God Wants You to Overcome Discouragement -- Zac Poonen -- June 12, 2021

[Music] brothers and sisters what a wonderful thing it is to come together to seek the lord and to look into his word to be encouraged first thing i want to show you from scripture today our subject is that god wants us to be free from all discouragement there are many titles given to god he's our father but he's also called in romans 15 and verse 5. the title of god that we must never forget romans 15 verse 5. god the god who gives encouragement the god who gives you perseverance it's god he's who gives encouragement and his title is a god who gives us encouragement a god who gives us perseverance to hold on till the end so there are also many other scriptures that tell us how god's desire is that we should be free from all anxiety a lot of discouragement comes because we're tense and anxious about something on the earth especially about people whom we love somebody's sick or somebody's going through a difficult time and we're concerned now we must distinguish between being concerned and being anxious and worried jesus said in matthew 6 in the space of 10 verses matthew 6 25-34 three times he said don't be worried don't be worried don't worry be worried matthew 6 25 for this reason i say do not be worried and again in verse 31 do not be worried again in verse 34 do not worry but he said if you do want to be anxious about something be anxious about god's kingdom verse 33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness so sometimes anxiety comes because it is not his kingdom and his righteousness that we are seeking he says if you seek god's kingdom first and his righteousness verse 33 all the things that we are concerned about will be added to us it doesn't mean everything will be perfect because this is an imperfect earth and you cannot expect everything to be perfect here in your life i mean in the external circumstances it will never be perfect something or the other will be wrong somebody or the other will be sick people will die there'll be sickness all over and especially at this time of this cobit 19 pandemic that's covered the whole earth it's very easy for people to get depressed we know people who have died due to this sickness and naturally they'll be sorrow the bible doesn't say sorrow is wrong but the bible says in 1 thessalonians 4 we don't sorrow like others one thessalonians and chapter i mentioned this because there are people we know whose loved ones have passed away we've gone to be with the lord and 1 thessalonians 4 says that concerning those who are asleep the bible never speaks about christians having died he always it always uses the word we are asleep in christ in other words they've gone to be with the lord and they'll go to raise them up one day death refers to a permanent end so he uses the word asleep in christ so it says don't grieve like others 1 thessalonians 4 13. we do grieve naturally when someone dies but we don't grieve like others because we have a hope that we will see them again so let me just mention a word about those who are discouraged or gloomy because of death that has come in due to covet or something else like that and unexpected death someone dying much earlier than they should have god is sovereign and he's the one who's got life and death in his hands and he's the one who determines that for all his children his god who decides when he's going to call them up to heaven psalm 139 verse 16 and 17 say that god has determined the number of our days that should bring comfort to us it's a great verse that we must always remember in case you've never read it before it says psalm 139 and verse 16 god has determined the number of our days and he determined it before we were born it says in that words so we find a comfort in that nobody could take the life of jesus away before he had completed his course and he had to die on the cross when they tried to throw him once over a cliff once not possible when there was a storm in the lake it's impossible for him to die there because it was not god's time i want to say to every one of you this is the word of god you don't have to be a great saint to know this god loves his little children young newborn children in the faith as much as he loves his older servants but let me say this to comfort you and encourage you that if you are seeking to do god's will and that is your ambition in life you cannot die before god's time by any method the devil cannot kill you sickness cannot kill you until god's time has come he determines the number of our days it may not be long a full life is not necessarily what the world calls a long life jesus life was the fullest life that was ever lived on the earth and he left this earth when he was 33 and a half so what is a full life completing the will of god so let me say this that when because we know that our loved ones have gone to be with christ we have to think of them as are having seen them off at an airport they've gotten into a flight imagine this loved one of yours that's departed has gone into a flight and gone to a better country far better than this one would you be depressed yeah there'll be a sorrow that i may not see this person for a long time because he or she has gone away to another country but there's also a joy that this loved one has gone to a better land so look at what the world calls death as seeing somebody out at the airport who's taken off for a better land so we don't sorrow like others i've seen parents who are seeing off their sons or daughters going out to study college in college in some other place in a better place and seeing them off the airport and parents are crying why are they crying it's not because they'll never see their children again it's because they'll be away for some time but there's gladness in their heart they're glad to send them off that to their children to a better place so it's like that we must look at what the world calls death so we grieve but we don't breathe like others there could be also other causes for see for example medical people tell