending so much on the foundation but ultimately who was the fool house collapsed in the rain and the storm so please keep this now I want to come to a concluding verse in Luke 9:23 and you'll understand this better if any man will come after me you want to build on the rock what does he have to do let him deny himself means his self will let him say no to his self and take up his cross that means in very simple words to take up the cross means to put to death your own will and follow me otherwise we cannot follow him anyone it applies to any Tom Dick or Harry any man woman you want to come after Jesus many of us sit here think we are following after Jesus I hope you are doing this if you are not doing this I want to tell you in Jesus name you're not following outer and don't delude yourself that you're following after him if you're not saying no to yourself and saying yes to Jesus by taking up your cross which is - the way he died to his own will okay thank you you can take away the slides now I want to show you a few verses John chapter 6 and verse 38 this is a very important verse to tells us how Jesus did lived his life so very very important where's John 6 verse 38 please listen carefully it's a very short verse jesus said I have come from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me I don't have any more slides to show but you can look at your verse in there in the Bible what did Jesus come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me so what was it he didn't come here to be instructed or to be excited but to deny his will and to do the will of his father so when you say I want to follow Jesus you know it's very common expression many people I want to follow follow and I'll follow anywhere do you know what it actually means it means to say the same thing yourself I will not do my own will but the will of the Lord and this is basically temptation temptation in a simple sentence is to do your own will and holiness is to do the will of God so in every temptation the choice eye faces am I going to please myself or am I going to please the Lord and you stand there in the middle making your choice and I'll tell you something every day we have numerous situations where we are making these choices remember whether you're hitting on the rock or just living on the sand many many choices because we are tempted throughout the day in different situations I'm trying to explain what true Christianity really is what it really means to follow Jesus and what I have discovered changed my life completely when I understood it if you diligently seek Him he shows you that is I come to a situation let me take a practical case somebody gets very upset with me I have a choice now I'm at a cross at a fork in the road I can either do my will or the Lord's will at that point the Lord says just forget it forgiven you don't have to keep quiet give a gentle answer do you know it's easier to keep quiet than to give a gentle answer to somebody who's angry with you you try it sometime somebody's very upset with you keeping quiet may just mean that you're angry inside and you're not letting it out but when you give a gentle answer you're telling him eh listen buddy I'm not angry with you let me show you this verse in Proverbs it says that in Proverbs it says proverbs is one of those most difficult books to remember the verses chapter 15 and verse 1 proverbs 15 verse 1 a gentle answer turns away wrong have you read that verse it's not keeping quiet keeping quiet is easy that's yoga yoga teaches you to control you're done and the anger is within that's the difference between Christianity and yoga or Buddhism Jesus doesn't teach you to just control your tongue he says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks see if you keep it bottled up within it's like saying I kept all the snakes inside the house I didn't let them out I was heinous kill them man kill them don't leave them running around the house that's deliverance so a jet and if what comes out of my mouth is a gentle answer I know there's no anger there that's the test when you kept quiet it doesn't mean your heart is clean like Amy Carmichael that missionary to India once said a cup full of sweet water can never spill one drop of bitter water no matter how hard you shake it a very good illustration a cup full of sweet water you shake it as much as you like holy sweet water comes out so the answer is keep your heart clean and that's what the Holy Spirit helps us to do because I can't do it myself why is my heart dirty full of bitterness and bad thoughts because I love myself I think how dare this guy hurt me who does he think I am I'm not an ordinary person I'm a very important person really we need to recognize that we are all rotten sinners if you're saved you're saved by the grace of God period that's all and if I can take that place of being nothing before God I'll have a wonderful salvation you know I believe that humility is not having low thoughts about myself oh I'm useless I'm good for nothing that's not humility that could be a false humility I am just rotted and no because you know Jesus had learned humility from me I mean I've found a great challenge in that Matthew 11:28 learned from me Matthew 11:29 rather for I am humble so I can't learn humility from all the so-called humble people on the earth who speak softly or you know hang their head down that's not humility I don't believe Jesus went with his head hanging down I believe Jesus head was upright but he was the humblest man