God Tests Before He Promotes by Zac Poonen

[Music] right from the beginning of scripture throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament we see God choosing certain people for a task and we also know that God is not partial it's no partiality with God so any wholehearted disciple of Jesus when he reads the stories of these men whom God chose will begin to ask himself is it possible that God can choose me also to do some tasks for him in my earthly lifetime before I leave this earth if you don't ask that question you can just drift along without any purpose in life you know it's like if you put a log of wood out in the ocean he doesn't go anywhere but it moves the waves will move it one way another way and you never know where it will end up Manning most Christians are like that there is no purpose in their life there is no understanding of anything particular God has called them to do you just come along to the meetings they don't commit any gross sin they read their Bibles and maybe they give a little money for God's work but the end of their life you ask what did God do through them the answer is probably nothing God's work and God's purposes it wouldn't have made a difference if those people hadn't even lived isn't it terrible that you can live on this earth and leave it and for God's kingdom is concerned wouldn't have made a difference whether you lived or died however you never live and that's terrible but that's the sort of life that most Christians live and yet I want to say to all of you that that is not God's will for anybody but every single person who has had the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ and was responded from that moment God has got a plan for that person's life you know when you come to the end of a year companies take a stock taking to see how much profit they have made in schools they conduct examinations to see whether the student has learned something and is ready to be promoted to the next class all enterprises on earth do that schools companies Christians also need to do that to see what is the Lord taught me this year I don't mean head knowledge but in my life are there sins that I have overcome or this is just the same as it was year ago I mean most people wouldn't be happy to sit in the same class in school the next year they'd be terribly disturbed many Christians are quite happy to live with the same old defeated lives that they've had for many many years so just like schools conduct examinations and examinations are good we know they're good they're difficult but they're good because at the end of every examination there's a promotion and that's why we don't allow our children to miss examinations because if they miss examinations they don't get promoted and what we read in the scriptures is that God also tests his people that's something that has been coming to my heart more and more as I've considered the reason why so many Christians even in our churches who have heard truths for many many many years some times of very often don't seem to make as much spiritual progress as a people in a lot of other churches who haven't heard all these truths now how is that possible one would think that the more of God's truth we hear and understand the more blessing our life should be the most powerful the more full of joy and victory and purpose but I have discovered through many many years of observation that that is not true sometimes people who have very little accomplished more I mean that's like saying you would think that the student whose father is very rich to get him all the textbooks and CDs and connect to the internet and everything else and has got a car to take him to school and bring him back should come first in the class but he doesn't sometimes such people come at the bottom of the class and some other poor boy who walks to school and doesn't have any computer at home and doesn't his parents can't buy him a whole lot of books and all comes first how's that it's very much like that in the Christian life too you know in in this church I believe spiritually speaking we have to compare ourselves with children from rich families spiritually speak because we've got so much information so much knowledge and just like a lot of children from rich families are thoroughly spoiled I have discovered that many churches that have got so much information the people are thoroughly spoiled they pampered everything is done for them and they depend more on people not upon God and what is happening they're not realizing is your after year they're feeling test after test after test after test they're sitting in the same class and if there's a reason why people are sitting in the same class it's just because they're failing the test immediately after the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egypt I want you to turn to Exodus in chapter 16 [Music] sorry chapter 15 this is in Chapter 14 we read about the deliverance from Egypt and how the Egyptians were buried under the Red Sea reading the end of chapter 14 in Chapter 15 begins with Exodus 15 with this tremendous time of praise and worship to God for what he accomplished and that's a picture of our Redemption by the blood of the Lamb from Satan we've come out of the grip of the devil and then we read here that the the first thing that happened immediately after they came out of Egypt they had this time of praise and they sang in verse 23 Miriam was leading the singing and saying the horse and the rider the Lord is thrown into the sea sing to the Lord okay so they just come out and the Lord led Moses led Israel from the Red Sea verse 22 into the wilderness and there they were tested just like Jesus was tested in the wilderness so the first thing that happened as soon as they came out as God began to test them many many times through the wilderness journey a picture of our life on earth where as soon as we are redeemed God begins to test us to