us about what is called clinical depression now that's a medical term and i'm not talking about that some people's personalities are such and we don't judge them we have to be compassionate and merciful towards them never judge another person as to what is the source of his discouragement just can be concerned about yourself we're not called to judge others but for a christian i believe god's will is that we must be free from anxiety and free from discouragement that comes from having too high an expectation of ourselves we're not perfect but we are pressing on to perfection and along that way god encourages us all the time there are people who are discouraged because of poverty especially in these days when people have lost their jobs we have to be compassionate towards them and if you are facing something like that i want to encourage you seek god's kingdom person god can do amazing things to open up a way for you to find provision for your family's needs god's very interested in our family and our wife and children being fed and taken care of and even being educated so that they can get a job because he taught us to pray our father who art in heaven give us this day our daily bread that's the prayer he taught us to pray he said you can pray that every day and that is saying lord i trust you to make provision for me to get my daily bread in other words i need a job i need a house to live in with my family and i need to educate my children so that they can also get their daily bread one day and so there's nothing wrong in asking for these things and to believe that god in some way or the other will work things out for us not perhaps in the way we anticipate but definitely he cares for us there are people who have for example some of you may be widows maybe your husbands have passed on god is the god of widows isaiah 54 it says god will be your husband now that your physical husband is dying god will be your husband he'll take care of you we think of young children who are discouraged because they are bullied in school that's unfortunately a very common thing nowadays may be happening to some of your children we must encourage them never mind if other people despise you laugh at you remember jesus loves you that's what we need to encourage our children ask jesus to be with you always even when you go to school that's what you need to tell our children of them to come to faith in christ at a very young age and also one other thing i want to mention is that there are different types of personalities we are born with some are outgoing and always cheerful and happy but very often it's only superficial some of these people are always smiling and happy go lucky type of people if you look at them in their private life very often they are gloomy and discouraged i've heard of a lot of circus clowns who commit suicide they make other people laugh but then they go and commit suicide i've heard of others who actors who act in humorous movies who commit suicide so they are their personalities they were trying to go against their personality now we must remember that some people's personalities are very outgoing some people are more reserved and introverted don't seek to be different from what god has made you god has made us all different and we should never seek say i wish i would be like that person but god decided not not to be like that person you have to be like yourself so that's one of the first things i would say to you be comfortable with the personality god gave you when you were born you know i was born with a very inward looking personality i'm basically a very shy person now you may not believe that when you hear me speak but that's what i was i was not the type of person who would be the life and soul of a party or the person who could slap people on the back and say hi no i was very reserved very difficult for me to go and speak to people and make friends with them because that's my personality but as i came to know the lord i found my joy in jesus himself and that changed my personality little by little by little and so when you find your joy in jesus and don't seek the approval of men and don't try to change yourself just to impress people lord i want to be a joyful christian in your presence i don't want to convince other people that i'm a joyful christian i want to be joyful but nobody's watching me i don't want to be just impressing others that i'm a happy person i want to be joyful in your presence all the time so let me mention this that don't condemn yourself for your personality you were born with that and the holy spirit has come to take away the weaknesses of our personality and the areas of our personality that are unchrist-like that dishonor god and helps us to change in those areas and i've seen that happen in my life little by little during the last 62 years that i've been a believer it's been a slow process but that's how the christian life is the christian life is a journey towards perfection we're not perfect the christian life is climbing a mountain of perfection and even jesus came to earth just like us but and he was tempted like us but he never sinned it's not our personality that we should worry about we should worry about sin so a lot of discouragement comes due to other reasons when you're trying to be someone else for example people look at their particularly women perhaps look at their face in the mirror and say well i'm not as pretty as i think i should be or as pretty as that other girl who's more popular well you're looking for the wrong things the bible says you know what the bible says about charm and physical beauty it's very important to understand what the bible says about it then you'll be addressed let me tell you proverbs is good for men and women to know that proverbs 31 and verse 30. these are the two things that the world promotes in women to tempt men and to attract them in movie stars and others proverbs 31 30 charm is deceitful and beauty is empty the two things that the world promotes in a woman to be charming and physical beauty this is what the