who walked on the earth and what did it mean was he always thinking I'm a good-for-nothing sinner some people think humility is oh I'm a good-for-nothing sinner well that may be true you're a good-for-nothing sinner but that's not humility because Jesus said learn humility from me and he never felt he was a good-for-nothing sinner because he never sinned how does a man who never sinned be humble see there's the humility of the sinner which you have we all may have but there's the humility of the saint which is different that's the humility of Jesus Christ and so when you study the life of Jesus Christ where was his humility his humility was in his sense of being an entire nothingness before the Father that's where his humility was I'll show you that verse in John's Gospel chapter 5 you know I mean I struggled for years trying to say Lord I know that you give your grace to the humble how in the world can I get it how in the world can I get grace so that I can overcome all sin and when I'm tempted I do your will and build my house on the rock how did it do it God gives us grace to the humble he doesn't give it to everyone then I saw in John chapter 5 listen to this John's Gospel chapter 5 and he says in verse 30 I can do nothing on my own initiative nothing as I hear I judge look at an earlier verse verse 19 John 5 verse 19 truly truly I say to you learn humility from this verse the son that is I Jesus says can do nothing out from myself nothing off himself means out from myself I don't do my own bright ideas no unless I see the father doing it in other words I'm listening and what the father does I do that see Jesus said that the greatest person you know that words I don't have to show it to your Matthew 18 when he said the greatest in the kingdom of God is who you know the answer a little child they've disciples are asking who's the greatest in the kingdom jesus said I'll show you he picked up a little baby I don't know maybe one year old this is the greatest in God's kingdom now how does a one or two year old cross a busy road there's only one way if he doesn't wanna get run over hold his daddy's hand who is the greatest in God's kingdom Jesus so Jesus was like a little child put those two verses together and that's what you see here now that's pretty humiliating for us you know if you got a 18 year old boy trying to cross the road you say hey let me hold your hand easy no dad I don't want you I can walk on my own most of us are like that but Jesus didn't take that position you know he was like a little child he was the greatest in God's kingdom he's his father by holding his hand men's he meant father I'll do what you tell me to do for example father I'm imagining a conversation I've not eaten anything for 40 days you know in the wilderness you've given me power when you baptized me you anointed me the Holy Spirit I've got power now to turn these stones into bread I'm not stealing from anybody I'm not hurting anybody else I'm not going into a store and stealing bread I'm not using somebody else's money I'm using my own power which the father gave me to turn these stones into bread so I can satisfy my hunger not to feed some lust in my flesh no to satisfy my hunger legitimate need no reply from the father okay and I won't do it you see his obedience there that is the first temptation Adam and Eve were tempted with food when they were full and were not hungry at all and they sinned Jesus was tempted in the same way with food when he was hungry for 40 days and he said I will not do what I want to do if my father tells me for something so simple as using your own resources to feed yourself he says I want to wait on the Father it's amazing I've been challenged by I want to say this is a sort of a PhD level of dependence on God most of us are in the first grade or second grade of dependence on God Jesus was at that level of postgraduate level of dependence on God we said even for a little thing like that I'll seek the Father's will that's why he never sinned and that's why we read in John 6:38 I came from heaven never to do my own will but the will of my father I want to tell you this is the secret of true holiness it's not these people who look holy and don't have do some things you know I've seen a lot of people who claim to be holy there's some of the most difficult people to live with because they're so holy but Jesus wasn't like that he was so pleasant to be with it was so easy to be with Jesus but he had genuine holiness because in his life he never did his own will he never pleased himself he never got upset when people called him bad names that's the difference between him and some of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament do you remember that story you can read it sometime in 2nd Kings chapter 2 when Elijah Elijah had gone up to heaven and Elijah was anointed with the Holy Spirit and there was some young men about 40 of them anyway a number of young men who made fun of Elijah Elijah was a bald man and they made fun of him say you Baldy gon go up to heaven like your master they made fun of him and Elijah turned around and cursed them for making fun of a prophet of God and some bears came out of the woods and killed 40 of them Elijah did not call the Bears God sent the Bears Elijah but Elijah a rather Elijah didn't call the Bears he cursed them okay you come to the New Testament this is the difference between Old Covenant and new government the Pharisees turn around and said to Jesus you cast out that demon because the Prince