God Wants to Bless Us and Make Us a Blessing - Zac Poonen

i'd like to start with hebrews and chapter four please turn with me to a small part of a verse it's a little expression which if you take it seriously you make a lot of difference in your life small little expression i often thought about it myself hebrews chapter 4 and verse 13. it says there is no creature hidden from god's sight we know that all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do well i'm sure we all believe in our hearts that everything on earth everything about our lives everything about our thoughts our attitudes our hidden desires are all laid bare before god we must never forget that that there's not a single part of our personality or our inner life i'm thinking particularly about attitudes we have towards other people which we are very careful to conceal when we know it's not good and we are very careful to pretend that everything is good in our attitude when it is not good well that doesn't help because it says here everything is laid there before the eyes of him with whom you have to do so that's the first part i want to mention even though it's so obvious yet i find that it'll make a lot of difference in our lives if we live recognizing that all the time that there's not a single part of our being which god does not see all the time our thoughts attitudes and motives particularly every moment in every single thing we do big or small but then we come to this little expression which is him with whom we have to do and that's the expression which i would like to emphasize we must recognize there's only one person in the entire universe with whom we have to do that's all only one person and that's almighty god now i'm sure theoretically you all agree with me nobody would question that but in in daily life i find that we're not always living in the awareness of the fact that he is the only one with whom we have to do because so many of our actions and our behavior is sometimes catering for some others around us it's as though we have to do with them as well as if they their opinion about us matters one bit and i'll tell you it's not an easy thing to be free from that it's a battle but i would encourage all of you to fight that battle [Music] to fight the battle until you come to the place where it's not going to happen overnight it may take a few years but if you work on it you'll get there it's like getting a college degree when you join a college you don't expect to get a finish it in a year if you're going to do a postgraduate degree you're going to take many many years but you know you'll get there if you work at it you'll get there and many of you worked hard to get to that point of getting a degree or a qualification i want to encourage you to pursue this in the same way lord bring me to the place where i'm perfectly aware not just theoretically but all the time in my behavior my actions there is only one person with whom i have to do and that's you it's ultimately it's only your opinion about me that it's going to count for eternity and even on earth it's only his opinion that finally matters the opinions of others are fit for the trash can the only man whose opinion i would value would be someone who's really godly i mean if there was somebody like the apostle paul living on earth who didn't care for anybody's opinion and you knew god so well and who loved me enough to tell me the truth about myself i would value his opinion sure but all the others i wouldn't value it at all because there's only one with whom we have to do i would encourage you to seek to come to that type of life it will free you from a lot of hypocrisy it will free you by hypocrisy i mean acting the word hypocrite is a greek word it just means actor in 2000 years ago in greece if you talked about a hypocrite you were talking about an actor the actor on the stage was called a hypocrite and jesus used that word the holy spirit jesus didn't speak greek but the holy spirit uses that word to express what jesus said in the aramaic language to condemn the pharisees it's the number one sin that he condemned he must never forget that it was not murder or adultery or anything that he condemned most of all though he did speak against them but it was hypocrisy that he condemned more than anything else in his hypocrisy which made a person a pharisee a great bible scholar becomes a pharisee the moment he's an actor a hypocrite and people were ex righteous externally in all areas like jesus said to the pharisees your cup is clean on the outside but they were hypocrites so those are warnings to us because the greatest danger that evangelical christians and especially those pursuing holiness we're not in danger of becoming uh outright sinners we are in danger of becoming hypocrites actors acting apart particularly when we are before others i don't think any of us will act at home because our marriage partners know us too well we can't fool them they know us exactly what we are so we don't waste our time acting at home but it's mostly outside the home in the office and in the church when we are with other people this tremendous temptation to act to act apart to act spiritually to try and convince people that i'm a serious wholehearted christian and i forget there's only one with whom i have to do so please keep this little expression him with whom we have to do always in our minds it's helped me a great deal to recognize he's the only one with whom i have to do and to work towards that place where i'm really concerned only about his opinion about me i think it's one of the things that jesus sought to lead his people into he could not believe that lead them to it before the day of pentecost the opinions of men mattered tremendously to the disciples as long as they were on earth it mattered greatly to people in the old testament that's another thing i want to mention i think most of us will be free from it because we've heard so much in the church about the new covenant but i find so many christians uh excusing an action by saying well that happened to david or that happened to moses or some godly man who elijah was