see how much he can commit to us and we read there that they came to the waters of Mara and that was a test when something doesn't work out the way you expect you expect God to provide everything right he's done some wonderful thing for you just delivered you from Egypt so therefore you should have no more problems in your life and sure enough there's a problem there's no water to drink the water is bitter there's a test what are the people going to do and they failed because it says here they began to grumble in verse 24 and when you grumble you know you got zero you fail the test it doesn't matter what you grumble about the moment you grumble what you're saying is well Satan I believe you're in charge of the world God can do very little here and I'm pretty upset because it looks as if Satan's got control of the situation when a person begins to praise the Lord in the midst of his problems he says I don't care what the problems aren't God my father is still in control of everything as that's the difference between passing the test and pain so Moses cried out and God pointed stick of wood or a tree and he threw it into the waters in the waters we can see the solution was just there just next to them was the solution and very often when we face a problem the solution is right there and it says there listen to this verse verse 25 there God made the last part he made a statute and a regulation and there he tested them that's the place the message Bible says where God set up rules and that's where he started testing them immediately after they came out of Egypt and in the next chapter you read that they began to get mana you know from heavenlies because they needed food every day and the Lord provided it says there in verse 14 of chapter 16 and the lair of do operated there was a fine flake like thing like frost on the ground and they said what is it Moses said to them verse 15 of chapter 16 this is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat and so gather as much as you can and eat every day and every day they had to go out and take the manna in order to survive because there was no other way of survival in the desert so that's the next thing that happened and if you want to understand the purpose of that you got to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 8 and see Deuteronomy chapter 8 at the end of 40 years of receiving this manna every day from heaven Moses tells them did you fellas know that all these 40 years God was testing you he was trying to test you you didn't know that very often we don't know that God is testing us till the test is over you know in school sometimes a teacher may tell the students hey today we're going to have a surprise test the students are not prepared for it but at least you know that it's a test but with God he doesn't tell us after everything is over he says hey that was a test by the way but it's over and after 40 years he says in verse 2 and Deuteronomy 8 verse 2 you shall know you remember all the way which the Lord your God led you in the wilderness these forty years that he might humble you testing you to know what was in your heart for 40 years he tested you to know what was in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not he humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna and why did he give you manna to teach you that man does not live verse three by bread alone but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord because the man who came from heaven you see every day and yesterday's was not good enough for today so God was telling them repeating a message every day for 40 years that the only way that man can live is if he hears what God is saying to him now listen that's not the same as reading the Bible those fellows didn't have a Bible in the wilderness but they were supposed to listen to the Word of God and for nearly 1,400 1,500 years after the day of Pentecost 1500 years from the day of Pentecost no Christian had a Bible like this because the printing press was invented in the 1400s and it was a long centuries later that everybody began to have a Bible so don't misunderstand that verse many why I say that as many people ease their conscience by saying well I read the Bible today well you may have read the Bible you may say you know the Bible the devil knows it better than anybody else I mean the devil knew the Scriptures so well that he could even quote a verse to Jesus and the devil is always quoting verses to believers to lead them astray to give them a false comfort when they should be disturbed or to disturb them when they shouldn't be disturbed so we got to go read more than the Bible it says mentioned it doesn't say man shall live by reading the Bible he said man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth because that was the reason why God allowed the manna to stink in 24 hours now we buy bread in the shop that doesn't stink in 24 hours here it says though when they kept it for 24 hours the worms started coming into it I mean worms I've never seen worms coming into bread in 24 hours man made bread worms don't come in 24 hours but the bread from heaven worms come in 24 hours is something special they're teaching you you can't live by yesterday's word you can't live by a once-a-week message in the meeting and it's not a question of reading the Bible every day it's a question of listening to what God is saying every word that proceeds from the mouth of God because the Bible can become to you like stinking manner it is a lot of people have got a knowledge of the Bible which they got some time ago it's not just 24 hours it's the God it ages ago and it's stinking he doesn't seem to change their life but the word that proceeds from the mouth of God means a continuous proceeding God is always speaking that's why in the first chapter of the Bible you read it says every day it's written God said something isn't that how your Bible begins your Bible