bible says that charming thing in a woman is deceitful it's to fool you it fools you and it fools many men they are fooled by a charming woman who's when they they get married to that person just because of that and unfortunately liv get married to that person they discovered later on in life that that person can be very rude and selfish and very unchristian charm is deceitful that thing which looks so attractive in a very charming woman is a deception and physical beauty the bible calls it empty proverbs 31 30. keep that in mind so your sisters don't get discouraged if you're not as charming or as attractive as somebody else these are the things that cause discouragement and they shouldn't so i'm trying to deliver you from it god is a god who gives us encouragement the most attractive good-looking women in the world are not born again believers most of them are in the movie are movie stars and they are models and all that they are serving the devil those are the ones who are very attractive god has not given physical beauty to all of his children not even to men so we should not get discouraged because of our appearance or because of our personality if some are discouraged because they're not tall they want to be tall so many things which are physical so we have to see that god makes us all different when he determines how tall we should be how what our features should be and what our personality should be sometimes we can be discouraged because your family is not as good as somebody else's family maybe somebody's parents take more have provided more for them than your parents god has decided all these things once we believe that almighty god determined in which family i should be born into and what sort of resources my family should have and provide for me i find that comfort in god's will whatever it may be and as you progress in that you'll discover that god even allows and controls the way other people treat you yeah i found that in my life romans 8 28 god makes everything work together for good to those who love god can you be discouraged if you find everything is working for good in your life that's a great verse it's one of the most well-known verses that many christians know romans 8 28 god causes all things to work together for good but not for everybody to those who love god and do you know what is the thing that is the greatest enemy to the love of god very important to understand that the greatest thing that hinders us from loving god it's it's sin yeah sin also but jesus said in luke 16 and verse 13 luke 16 13 that money is a great opposite to god and he said if you love god money you will actually hate god did you know that read luke 16 verse 13 all those who love money hate god i mean that's the truth whether you like it or not you may say you don't hate god well i hope you don't but if you love money the bible says you hate god whether you know it or not maybe you're not one of those big haters of god going around denouncing him but there's a little bit of hatred of god in your life and that can be cause the cause of that discouragement because then you've got some other ambition in life other than the will of god let me tell you this honestly my dear brother sister if you have some other ambition in your earthly life other than to complete the plan god made for your life before you were born you got some other plan well you will be discouraged one day or the other or perhaps all your life but if you determine lord before i was born according to psalm 139 verse 16 you had a plan for my life you planned who i should marry where i should live how much i should earn who my parents should be and a whole lot of things in my life over which i have no control and the circumstances of my life the people who will encourage me the people who will try to discourage me you determine all of that and i'm not going to love money i'm not going to love this world i need to earn money to live so i will try to earn as much as i can i want to tell you there's nothing wrong in earning as much as you can if you find a better job with a better salary and other factors are all okay take it there's no virtue in taking a job with a lower salary and saying i'll take a lesser of salary that doesn't draw you closer to god your salary will not draw you closer or further away from god no god has a plan for your life and you if you've decided that's what i want to do i believe you'll be the happiest person on earth we know that the happiest person that ever walked on this earth was the lord jesus christ despite all the problems that people gave him and troubled him but you know what is the secret of jesus life it's very important to understand this the secret of jesus life is what he himself said this is why he was the happiest man on earth i believe that jesus was never discouraged even for one second at any time in his life he was under pressure and all types of things and he fought the battle against sin he was tempted like us but he did not sin but he was never never discouraged and the bible says we have to walk as jesus walk that's why i believe that god wants me never to be discouraged that's what you got to believe that in your heart first of all god has called me to walk as jesus walked that is a clear word let me show that to you in case you don't know where it is 1 john chapter 2 and verse 6 if you say you are in christ and that christ is in you you ought to you ought to means this is your responsibility to walk in the same way as he want not to become like him no no no become like him is written in one john 3 and verse 2 we will become like him only when he returns so we will never become totally like christ until he comes back that is our total personality our unconscious part which is about 90 of us and conscious part which is only 10 of us we will completely become like christ only when he comes but until then in the conscious part of our life which is only 10 of our life we must walk as he walked so that's the balance i will never be like christ until he comes again so i recognize there'll be