discouraged so where am i compared to elijah i'll tell you where you are you're living post the day of pentecost elijah was living free the day of pentecost and that makes all the difference the difference between heaven and earth elijah did not know anything about dying with christ being buried with him and raised up with him to be seated in the heavenly places not even john the baptist knew that so i want to say to all of you my dear brothers even though you know it already perhaps i don't mind repeating it that never never never find an excuse for what you have done or treat likely something wrong that you have done by finding an example in the old testament i know many pastors who fall into adultery here in the united states who continue in the pulpit with their ministry saying david fell and he continued to be a king these are people who don't have a clue that the holy spirit was poured out on the day of pentecost to establish a new covenant but it may not be adultery it may be something else where we can find an excuse from someone in the old testament it's true elijah got discouraged there's no room for that for a new covenant believer no it's true that david fell into adultery there's no room for that in the new covenant and if a leader falls into adultery he must never be become a leader again i would never dream of appointing as an elder someone who as an elder fell into adultery if it was before he became an elder okay the times of ignorance god overlooks but once a person is in leadership if he falls into into theft or adultery he can never be a leader again but the christian world is full of such people look at all the multitude of people who divorce and their example is again in the old testament so it's not a small thing we need to keep this in our mind at all times there's one person with whom i have to do and what is his standard his standard is what i've read in matthew 5 6 and 7 in the sermon on the mount it's him with whom i have to do so don't uh think i'm repeating it too much i feel we'll never get to hear it enough we need to hear it again and again the other thought that's come to my mind is which i wanted to share you see uh going back to what i said earlier in a church which does not have standards like most worldly churches where yelling at each other getting angry upset at home is all accepted behavior in such a church people don't worry if others see them getting angry or upset or doing something wrong they accepted but when you belong to a church like rlcf which has such a high standard and proclaims the new covenant and the standards of the new testament the temptation for folks here is far greater than in any of those other churches to act i don't think most other churches they have any temptation to act they just behave like they are and it's accepted behavior for people to sin and get upset and get discouraged and all types of things the danger is far far more in your church than in other places because we have such a high standard so as i said the other thing i want to mention is that in god's dealings with us it's something i've repeated many times over the years and i never get tired of repeating it one of god's great desires or not god's great desires but god's the way of god's working in us is before he can you know we read that there's a resurrection comes after death and that's a principle taught in the new testament death is like coming to a zero point as long as there's a little life left in us we haven't come to zero we can breathe a little maybe we can move a little bit but death means absolute zero i can't do a thing and you remember how when mary and martha sent a message to jesus saying lazarus is sick and it says jesus hearing that did not go that is so contrary to what our reaction you know some loved one is sick we'd rush immediately but jesus led by the holy spirit did not go because he wanted to teach them a great lesson that he can raise the dead but what we see there is lazarus as long as he was alive he could do something maybe he could move his fingers maybe he could open his eyes a little bit all that had to die and to make sure it was dead he had to be in the grave for four days and then jesus came and raised him up this is what paul speaks of i want to know the power of his resurrection that's a great expression in philippians 3 towards the end of his life i mean he wrote philippians when he was nearly 60 years old having been a believer for about 30 years and at that time he says in philippians 3 10 i want to know jesus and i want to know the power of his resurrection being made conformed to his death so he connects death and resurrection there he says i know that i can know the part of his resurrection only if i'm conformed to his death like i said death is a zero point where i can do nothing i can't lift my finger i can't open my eyelids it's absolute total zero and otherwise there's no resurrection otherwise the person's not fully dead there's no resurrection right he's in a coma looks as if he's dead but it's only a coma he's still got life in him he breathes but when breath is also gone there's no hope he's come to a zero point and then lazarus was raised from the dead so i it's a very simple truth you understand that resurrection can only come when there is a death so if we want to know the power of christ's resurrection in our life which is god's desire for every one of us we have to be willing to go into the death of christ 100 and that has many aspects to it but there's one particular thing i'm thinking of that is to come to the end of thinking that with a little more effort i can make it i can come into this life that i'm challenged to in the new testament this life of victory and the grace of god expects me to live by that standard as long as i think with a little bit of effort i can make it and that i think my life has become a little better and i offer that life to god you know it's like abraham when god said to him you're going to have through your seat the whole earth is going to be blessed you know how initially he felt yeah i i believe i can make it i mean sarah my wife is barren but i