of the demons is in you your name is visible Prince of demons isn't that worse than calling a man a Baldy to call a person prince of demons how many bears came and ate them up what did Jesus do to them he said the Son of man may be spoken against the Son of man you are forgiven when Miriam Moses sisters spoke against Moses how dare you marry that non-israelite woman you know what she got leprosy you read that in numbers chapter 12 how dare you speak against the prophet of God the Lord said Moses is more than a prophet I speak to him face to face and she got leprosy what did the Pharisees get forgiveness this is New Covenant Christianity this is what humility means I'm not going to get offended whatever you may call me you may call me the Prince of demons you can call me I've experienced that preaching in different places I've had people write tracks against me saying that I am the devil incarnate and all that it's okay Jesus said if they call the head of the house build simple how much more they will call the members of his family what have they caught what is the worst name somebody called you for being a Christian as a servant of the Lord I have experienced many names [Music] Antichrist Satan spiritual terrorist and all types of things because they don't like the truth that I preached but I see you're forgiven you're forgiven somebody else okay you're forgiven you're forgiven it doesn't disturb me one bit because I've learned that Jesus says I cannot follow him if I love myself it is impossible if I love myself I get hurt when somebody calls me a bad name so I've used this statement to tell explain this to people you tell me the answer to this question if ten thousand people come to you and say you're a prophet of God does that make you a prophet what about if ten thousand people come and say you're a devil it doesn't make you a devil either you are what you are you decide every day what you want to be do you want to follow his follower of Jesus or whoever you want to follow somebody calling me a name does not change me one bit no so it's wonderful to live in this security in God I wish you would all come to that life of security in our Heavenly Father who knows us and loves us and says don't be afraid don't be afraid I will I will defend you you don't have to defend yourself vengeance is mine says the Lord I will take revenge on people but you don't having even have to wish for revenge on them your duty is to bless them bless those who curse you for that year to deny your will but it's not a question of mind and emotions I have learned through the years not to live to use my mind and emotions but not to live in I look at this like this the mind and emotions are to be the slave of the Holy Spirit who lives in my spirit when I yield my will I open the door for the Holy Spirit to come in and so I got my mind I used my mind extensively when I study the Scriptures I mean you know that when I'm speaking scripture you know I'm using my mind is coming to your mind I'm very emotional also I'll tell you that sometimes I weep when I think of Jesus death on the cross for me honestly I do even now that Lord you could die for a sinner like me even now it moves me when I say I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned unclean every time I sing that I think is one of my favorite hymns how could you love me a sinner condemned and unclean how wonderful how marvelous so I'm emotional I get very excited when I think of praising the Lord but that's not spirituality I can understand the scripture well studying the scripture well be emotional but if I'm not yielding my will I never spiritual I'll give you an example from my own life from my younger days after I became a Christian I've seen a lot of movies about Jesus Christ and there are many of them and I remember those younger days I see they're whipping Jesus and they took the cross hammering him and putting the nails on his head and crucifying him and some vivid particularly things like The Passion of Christ Wow I'd really weep when I see that oh Lord my Savior you went through all that unless you're a very unemotional person you'll weep when you see something like that and I wept I said lord thank you and I was so emotional I thought I was thoroughly dedicated but the next week I go ahead and sin in my life again it didn't seem to affect me that temporary moving in that movie and I'm sure if you're honest you probably have the same testimony but your temporary moving when you saw that movie about Jesus being ripped and Chris right did not change your attitude to sin the next week you still log out you still got upset and you still lusted after women and you still do did a little cheating here and there that didn't affect you so through the years many many experiences like that I learned that emotional moving that comes when I see a movie about Jesus does not make me spiritual it's a temporary moving of the emotions which I am deceived that I thought I'm really dedicated and I'm not the same thing had happened at the end of a stirring sermon if you have had a very stirring sermon that calls you to sacrifice something God as a missionary to Africa or something come forward all of you who want to go as a missionary to Africa people come forward they're not ready God hasn't called them they're stirred by stories of people suffering in Africa or India or something and they come forward you cannot go out as a missionary if God doesn't call you know if God calls you to work in one place and you go to another