begins by saying that every day God said something and when God said something something happened on the earth like it says in Isaiah 55 verse 11 my word which proceeds from my mouth will never return empty it will accomplish something so when God's word comes out of his mouth like in Genesis 1 every day it accomplished something you don't read of one of the days in Genesis 1 where it says God said something and nothing happened such a day didn't exist that happens with human beings God says something and the guy says oh well I think about it and he sits on it for years and he doesn't live because man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth so now that means it is through that word that God tests us and I'll tell you something the primary way in which God speaks to us is through our conscience so even though man may not have had a Bible like this for five thousand five hundred years of his existence all those five thousand five hundred years he had a conscience through which God spoke to him when Adam stood before the tree of knowledge of good and evil he could hear the voice of God in his conscience and so could Eve I mean imagine you and I who have fallen so much into sin in our life don't you hear your conscience tell you something when you're tempted to do something wrong and if we in our fallen condition can hear a voice of conscience can you imagine how loudly Eve heard it in her heart when she stood before the treat must have been like a trumpet a person who's never sinned who's comes straight from God's presence conscience must have been like a trumpet sound saying don't take from that and the devil with his sweet voice says oh well it wasn't only one voice speaking there when you read Genesis chapter three you think it's only one voice that it's not only one voice there was another voice speaking much louder and Eve's conscience because God breathed into them and may give them a conscience which no animal had and they were being tested so Genesis 3 was a test and without voice of God saying something in her conscience you don't need a Bible that conscience is enough to lead you ultimately if you give your life to Christ the Holy Spirit makes your conscience more and more sensitive ultimately that's the way by which God speaks to us for example when you are tempted to speak evil about someone behind this bag I mean if you've been in this church for a few years you'd certainly feel a pang of conscience there unless you've killed it and killed it by gossiping so much in your life that that poor conscience voice is so faint but even then you feel bad after you have spoken evil that's where God tests you now what is he testing you in he's testing whether you'll respond to that voice and say God I'm sorry I slipped up I fell that's what God is waiting for and if he hears that response from you even though you failed you'll pass the test because then he will cleanse you with his blood and next time your conscience will be more sensitive the voice of God will be a little clearer you know it's like when we get too much wax in our ears we can't hear properly sometimes of one year gets filled up with wax and people have got to go to get it cleaned out or people clean up the year and they it gets a little better the hearing it's like that when we respond every time you respond to God the voice of conscience becomes a little louder in the next time and every time you don't respond to God the voice of conscience becomes a little dimmer and if you keep on not responding a time can come when you can do something totally wrong and conscience doesn't even tell you anything you killed it that's a terrible state to come into so God wanted to teach them by giving them the manner that they had to learn to listen to God speaking to them every day and I'm sure you all know the scriptures in the New Testament when Jesus was baptized hmm what are the first words recorded in the Bible that he spoke after his baptism where his ministry began you know what those first words were because in the wilderness to Satan man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth never forget this my brothers and sisters this verse that you read here is the first are the first recorded words of Jesus when he began his ministry and you know that he never preached what he hadn't practiced that is how he lived and if you want to know one secret of Jesus life it was this that he listened to what God was saying he didn't have a Bible you know Jesus never had a Bible like this Paul never had a Bible like this but they could hear the voice of God just like you and I can hear it and it's far more important what you do in response to that voice then whether you read your Bible every day I'm not saying Bible reading is not important my conscience has become more sensitive because I read the Bible if you don't read the Bible you still have a conscience but it won't be very sensitive it would be like a weighing machine that doesn't give you the correct reading it may be a hundred kilos and it may just show you hundred grams and that's why some people can do something serious and say oh well that's not serious it's all a hundred grams it's because the weighing machine is spoiled it's a hundred kilos brother not a hundred grams it you know but if you respond to God's Word your conscience will begin to register properly the proper weight of that sin and you realize it's not such a light thing so I'm not saying reading God's Word is not important but what I'm saying is reading that is no substitute for listening to conscience I remember hearing the story of I mean the testimony of a great man of God I forget his name who was asked at the end of his life can you tell me one secret of your life and he said I have learned to listen to the promptings of the Spirit in my conscience that's all and he told me to hold back from something I held back when he told me prompted me to do something