can produce a child i'm not impotent myself i can produce a child through my servant made and he lifts up ishmael before god and said god says no and if you read about the history of the descendants of ishmael you'll find they are the ones who cause the maximum problems for the jewish people and for christians through the centuries one man trying to help god by producing a child which god never intended him to have that was not god's perfect will for abraham to produce ishmael and a lot of consequences came from that if you read the history of the descendants of israel i don't want to go into that but what i'm trying to say is when we do things with our own cleverness and our own ability not coming to the place of impotence we don't realize that our actions and our work can create a lot of complications for god's work even for many years to come that's what we learned from ishmael abraham didn't know that very often when we do something we don't realize the long-term consequences of it what abraham needed to learn was i cannot do it god has to do it completely and that's why god waited till abraham himself was incapable of producing a child sarah was already incapable but abraham was not and when it says that abraham is the father of faith that faith is based on this coming to a zero point return with me to romans chapter four there are two things mentioned that are dead here in abraham's family abraham romans 4 19 [Music] the deadness of sarah's womb that was completely dead there's zero possibility of god's promise being fulfilled through sarah because abu was dead but there was some hope through abraham because he was not his ability to produce a child was not dead but then he came to the point where it says his own body was also as good as dead by the time he came to 100 years then he had his child what was god waiting for for abraham to come to that place of death now this is not as unimportant as we think there's a real application for our life if you turn with me to genesis in chapter 17 sorry chapter 18. no yeah chapter 16 sorry genesis chapter 16 verse 15 this is referring to the birth of ishmael hagar bore abraham's son and named him ishmael abraham was read carefully here remember that these chapter divisions have been made by man to enable us to find a reference quickly the original book of genesis or any other book had no verses no chapters there may have been paragraphs but no chapter division it was just one continuous book genesis so ignore the chapter division here verse 16 abraham was 86 years old when hagar bore ishmael to him now abraham was 99 years old i'm just reading the next verse the lord appeared to abraham what happened from verse 16 to 17 13 years from the age of 86 to 99 no record of what god was god speaking to him was god telling him anything no what is happening in those years god was waiting for abraham's body to become dead as we read in romans 4 the deadness of his own body and when abraham's body was also dead then god said now i will establish my covenant with you chapter 17 verse 2 and now you will no longer be called verse 5 ibram which means an exalted father it's very interesting the word abram the margin of my bible says it means an exalted father a highly respected father with a name he had no children but he had a name you will be called abraham genesis 17 5 which means the father of a multitude in other words abraham abraham you're not going to be just known as a very exalted father of tribe that's unimportant you're going to be the father of many many many children that are going to bless the world something because i made you the father of a multitude is something like that god wants to do to us dear brothers and sisters please remember this lord had told abraham in genesis chapter 12. and verse two two things i will bless you and you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth those three two things this is the blessing of abraham which god gave him i will bless you number one and number two you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth through your seed but that could only come when abraham's ability to produce his seed come to zero now if you turn to galatians and chapter 3 galatians chapter 3 we read in verse 13 christ became a curse for us now many people know that christ died for our sins on the cross i hope you also know that romans 6 that our old man was crucified with christ on the cross it also says that satan was defeated on the cross colossians 2 verse 14 15 and hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 that through death he destroyed him who had the power of death he took away the power of satan on the cross so the number of number of things happened on the cross the christian world only knows he died for our sins a lot more than that our old man was crucified with him so that we may not be slaves to sin and satan was defeated on the cross and here's something else it's the only place in the new testament where it says this jesus christ became a curse not he took a curse he became a curse cursed by god because it says cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree now why we know why he died for us he died for our sins why did he become a curse for you and me if someone were to ask you that question why did jesus become a curse on the cross i hope you have an answer to most people the only answer to any question like that is so that i can go to heaven when i die that is the answer of a spiritual baby a spiritual baby can only think of one thing like it cries for milk i go to heaven when i die my sins are all forgiven and i'll go to heaven when i die that is the language of a newborn baby and we all begin there we all began as newborn babies the sad thing is multitudes of believers are babies even after 20 30 years of having accepted christ they never seem to grow imagine if you had a baby that never grew up for 30 years couldn't sleep couldn't walk that's the condition of many believers why did christ become a curse for us here's the answer verse 14 galatians 3 14 in order that that's the answer why did christ become cursed for us in order that the blessing