place and sacrifice more God's not happy he said God God says I never called you that why do you go there I have seen numerous people in India who are in Christian work who should not have been in Christian work they were challenged in some meeting and then the emotion they acted I remember in my life I said Lord I'm willing to quit my job and serve you any day you called me but I will not leave until I get a clear call from you I did not leave until I got a clear call from God and that's why my life has been supremely happy in the last 52 years since I quit my job and it gets happier happier all the time because I did not act on my emotion it's very important that's why even when I preach the gospel in different places I present the cost of following Christ I don't just say listen if you want to go to heaven come forward no I say I'm not inviting people to come to heaven I've never met a human being on earth who doesn't want to go so if I say you all want to go to heaven 1,200 million people in India will say yes I want to go to heaven I say all of them can't come to our church they're not interested in going I say I'm inviting people who want to deny themselves and follow Jesus Christ on earth before they go to heaven how many if we want to come forward now and Jesus never said come forward you know what he said sit down and count the cost and then decide so that's what I tell people I said listen I know you're very stirred emotionally at the end of this very powerful meaning and you'll do anything I say but I'm not going to tell you to do anything I'm going to ask you to go home sit down count the cost and then decide I remember once in one of our conferences we found a gold ring inside the offering box now we don't desire anybody's money or gold or any such thing we have a policy of never taking an offering in our churches see if you want to put our offering put it in the box whenever you feel like it and I knew this sister whoever she was was emotionally stirred by something she heard in one meeting the conference and took over hearing orders and dumped it in the box so I said I don't know who put this ring in the box but I want you to come and see me after this meeting with your father or your husband if you're married your husband otherwise your father and it was a married couple that came to me and said sister we appreciate your real desire to give something to the Lord but we have a policy in our church that we don't take gold from anyone and so don't get offended if I give this back to you I'm not saying you can't give it to the Lord but we can't take it because I want you to take this with you now I first of all asked you do your husband agree to for you to put this in the box she said yes okay then I told both of them take this haul think about it pray about it for one month and if you still feel that you should give it sell it convert into cash and don't send the money to us send it wherever the Lord wants you to give maybe to some poor person or to some other Church we don't mind but take the decision after thinking about it not in the emotion of the moment we take so many decisions in an emotional moment which you have towards regret we never got any money from her and I'm thankful that I did not take advantage of advantage of her emotion and take that ring from her I remember another time another sister who had come after working abroad and earning money came to my house and gave me a Gold Sovereign with Queen Victoria's carved on it is very expensive coin I've never seen one in my life like that solid gold I said sister sorry we don't accept this please go home and keep it maybe you'll need it later on for your own needs and think about it and and if you feel that you should give it to the Lord then sell it and give the money to wherever you want to give she never sent us any money I'm very happy because I see so many people like this who react in the emotion at the moment they want to give something which afterwards they regret if you think and say Lord I want to wait on you and want to hear and yield my will to you after I use my mind and my emotions and exercise my will after careful thought you'll never regret it in your whole life I've never regretted in my whole life my decision to accept Christ when I was 19 and a half to take water baptism when I was 21 and to quit my job when I was 26 never regretted it till today because I refuse to act on emotion and I want to say this to you my dear brothers and sisters don't act on just your mind and emotions think about it before the Lord say Lord do you want me to do it and he'll give you a prompting in your will see how to know the will of God how to know that it's not mind or emotion tell you turn with me to Romans and chapter 8 in Romans chapter 8 this is a verse that's helped me tremendously in my life romans 8 verse 6 the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace so in other words let me paraphrase it if you go by your fleshly soulish human understanding you'll have what is the equivalent of death in your spirit that means a lot of unrest uneasiness but if you are really being led by the Holy Spirit there'll be a sense of peace in your heart the more you think about it the more that's peace and there's an upsurge of life I say this to young young man when you're considering a girl to marry don't just rush into it then don't just be taken up by her pretty face evaluate her she spiritually minded do you have the same goals in life and by all means consider physical