I did it if you ask me for one secret of my life that is it I believe that because that's how God tests us and if you disobey you're not going to get leprosy or the world is not going to collapse and your house is not going to catch fire or you're not going to lose your job nothing will happen you live a perfectly normal life even when you fail the test go and ask all these people who study in these capitation fee Medical Colleges where they spend ten fifteen years to get a five year degree they're quite happy the parents are spending such a lot of money they failed and failed and failed and failed umpteen times but the world hasn't collapsed they haven't got leprosy they just failed and that's how it is with so many Christians they just fail and they're quite happy I'm amazed at some of these people who study in these medical colleges for fifteen years to get a four year degree how could they be happy I mean I'd feel miserable if I were there and I had to spend one more year or six more months but they seemed quite happy then I can understand how some Christians are quite happy even though they are fail and fail and fail and fail and play it's just the same thing no it's okay I can't understand that because I feel miserable if I did 1% of the things that some Christians do then I realize that they don't take that test seriously I probably don't even realize it's a test God has tested his greatest servants let me show you the example of Abraham we read in Genesis in chapter 12 see if you read carefully it says here let me show you something Genesis chapter 12 what's written here should the first sentence should read like this the Lord had said to Abraham when he was in hora de caldas go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you it was a very clear word man shall live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth okay God told Abraham when he was 75 years old and living a comfortable retired life with his wife built his house and settle down expecting to live there till he dies all of a sudden God speaks to him one day and says leave your country leave your relatives leave your father's house and go this thing is what the Lord had spoken to him before chapter 11 verse 27 or before chapter 11 verse 29 sorry before chapter 11 verse 31 this section of Scripture should come before 1131 this is what the Lord had told him and whenever ham he told his dad dad his father's name was Tara he told Tara God's told me to leave this country and I presume he's going to take me to a better land and the dad said oh that's great I'll come along now what if God told Abraham lead your father I have nothing to do with him leave your relatives I'm calling you alone and then lots Abraham's brother's son lot heard it and said hey that's great uncle I'll come along to you so this man who was supposed to go alone went with his dad and his nephew and they caused a lot of trouble for him which always happens when you don't obey the Word of God exactly when you try to please your relatives rather than do what God says now I don't blame ever ham because he never had a Bible he never had the background of information that we have with a full Bible he was starting out I mean he was an idol worshiper he was contacting God for the first time and he had to learn that when God said leave your father you're going to leave your father when he said leave your relatives you got to leave your relatives but he failed and it says here he doesn't say in verse 31 of chapter 11 that Abraham took his father along no his father was the boss it says Derek took Abraham the 75 year old son and said hey you're coming with me okay Abram said fine and Darris said we're taking lot as well and they went out in order to enter the land of Canaan which God had called them to but when they reached halfway and they reached a place called Haran they stopped because Abraham's dad said hey this looks a fantastic land this must be the place God told us to come to it looks as if the grass is fertile here now cattles can pasture and then me we make a lot of money here so we're going to stay here this must be the land and poor little boy Abraham 75 year old Abraham says okay dad and do what you say isn't it terrible when God's told you something and you allow your dad and nephew and all types of people to override what God has said and you miss out what God God loved Abraham so much you know what he did you know what he did he killed his father don't wait til that happens please I think Tara would lived a long life if we have just lived in order the calories poor man made the mistake of going along with Abraham and fooling around with Abraham's God it says he died 205 years I think he would probably lived about three four hundred years if he had lived in order the counties you know we make our parents suffer when we try to please them I'll tell you that if you want to bless your parents obey God now God didn't forsake Abraham just because he failed the test and he won't forsake you because you fail a test boy if God first shook us because we failed one test time none of us would be standing here thank God he has such mercy on us we fail a thousand times and he says okay we'll try again that's great he's like no other teacher he's like a you know that I love that song which has no earthly father loves like you no mother ever so mild bears and four bears as you have done with me your sinful child think of the best earthly father bearing with this sinful child and multiply that by a million and you'll understand the heart of God it says we're children of Abraham you know I didn't choose god he chose me jesus said that very clearly to his disciple you didn't choose me I chose you and I want to say to all of you dear brothers and sisters it was no accident that you landed up in Bangalore and that you came to hear the word of God in this church things that can lead you to the most glorious life that any