areas in my inner life where i'm not like christ which i discover gradually but in the conscious part of my life with the bible tells me i am to walk as he walk he will definitely give me the power to walk as he walked can you imagine a father sending his son to buy something and not giving him the money for that i remember that with one of my one of my sons was very small i sent him to the market to buy a loaf of bread just close by he ran off immediately what an obedient son he was just about nine or ten years old and very soon he came running back i said what happened he said dad give me some money it rushed off without taking the money to buy the bread what did i expect him to do did i expect him to go and work somewhere and earn that money and buy the bread no when i asked him to go and buy the bread i expected him to say dad give me the money sure and when god apply that to your life when god asks you to do anything he does not expect you to produce the resources to do that he says he says come and ask me for power to do that thing come and ask me for the words to speak that's what i've done for all these 60 years that i've been preaching i say lord i don't know what to say to these people i don't even know the need of these people how can i ever meet that need when i don't even know that even a doctor asks you what is your problem and then tries to help you but for a preacher it's even more difficult he's talking a whole lot of people are not told in their problem like a whole lot of you sitting in front of me today i don't know what your problems are but god knows and i say lord please give me the right word that will help every one of these hundreds of people who are listening who can do that only god and i've seen through all these many many years of my life that i've been preaching that god gives me the word and i know that because people have come to me afterwards and said brother zach that was the exact word that i needed at this time even in the articles that we send around we hear so many responses that's not due to our cleverness no it's got nothing to do with me it's it's that god gives me something and i pass it on and i can't take the credit for it but what i say is that god knows the need of people and he knows your need and if you ask him he'll give you i believe there are many things we don't receive because we don't ask you do not have because you do not ask you know that verse in james it says in james in chapter four the reason why you don't have something is because you don't ask you you you do not have the last part of us to james four verse you do not have something which god wants you to have because you don't ask for it you don't helplessly come to god and say lord i need this you're the god of encouragement i'm trying to encourage myself i can't i want you to encourage me every day because i'm a person who gets frequently discouraged and you call yourself the god of encouragement i read that in romans 15. now lord i don't want this word to be said about me that i don't have it because i didn't ask for it i'm ask asking for it i'm gonna ask in faith and it says earlier on james says when you ask for something if you ask in faith you will get it but james 1 6 if you ask with doubt oh i'm not sure whether god will give it to me then he says that man will receive nothing from the lord you know there's a verse in the bible which says that that you'll get nothing from the lord yeah there's a verse like that james 1 verse 7. let don't expect to get anything from the lord whom does the word of god say don't expect to receive anything from the lord to the one who asks without any faith verse six it's like you go to your earthly father and say dad i'm going to ask you for something but i know you don't love me i know you don't care for me i know you won't give it to me imagine going to god like that god i want this desperately in my life i want encouragement i want to be encouraged every day but i know you won't give it to me because you're a hard-hearted god well i'll tell you you won't get it you will be discouraged all your life because your concept of god is wrong jesus came on earth not only to forgive our sin please remember many people think jesus came to earth only to forgive our sin of course he came to die for our sins but you know one of the main reasons he came to earth was to show us that god is a loving father many times in the gospels jesus kept on telling his disciples about what a loving father god was and that's one of the most important things we need to know see john chapter 1 it says here john chapter 1 and verse 18 no one has seen god at any time the world is full of people about wrong concepts of god because they have tried to imagine what god is like and i want to say this to you many believers and perhaps some of you also you have got a certain concept of god which may be totally wrong consider that possibility that you have a concept of god which may be wrong and that is why you're discouraged i had that too very often i used to i was a slave to discouragement for years after being born again and i'll tell you why because i always used to think that god's always looking at me and saying there's something wrong with me all the time i was living with something's wrong with me i have to keep on judging myself judging yourself is a good thing but if you keep on thinking there's always something wrong with me there's always something wrong with me there are some believers like that i don't understand personality or the teaching they have heard in that particular church oh there's always something wrong with you so keep on judging yourself i judge myself when i don't live with the feeling that oh there's always something wrong with me god is upset with me god is angry with me he's always trying to show me something wrong with me i i've been discouraged every day the doctrine you have heard in your particular church which is not balanced perhaps should we judge ourselves of course the bible says in 1 peter 4 17 we judge ourselves but that must be balanced