attractiveness but that's not the main thing man is not body soul and spirit 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says man is spirit soul and body do you know the difference between spirit soul and body and body soul and spirit world of difference so put the spiritual first and then the soul part of it and then thirdly the body we must consider all three because we are not angels we are human beings so but don't add co-pi initial excitement think about it consider carefully and in India I always tell people you must think about it at least for three months minimum before you make a final decision consider all the factors and as you think about it if you find an increasing peace coming in your spirit as you wait upon the Lord that is the indication of the whole spirit directing the mind of the spirit is life and peace then you act on your will say Lord I'm gonna do that you will build on the rock so I'm just telling you don't act on the spur of the moment your mind and emotion is very important these little principles for example you read a very challenging thing in the scripture God doesn't force you come on do it immediately you know I'm sorry to say there are a lot of preaching by preachers and pastors nowadays on television and on the Internet and even in churches where they almost compel you now give your money right now then putting a pressure on people and the people are forced to give it and then type all types of tricks to get people to give money I heard of one church here in the United States where they took the offering at the beginning of the service and got somebody to count it and at the end of the service he said we haven't got enough money we're gonna take a second offering because we want some more can't believe that it actually happened and there's a funny story I heard about one church where there was the pianist had left and they got a new pianist and they wanted to test him out and said the preacher said today I'm gonna make an invitation and the invitation will be all those who will put a hundred dollars in the offering box stand up and I want you to move play a very moving piece on the piano when I give that invitation and so the pastor preached those who will give a hundred dollars stand up and he played the American National Anthem and you know what happened and the pianist got the job that's only a joke but this is the type of tricks that people play somehow squeeze money out of people can you see any come in correlation between that and Jesus Christ when people saw when Jesus saw today when people say a big crowd they say let's take an offering when Jesus saw a big crowd he said let me tell them about discipleship that's how Jesus was he was more interested in their soul finding salvation from sin than their money never go to a preacher who's more interested in your money than your soul a doctor was only interested in collecting money from you and not healing your sicknesses it's so important dear brothers and sisters I feel I get angry I tell you I really get angry the type of anger Jesus had when he saw people making money in the temple in the name of religion do you know that Jesus never went to the marketplace in Jerusalem and drove anybody out there for making money he never took a whip there he said the marketplace that's a place to make money go and make money there but don't bring that spirit into the house of God and there's hardly anybody preaching against that in the world today unfortunately in Christendom this is the reason why Christianity gets a bad name in countries like India which are 98 percent non-christian they say we know what all your Christianity is is just collecting money sending reports to America getting a lot of money from there we don't want this Christianity and rich Hindus will say why do I want your Christianity I've got enough money already where do they get that impression that Christians are only interested in making money from a lot of preachers who would be this type of putting people and so make sure that in your distance to learn something today I'm never going to be moved by emotions I'm gonna do what God's Word tells me you'll be a solid Christian and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit to strengthen your will to obey God so think of that picture can you put that picture up again about the house with the mind emotions and will that slide the house which is or the picture of the mind emotions and will and I want you to remember this picture in your mind and keep that in your mind because sometimes you know see there build on the rock every decision you take not on the basis of your mind or emotions but Lord I've thought it it's not that you bypass the mind and emotions that wise man went through the mind through the emotions and hit rock so when you hear me your mind has been instructed maybe I have succeeded in stirring your emotions you're not spiritual yet if you hear and you believe this is the Word of God you do it and little by little by little as you exercise you will I guarantee anybody here can become a spiritual man or woman and see the danger also is this if your person was always living in your mind emotions you'll be easily shaken by some disturbing thing happens and you're all disturbed in your mind there are people like that women especially very easily get disturbed by something why because you've been living in your mind and emotions all the time learn to deny your will and say Lord I want to do the will of God and very often I