human being can ever live how do I say that because I've tasted something of that I don't believe that there is a message on the face of the earth that can lead people to a more glorious life than what we preach then what we preach here and what what I've experienced for a number of years think of that that God is allowed you to hear it that doesn't make you spiritual you can take an absolute useless dunce of a boy or a girl and put him in the best school in Bangalore and he'll fail he doesn't dick his study seriously it's like that you can sit in the best church in the world and go to hell sure I don't have any doubt about that in fact I fear that some of the people who've been here through the years and heard the Word of God and I got offended and left I tell you honestly I fear for them I'm not God I'd be very happy God takes the whole world to heaven including all the non-christians and every other religion I'd be very happy but it's not true it's not going to happen if God's Word is true it's not going to happen and so I have a great fear for a lot of people who have not responded to what they have heard just taking it lightly played the fool with the Word of God but God is very very merciful as long as you're willing to sit in the school as long as you're willing to stick it out God will stick it out with you but if you give up then God won't force you he doesn't grab a person by the neck and say stay in school so I correctly schools - if some student drops out the principal doesn't go running after him saying come back God does that number of times but he won't keep on doing that so thank God for His mercy with people like Abraham that though they failed he still continued to work with them I mean he did drastic things like killing his father and it says then verse 4 then chapter 12 verse 4 then Abraham went forth as the Lord had previously spoken to him now I want you to understand this 30 verse 32 of chapter 11 Tara died and I want you to read this in let me paraphrase it Tara died but the Lord had spoken earlier to Abraham saying go forth from your country from your relatives from your father's house chapter 12 verse 1 to the land I will show you and Abraham had not obeyed but now when Tara died at last verse 4 chapter 12 Abraham went forth as the Lord had originally spoken to him but the problem was not completely solved because there's one more fellow their Lord was still with him so God has to do something to separate lot from Abraham and that he doesn't do he could have done it by killing him but I think he was a little merciful to him and he separated lot from Abraham by creating a fight between lot servants and Abraham's service over property sometimes God separates certain people from us by allowing some controversy some fight I've experienced that in my life and I've experienced that in this church God does a separation because he says that's not the way I want you to go you're going to get mixed up Abraham if you link up with lot he's got other plans you know it's like doing business with a in a partnership with an unbeliever I find a lot of believers who will never marry unbelievers get into business partnerships with unbelievers and don't realize is the same verse be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers because the unbeliever wants to cheat and tell lies and do all types of wrong things to promote the business and God's blessing won't be on it in fact some believers like it because he said he'll do the dirty part of the job and I'll just get the profits okay but the blessing of God won't be there that's what happens when Abraham and lot work together and God's determined to separate because the Bible says in the second Peter that lot was a righteous man I mean if Peter hadn't said that inspired by the Holy Spirit I wouldn't believe it because there's no evidence that this guy was righteous this guy was an absolute compromising he only went was interested in money but maybe he had a little spark of desire because you'd remember Abraham I have a feeling that lot was like one of those poor sincere believers who got got a bad wife I've seen people like that they they are sincere and they get married to the wrong person and boy their life is hell and for the sake of peace in the home they have to not do this and not do that and allow this and allow that to please their wife and I have feeling lot was like that the poor man it says in 2nd Peter to his soul was vexed with all the things that were going on and in his own house and he wanted to try and bring up his daughters in some way and the wife should say nothing doing I'm not gonna allow you to bring up my girls that way and poor man say ok darling do it your way and those girls grew up all worldly and got worldly boyfriends and it was a terrible thing but this poor man I think from 2nd Peter I see that the guy was righteous I've seen some believers exactly like lot that their life is miserable I remember one person like that who before he got married I told him he asked me depends on do you have any advice from you I said be the head of your home I saw him about 78 years later and said well exactly only advice for me as the same thing be the head of your home but now he had seven eight years of experience in marriage and he said brother if I try to assert my head then we war at home I said let there be war fight the war and win don't yield and give up to the devil these are the battles of the Lord he gotta win the valley you can't hand over the headship of your house like Adam did you know what happened in even he happened in Eden when Adam handed over the headship to II God said you listen to the voice of your wife that's what God told Adam you listen to the voice of your wife get out of here you want to listen to me so lot was like that he failed failed failed failed to please his wife maybe his wife was once again sometimes the best place grab it man before Abraham