with a lot of other scriptures which is god is a loving father what would you think of an earthly father who every time he sees a son he says hey son this is wrong with you in the evening he said this is wrong with you in the next morning he said this is wrong with you what will happen to that boy he'll grow up as a gloomy boy and that's there's no father even evil earthly fathers are not like that and jesus said you earthly fathers know how to give good things to your children if they ask for bread you won't give a stone and let me say this also you earthly fathers don't keep on discouraging your children you think your heavenly father will do that you earthly fathers don't keep on telling your children this is wrong with you this is wrong with you this is wrong with you some fathers are like that unfortunately you're a very bad father if all that you can tell your children is this is wrong with you and that is wrong with you the other thing is wrong with you you're the one who discourages your children you're spreading discouragement around the world that's not the way you should be we are called to encourage one another the world there are enough people in the world who go around discouraging others let's be among those who bring a balance and encourage people because god is a god of encouragement we want to challenge people to a higher life but in that challenge to a more godly life there must be encouragement god will help you the lord jesus challenged his disciples to the highest possible standard he said you must never get angry i believe that i believe i must never get angry without a reason i must be angry if i see people making money in the name of christ like jesus whip the money changes out of the temple and i will be angry when i see people dishonor christ in the church but never angry if people hurt me or do something against me jesus was not angry when people spat on him or called him the devil or any such thing so what a high standard that we shouldn't get angry except for it concerns the glory of god that we should never lust after a woman even once that we must love all our enemies we must bless every person who curses us and do good to those who are evil to us what a high standard but he didn't just leave us with that high-density standard he didn't just say to the disciples like this you must live like this you must live like this you must love others like i have loved you they would have got discouraged he at the end of it all he said i will now give you the power of the holy spirit wait on god to be filled with the holy spirit and then you will have power to live according to this standard i prescribed for you so when you read the scriptures don't just see the standard god is prescribed for you and you're a sincere christian and you get discouraged because you're not living up to that standard there's another side to that coin like the coin has got two sides the other side is yeah one side is here is the standard god wants from us the other side of the coin is god says i will give you the power wait on god to be filled with the holy spirit i'll give you my own testimony the thing that delivered me from discouragement permanently and completely and even from anger was when god showed me and what it was to be filled with the holy spirit created me a tremendous thirst where jesus said if anyone first john 7 37 let him come to me and drink i came to jesus this is many years after i was born again for 16 years after i was born again i was frequently discouraged depressed defeated angry even when i was married i'd get angry at home but i said lord this is not your will i was so defeated i can say that i hit rock bottom and god met with me and filled me with the holy spirit i changed the direction of my life 46 years ago i've not been perfect since then but the graph is going upward upward upward upward upward that i can say but as previously it was going down down down down and what happened i realized i cannot live this life here's the high standard but i did not look at the other side of the coin that god gave me the power to live according to that standard so i just looked at the standard and got discouraged if i had looked at the other side of the promise you shall receive power when the holy spirit is comes and fills you that's what happened to the apostles they were living in a locked room discouraged afraid and one day inside that locked room they were filled with the holy spirit and suddenly they threw open the doors and they went out into all the world challenged the holy spirit and encouraged and became a blessing to others that is god's will for every one of you i want to say to you personally in jesus name as a servant of god if you have given your life to christ even yesterday or today god wants to fill you with his holy spirit and i'm not speaking about speaking in tongues or a special gift that is a gift i believe in speaking in tongues god gives it to some people he doesn't give it to everyone but that's not what i'm talking about i'm talking about power to be be a witness for christ not to bear witness for christ that is to speak and be uh bear with uh with our words but to be acts 1 8 you shall be that's referring to your whole personality you will be a witness for me and you're not going to be a witness for me for you're not going to be a witness for christ if you're going around with a gloomy face all the time or discouraged it's like i i heard a story of a gloomy looking christian trying to witness to somebody and say why don't you accept christ he said no thank you i got enough problems already i don't want to be gloomy like you what sort of a testimony is that can you imagine such a person witnessing for christ there must be something radiant about our life something that says christ has changed my life i'm not a rich man i'm not perfect in my life but god's given me assurance and his child so dear brothers and sisters this is where our freedom from discouragement comes our knowing what god is like so i've often said that there are different ways in which we