always say it's very easy for a wife because the Bible says Christ is the head of man the man is the head of the woman and you read that verse in 1 Corinthians in Chapter 11 it's I mean men and women are equal before God but yet in God's order he there is an order that he has put in 1 Corinthians 11 it's very interesting to see it 1 Corinthians 11 here is the order 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3 God the Father was the head of Christ is all in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3 God the Father is the head of Christ Christ is the head of man and man is the head of woman now some women will object to that what do you mean women and men are equal I agree aren't Christ and the father Haku of course they are they mean equal from all eternity Christ is equal with the father but yet it says here for the sake of redemption for God's purpose Christ voluntarily accepted voluntarily accepted the headship of his father even though he is equal with him and said I will do father when I come to earth I'll do whatever you say I will not do my own will when he was in heaven his will in the Father's will was the same all eternity but the moment he came to earth he said not my will that's why he accepted the headship of his father and now the Christ is now the head of man and man is the head of woman so a woman is actually being asked to follow Jesus Christ's example as Jesus submitted to the Father even though he's equal to the Father you are equal with your husband but submit to him just like Christ submit to the Father is that dishonorable or disgraceful to follow Jesus not at all follow Jesus in the way he submitted the fir that's what we read in this verse and so when your husband tells you to do something unless it's against your conscience I say you can do it safely because he's responsible to Christ Christ is his head he's answerable to him particularly if your husband is born again and you're both born again believers I want to say to your sisters you don't have to be disturbed by some situation that crops up in your church or crops up in relation to other sisters just go to your husband and say darling what should I do here and he tells you to do something do it he's answerable to God fits of course you know you understand what I mean I'm not your husband if he's a born-again Christian won't tell you to do anything against your conscience but it will relieve you of the anxiety and tension and responsibility the responsibility is not supposed to be on you you allow it to be on you and your mind is all disturbed by it God's given your husband to me the only human can lean I'm trying to make your life easier not to make you a slave of your husband you know that we don't teach that Christ was not a slave of his father he was a joyful joyfully subject to his father they had such a wonderful unity and yet he joyfully obeyed and so if you understand this order I believe some of you who have any tensions can be relieved of it if you accept God's order you know just like I tell children you got god-fearing parents you just gotta listen to your parents don't worry about you feel different you know our children feel different it's so wonderful when a children's will love is broken at the young age that they've learned to obey their parents they grow up to be rarely god-fearing and I saw something in some of the homes in India I found very often that all the children in one home would be well behaved and another home all the children would be uncontrollable and I said you know people said children are children I say yeah but why was it that in this house all the children are well behaved and in that house children are all unruly and wild I think it's got to do with parents train up a child the way should go and he will not depart from - I find a lot of irresponsible parents in the world today even among Christians even among believers and so I realize that here are children who've been taught obey your parents and they grown up to be god-fearing respectful children who respect older people who behave properly who obey when they are told to do something if the parents brought them up right it's a tremendously good testimony for Christians your children behaving properly is a great testimony for Christianity and if you got unruly children that's a very poor testimony no matter how much you know the Lord I remember when I started preaching and I got married and we had four little boys I said Lord the Bible says if a man's cannot control his children he cannot what can he teach a church and I decided that if my children go astray I will stop preaching because I have nothing got I can't teach anything to a hundred people in a church if I can't bring up four children properly at home to follow Jesus so I want to say to you the will is very important breaking the will of a child when he's young too it's good for him to learn not my will but what my parents teach me says when he grows up he can learn not my will but the will of God may the Lord explain this to all of us let's pray Heavenly Father as we bow before you we want to do your will in our life and please you and everything we do please help us we pray Jesus name Amen [Music] you [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 7,031

Rating: 4.8571429 out of 5

Keywords: building, rock, foundation, god, something, better, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: LpBenjeqD_Q

Length: 58min 20sec (3500 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 10 2018