changes his mind he offered your first choice grab it so he grabbed it and he lost everything he lost his wife he lost his property he lost all the money he had earned and he lost his sons-in-law they died his lost his daughters I mean his daughters didn't die but it would have been better if their diet I tell you honestly if daughters are going to commit adultery with their father I would say any day it's better they die rather than that was worse and that's how the Moabites came you know who I was you hear the Moabites in scripture the enemies of Israel they came from lot having adultery with his own daughters so here God separated Abraham from lot in that way too there also he tested him he tested him by allowing law to us you know this conflict to come in God watches Abraham and says let me see what what Abraham is going to do now he's the senior man he's the uncle and they are having this disagreement and Abraham the senior godly man comes to lot in chapter 13 of Genesis and says in verse 8 don't let there be any strife between you and me lot nor between my herzman and your herdsmen for we are what brothers he wasn't this brother you know how in India uncle's are they have all these big big titles in Tamil and Malayalam and everything you can't call your uncle up brother what do you mean brother I'm so-and-so whatever title it is you have in your language you dare not call him as an equal I love that about Abraham 75 years old he tells his thirty year old young man he doesn't say listen man your dad's my brother I'm your uncle okay you never came he God didn't call you here God called me and I'm your uncle in every way I have the right to choose first so you just sit quietly I'll take what I want and if you want you can go back home he didn't say that he said we're brothers the whole land is in front of you verse nine you take what you want and I'll take whatever you don't want imagine a Christian sitting down with his family members when the father has died and the property is going to be divided and speaking like this that's a real Christian hey listen you guys take what you want and what you don't want to give it to me I don't preach what I have not practiced that is a Christian I've seen that your attitude to money and property determines how much of salvation you have got in your life the only time the only time that Jesus said salvation has come to this house is in Luke chapter 19 when Zacchaeus said Lord I'll give half my money to the poor and I'll give back four times all the money I've cheated other people off supposing a sales tax inspector in India says that one day you'd really think he's saved right if he said I'm going to go to all the shops and return all the four times the money I cheated from all those people and I'm going to give half my money to the poor I see hey what happened to you I'm born again I believe that I believe that a hundred times more than some fellow raises and the meeting signs the decision card and says I want to accept the Lord doesn't cost him anything that's why Jesus said when he heard that salvation has come here boy this guy's attitude of money has changed that can't happen unless salvation has come salvation come to you would Jesus say when he looks at you salvation has come to this fella yeah so the Lord said to Abraham verse 14 of chapter 13 after lot had separated from him lift up your eyes Abraham I saw everything that happened I was the silent listener to the conversation you and Lotte were having with each other just now you thought nobody was listening Lotte thought nobody was listening I was listening and Abraham I saw how you conducted yourself nobly as my son as my friend Abraham was called a friend of God okay bruh ham you think you're going to lose because you trusted me you think you're going to lose out in life even in your earthly needs because you honored me you think those who honor God and give up their property because they don't want to have a fight and give up their money because they don't want to have fight you think God will love them to live on the road side no he will not you think you'll allow them to star you know what David said in Psalm 37 I think his verse 25 he said I'm and I was young once but now I'm an old man he probably wrote it when he was 65 years old after knowing the Lord for 45 years and he said I'll tell you one thing in all my life I've never seen a godly man forsaken by God and I have never seen his children happening having to go around looking for a job looking for food never I believe that I am around the same age now when David wrote that song and I think I've known the Lord also the same number of years that David knew the Lord and I can say I've been young and now I'm old I have never seen a righteous man forsaken by God till today and I've never seen a righteous man's children struggling without a job or struggling to find food or struggling to get a place to live never he doesn't make the millionaires thank God he doesn't it would destroy them but he takes care of them so the Lord told Abraham you won't lose out Abraham by honoring me I know you did that way you acted like that with lot to honor me you passed the test here is the reward that's more than a gold medal or anything like that here's the reward verse 14 of chapter 13 you lift up your eyes now and look to the north south east and west now there's a difference in verse 10 it says lot lifted up his eyes and looked east and saw the beautiful land of sodom and gomorrah plenty of pasture lot of opportunity to make money he he lifted up his eyes notice that expression lot lifted up his eyes and went but see what Abraham he didn't lift up his eyes God told Abraham in verse 14 Abraham you lift up your eyes there's a lot of difference when God tells you to do something and you do it yourself lot lifted up his eyes and God told Abraham you lift up your eyes you don't have to look East Abraham you look north