of abraham might come to us who are not jews who are not his descendants what is the blessing of abraham we saw that already i will bless you and you will be a blessing to every family that you ever encounter on the earth have you have you taken that promise to yourself uh i know all of you have hopefully taken the promise of the forgiveness of sins thank you lord jesus you died for me thank you that all my sins are forgiven praise the lord have you taken this promise have you ever gone to jesus and said lord thank you for being a curse on the cross for me so that i can be blessed and become a blessing to every single family that i encounter in my life don't you want to be that my brother sister don't you want to be like that that every family not just every individual every family you encounter will be blessed because you came across their path for eternity they will thank god this brother this sister came across my path i've been blessed for all eternity i want to tell you that's god's purpose for you it's called the blessing of abraham two things i will bless you and there's only one meaning of that that is i will empower you with my holy spirit the greatest blessing god can give me is the holy spirit i will bless you means he'll give me the holy spirit to dwell within me that's the new testament the equivalent of abraham's blessing and secondly you will be a blessing means the holy spirit will flow out through me like rivers of living water blessing every family i encounter every person and every family i encounter why how will it happen because jesus became a curse for me there will never be a curse in my life but it's not enough that there is no curse in my life i mean that's a negative thing oh thank god there's no curse in my life but i'm to be a blessing have you ever come across this verse if you remember this verse in the book of zechariah it's a great promise zechariah chapter 8 if you turn with me to zechariah chapter 8 and verse 13. claim this promise to yourself it will come about that just as once upon a time you were a curse wherever you went that means you were a nuisance you caused problems wherever you went you sinned wherever you went you hurt people now you will become a blessing don't be afraid let your hands be strong as just as you are a curse you will be a blessing so tremendous promises in scripture it means like there are many checks written in our name within the bible which remain uncashed if you find another man or woman who is truly spiritual and far more spiritual than you it's only because he has cashed some of those checks in the bible which you have not cashed they are for you also those promises he's gone and taken them and then cashed them in the bank of heaven and said lord i'm sorry i've been a curse to so many people i've been such a nuisance to people [Music] but it's going to change i'm going to be a blessing from now on bank of heaven will always encash that check because it is signed in jesus name he became a curse that i might be a blessing so why doesn't it happen as i said between genesis 16 and 17 there were 13 years when god did nothing and that happens in the lives of many believers too for many years god does nothing only for one reason they haven't come to a zero point they're still full of themselves they think that with a little more effort i'll make it throughout scripture i find this principle you know the story in the marriage in cana where mary came to jesus and said they have no wine and jesus said you can read it sometime in john chapter 2 what have i got to do with you my hour has not yet come what is the meaning of my hour has not yet come i interpret that as saying well if i were to paraphrase it well mary there's still a little bit of line left there maybe nine percent is over but this is still one or two glasses of wine still left of course you're coming and warning me in advance so that they don't completely run out but my hour will come only when it has run out to zero when there's not a drop of wine left then i will act as long as there's even half a cup of wine left i mean i know you need jars of wine in a wedding but if there's a half a cup of wine left my hour has not yet come and then a time came when even that half cup was run dry there was nothing left then jesus said to the servants fill the water pots with water and what a lot of wine he gave them six water pots full of water and it says here each of those water parts contain about 20 25 30 gallons 30 gallons in one water bottle there were six waterfalls imagine about 180 gallons of wine so imagine how much that is when god does something it is in abundance but he had to wait until it came to zero they have no wine it has to really get to zero then the lord says my hour has come and my brother sister if those 180 gallons of wine or not spiritual wine i mean are not being produced in your life i'll tell you there must be one reason the lord's power has not yet come because you have not come to zero you still got a few of your own resources a few ishmaels i'll tell you i never knew this i never had a spiritual father to teach me these things i did a lot of good things after i was born again for 15 16 years they were not bad ishmael was a pretty healthy child and i produced a few ishmaels they were not evil but they were not in god's plan and purpose for my life but i know when god met with me and filled me with the spirit and changed the direction of my life and opened up a door of ministry for me was when i came to zero and until that time god waited that period between genesis 16 and genesis 17 i went through that for a long time and one day god met with me and if you find a frustration in your life my brother you don't seem to see the power and the rivers of living water flowing through you as you anticipate it consider this possibility that you are in that genesis 16 last verse situation god is waiting till you become completely dead dead to the opinions of men dead to the applause and praise of man dead to the desire to impress people dead to the desire to impress rlcf dead to the desire to get a name when i in my first bible i