can hold on to the christian life let me use an example here is a pen now you can hold this pen with two fingers or you can hold it with your full fist you hold it with two fingers somebody can snatch it out of your hand easily but when you hold it with your full fist it's very difficult for anyone to take it out so i think of people trying to hold on to the christian life with two fingers and the devil snatches it away but how do we hold on to the christian life how do you get a solid grip on the christian life let me just tell you what i discovered first of all the palm that's where you got to hold it and that palm refers to knowing god as our father not just as almighty god my personal father a loving father who loved me so much that he sent his only son at a time when i hated him when i lived for myself when i lived for sin he loved me not when i was his friend he loved me when i was his enemy and even throughout my life though i have disobeyed and rebelled against him he continues to love me this is my father can you imagine having an earthly father like this who never gives up on you no matter what you do this is the god i worship this is my father who never gives up on me who will never give up on you my brother sister be assured in that if you don't have that you will not be able to get a grip on the christian life god is my father this is the main thing as i told you in john 1 17 john 1 18 no one has seen god at any time but jesus the only begotten son of god has explained him john 1 18. why did jesus come to earth as i said not just to die for our sins but to explain what the father is like you know if you if you don't know that jesus died for your sins on the cross you will never be assured of forgiveness of sins you'll always live with guilt guilt guilt but when you realize that he died for your sins and his blood can cleanse you from all sin the guilt is gone in the same way you need to recognize that jesus came to reveal god as a father a loving father who loves you more than and not more than your earthly father alone but more than any earthly father the best father in the world it's a fantastic truth he came to explain the father will you allow jesus through the holy spirit to explain god as a loving father to you you just got to read the bible and let me mention this also if you don't have the habit of reading the bible you've got to blame yourself for being discouraged frequently sure the most encouraging book in the whole world is the word of god the bible and jesus said if you being earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children how much more your heavenly father will give good things to those who ask for myself you know people have asked me what is the most the most blessed verse in the whole scripture that you have found there are more than 31 000 verses in the bible but i'll tell you the verse that really blessed me if you asked me for the number one verse in the bible it's not john 3 16 which is well known god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life i thank god for that but the thing that brought rest into my life yeah that i'm thankful that the blood of jesus cleanses me from all sin there are many wonderful verses but when i read john 17 23 john 17 23 is not such a well-known verse but that is the verse that changed my life john 17 23 says jesus prayed an amazing thing in the latter part of that verse i want the world to know that you sent me okay i understood and that you love these disciples of mine as much as you love me okay that you love these disciples of that mind that i can understand that god loves me yeah i understand that but the second part of it as much as he loved jesus let me tell you this i've said this for more than 45 years this is the truth that changed my life now you can hear it from me and you'll forget it but when god gives you a revelation that i love you like i love my son jesus it will change your life it did change mine not something i did that he loved me as much as he loved jesus christ why did god love his son when he was on earth because his son had one desire that was to please the father the secret of jesus life is described in john 6 38 john 6 38 i came from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me that's why the father loved him he said that later on in john my father loves me because i keep his commandments and he said that to us also if you keep the commandments my father will love you and he'll come to you and be with you john 14 21 john 14 21 he who has my commandments and keeps the one keeps it is the one who loves me john 14 21 he who has my commandments that's because he reads the bible and keeps them through the power of the holy spirit not in his own strength he's the one who loves me and the one who loves me will be loved by my father god has a special love for those who desire and whose passion is to obey everything jesus has commanded i study the scriptures not to produce sermons i hope you don't read the bible to produce sermons i study the scriptures to find out what has jesus commanded me to do and secondly what are the promises he has given me that's why i studied the scriptures what does he call me to do what are the promises he gives me in scripture to be able to keep those francis keep those commandments and when i do that it says the father will love me just like you love jesus that's amazing truth and the way it came to me was this you know the bible says that jesus is our elder brother it's another truth that many of you may not know if you don't know it look at romans 8 29 god wants us to be like christ romans 8 29 because he wants jesus to be the eldest brother of many brothers in heaven god wants many children sons and daughters and jesus to be the eldest brother so jesus is not only to be our lord but according to romans 8 29 my eldest brother and that opens my eyes to understand something i have four sons and everything i did for my eldest son i did for the others i had no partiality zero partiality i tried to be completely free from partiality in the way i