south west and east which lot is God I will give all of this to you and not only to you to your children forever four thousand years have passed since God spoke those words to Abraham in the land of what was known as Canaan today known as Israel and you know who's living in the Glen today north south east and west and she learned a weber not the children of Lord God keeps his word it's true he didn't promise to take all the children of Abraham to heaven that's not what he said I don't believe that all the children of Abraham going to heaven because that's not what he promised what heaven is quite another thing and got to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but what God promised he keeps he said this land I give to your children and he's kept it 4,000 years later he still kept it and whatever people may say and nations may decide what God said there comes true and so he said you can walk through this land I'll give it to you years later I don't have time to go through all of that you know that Abraham failed the test in chapter 20 where I like these true Bible stories of people who made mistakes who told lies to save their life Abraham told his Sarah his wife saying please tell this king that you're my sister otherwise they'll kill me and marry you if you say you're my sister my life will be saved maximum they will rape you or something like that that's okay but at least my life will be saved imagine even have Trini his wife like oh they'll take you into her into his harem okay but at least I'll be safe that's what he tells and remember Sarah you know Sarah was actually Abraham stepsister so it was half truth but a half truth is sometimes a lie he says in verse 13 12 of chapter 20 actually she is my sister because it was another mother I mean my father married twice so she's my stepsister she's not the daughter of my mother but she's the daughter of my father and she became my wife Abraham married his stepsister don't follow him there in certain areas we can follow a reference Sagittarius you must know where to follow and where not to follow these people were living in the Old Testament and they had no laws they had no understanding but the point is he told a lie and he was rebuked by an earthly king and he took it that's great if you can take a correction from an ungodly boss when you know what he says is right you humble yourself and say yes sir I was wrong and you're a Christian that's that's great see Christians can sometimes do things which are wrong which even an ungodly person is correct and then in chapter 22 we read that when when a number of ways in which God tested him but let me come to the last one it says in chapter 22 verse 1 after all this God tested Abraham again now the guy is 125 years old he was tested 50 years ago first he's still being tested it's like person who's studying PhD saying I was tested when I was three years old and now I'm 28 years old I'm still being tested it's something like that but he's not being tested with the same thing I mean in PhD they're not asking you what 2+2 is so the test gets higher and higher as you go to higher classes and Abraham was tested because God wanted to give him a promotion every test is for a promotion and this time was the greatest test of all as a final test ok Bryan now I want you to kill your son he already in the previous chapter God told him send away your first son he did that he passed that test now he got only one son kill him and sure enough it says early the next morning I like that phrase verse 3 chapter 22 early in the morning he got up to obey God and I think he went off early in the morning before Sara got up so that he doesn't have to tell her what he is planning to do with their son sometimes it's not wise to tell our wives something you unnecessarily disturbed him I think Abraham was a wise man he quietly took his son can you imagine his getting up telling Sarah hey listen I'm just gonna kill my son we're just going to kill him and I'll come back without him she wouldn't understand you see when God gives a man a vision sometimes a wife may not understand sometimes she does sometimes she does God's given a man a vision Sarah was a wonderful woman in the Bible said she just obeyed Abraham and whatever he said she was a great woman it says in 1 Peter 3 she just stressed it there was a man of God and I can trust him and Abraham took Isaac and it's just about to kill him God said stop I've seen that you love me more than you love your son that's all I wanted to find out now because you have done this chapter xxii I swear God says in verse 16 because you've done this you not with all your son there will be no limit to the way I'm going to bless you and your children absolutely no limit all the nations of the earth will be blessed brothers and sisters you'll never stop being tested not me not you so much depends on whether we pass the test or not we see people roaming the streets today without jobs because they never passed the tests they never took their school and college seriously and we see other people half their age we're earning such high salaries because they took their study seriously that's in the world the same thing happens the Christian life you see fine people come gripped by the message in the church and God's begun to use them mightily and there are others who sit for years and years and years and years they're always backsliding and coming back and some bitterness and some complaint and then they repent and they come back and it's for ever and ever and ever like that they drown they get up they drown they get up shall we finish with that press on let's pray

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 105,795

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Keywords: Zac, Poonen, Revival, Repent, God, Sermons, Jesus, SermonIndex

Id: O_W92QnzogY

Length: 59min 20sec (3560 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 01 2009