wrote this verse down which has challenged me and i used to sing it to myself many many times dead to the world and its applause to all the customs fashions laws of those who hate the humbling cross so dead that no desire may rise to appear good or great or wise in any but my savior's eyes let's just sing that dead to the world and its applause to all the customs fashions laws of those who hate the humbling cross so dead that no desire may arise to appear good or great or wise in any but my savior's eyes i kept on at it because the lord showed me i remember when i was seeking for the power of the holy spirit in those days he said when did the holy spirit come upon jesus that's what the lord spoke to me i was a young 23 year old i didn't still understand it for another 10 13 years but the lord pointed me to the example of jesus when did the holy spirit come upon jesus in the river jordan when he allowed somebody to put him completely under water which is a picture of total death you know the baptism is a picture of death jesus submitted to total death to himself then god raised him up and the spirit came upon me and what the lord said to me was if you're willing to go that way of the cross of total depth to yourself your ambitions plans desires i have many ambitions i'll tell you i was in the navy and i was doing pretty well as a naval officer and i had a great ambition to go right to the top to be the admiral of the indian navy and then christ came into my life and told me to die to die to that ambition lord i only want to please you now for your will for my life you know i i mean that didn't mean i have to leave my job no that was separate my calling to servant full-time was another calling but i continued to be a christian in the navy i didn't think i would leave the navy i thought i'd just be a good christian to the lord in the navy in my secular job and i could have been if the lord wanted if that was the plan for my life but a lot of other plans but it was very important that i gave up my ambition i said warren i want to live for you i want to fulfill your plan for my life that's all that matters i want to ask all of you especially you young people it's your life ahead of you it's good to have make plans and all that is very good but are you willing to bow before god and say lord i want your plan for my life i want to marry the person you have planned for me nobody else the one you had planned and if you're already married lord i want to fulfill your plan for my life wherever i am i don't want to choose where i want to go i don't want to just go where i can make a lot of money i want your plan for my life i tell you die die die completely and you'll be amazed to see and experience the power of his resurrection and when abraham got isaac the lord said this is the one to whom i'm gonna bless you and i believe that every one of us need to have that type of an experience that will come only when we come to a zero point you see that in many of the miracles i told you about cana i told you about lazarus jesus would not come when he was sick he had to come to zero to death you see that in the last miracle that jesus did you know the last miracle jesus did it was after his resurrection the miraculous catch of fish what's the lesson there same thing you toil all night toil toil it's exactly like the end of genesis 16. god waits god waits in genesis 16 for abraham to come to zero and jesus waited on the shore for those disciples to come to zero they went out fishing at six o'clock no office seven o'clock eight o'clock 10 o'clock 11 o'clock 12 o'clock midnight no fish they've never had such an experience they're expert fishermen they've never had such any feelings in all their life jesus still waits they haven't come to zero they say hey maybe we'll make it by four o'clock in the morning by the time it was five o'clock in the morning they gave up no hope at all then jesus appears and says who said he doesn't have a sense of humor well boys have you got any fish they say no now you're ready and you get such a catch as you've never had in your whole life you fill that net with fish all these things are a message to us dear brothers and sisters choose that way manifested in the life of abraham peter and the disciples it's a main thing why did god put moses in the wilderness for 40 years it wasn't to teach him to preach he was already a great preacher at the age of 40. to bring him to zero where he would say this great preacher you read in acts 7 he was mighty in words moses at the age of 40. stephen says that in acts 7 but when god meets with him 40 years later he says lord i cannot speak the lord says no i'm going to use him he says no i cannot speak please ask aaron he had really come to zero throughout scripture this is the principle i believe with all my heart my dear brothers and sisters god wants to use every one of you mightily every one of you i don't care how weak you are i don't care how old you are i don't care how much you have failed in your life i want to tell you in jesus name please believe me god wants to fulfill a mighty purpose through you that rivers of living water will come out of you to bless every family you encounter don't just look at that gifted brother who stands in the pulpit and speaks no no no those are not the only people preaching in the pulpit is not the main thing you can be a blessing to people even if you never preach in a pulpit and god wants to make every one of you like that but he has to bring you to zero so remember the two things i mentioned today there's only one person with whom you have to do work on your life till you say lord i want to live recognizing you're the only one with all i have to do help me to come to a zero point quickly let's pray please think about what you heard today and if there's something god has spoken to you please ask the lord to remind you of it again and again until it becomes reality father apply to our hearts the truths we have heard we pray in jesus name amen

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Length: 46min 24sec (2784 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 06 2021