dealt with my sons some fathers and mothers are partial towards some of their children i want to say to you if you're like that you are evil i'll say that again you are an evil father or mother if you are partial towards any one of your children god is not partial partiality is a sin so i understood that i said i will never be partial to any of my children what i do for what i'll do for the other if i correct one i'll correct the other they're all the same and god is a million million million million times better father than me so there can be no partiality with him zero the bible says that in romans two there's no partiality with god and if jesus is the elder brother and there's no partiality with god then everything god did for the elder brother he do for me the younger one just like me if you being evil know how to show no partiality to your children how much more your heavenly father will show no partiality to his children of whom jesus is the eldest that brought such a comfort to me john 17 23 he loves me as he loved jesus he'll care for me as he cared for jesus can you imagine the comfort that will come to your life supposing god were to physically appear to you think of that if god were to physically appear to you and say i'm going to care for you just like i cared for jesus when he was on earth yes i allowed many people to insult and even kill my son i may allow many difficulties to come into your life too but i'll care for you nothing will happen to you outside of my will i want you to commit yourself to me jesus never starved he never had to go and beg anybody for money he never had to borrow one cent from anyone and i will make your life such that you will never have to borrow you'll never have to be dependent on man you will never be afraid of any man you'll be like my son jesus imagine if god appeared to you like that and said that to you can you imagine that you'd ever be discouraging them in your life but he has said it in scripture when i read the bible it is like god standing in front of me and telling me i love you as i love my son if you will obey me as my son obeyed me if you have a longing to be me you're not perfect like jesus was perfect but that doesn't matter if you have a longing to walk like him and to obey him obey me the lord says i will be with you like i was with jesus i'll tell you honestly i'm not exaggerating when i understood this and god filled me with this holy spirit and continues to fill me with the holy spirit it delivered me from anger i could live 365 days in my home every day of the year without ever getting angry and 366 days in a late year completely free and delivered me from discouragement i'm not saying i not tempted to be discouraged i'm tempted but i resist it temptation will be there till the end of our life i'm not saying you will not be tempted to be discouraged of course you will be you'll be tempted to lust you'll be tempted to tell lies you'll be tempted to cheat you'll be tempted to love money you'll be tempted to do so many wrong things to get angry but temptation is not the same as sinning you can resist it you can overcome it god will give you the power of the holy spirit a lot jesus emphasized faith so much he said when you have faith you can even tell this mountain in front of you there is a mountain of discouragement in front of you preventing you from moving forward in your christian life it is like that for many people a mountain jesus said you can speak to that mountain dude go away in the name of jesus i'm not going to be discouraged i'm going to praise god and i'm not talking about some type of psychological trick there are psychologists who say change your way of thinking i'm not talking about change my way of thinking i'm talking about a loving father so i told you about this fist number one knowing god is father number two the thumb knowing that the blood of jesus christ has cleansed you from all sin 1 john 1 7 and nine if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us from all our sins not only that romans 5 verse 9 says but justified by the blood of christ justified by the blood of christ means as if you had never committed a single sin in your whole life i used to be discouraged because oh lord i failed again i failed again i failed again but when i realized that the blood of christ justifies me and he says in hebrews 8 verse 12 i will not remember your sins anymore i said lord and i'm not going to worry about that you said you won't remember my sins anymore it's done declared righteous by the blood of christ that's what the blood of christ does for me cleanses me declares me righteous then the next five fingers so the bomb is knowing god is father the thumb is being cleansed and justified by the blood of christ and then the word of god man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from god's mouth and he's given us in the scriptures if you have got the scriptures in your own language let me say this i've said this to many people if you have the bible in your own language and you can read and you don't read it you deserve to be deceived you deserve to be discouraged it's like food is put in front of you and you don't eat it and you say i'm hungry what's that food is put in front of you you don't eat it and you say you're hungry god has given you his word in your own language he's given you education where you learn to read and you don't read it regularly you deserve to be discouraged and you deserve to be deceived by all the deceivers in the world you deserve it you're lazy start reading god's word make it a habit every day say to yourself no bible today no food today make that a rule in your life i didn't read my bible today i should not eat my food today you really believe your spirit is more important than your body i'm trying to tell you how to be completely free from discouragement every day of your life man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god and there are a hundred thousands of words in this book meant to deliver me from discouragement if you don't read it it's like a doctor says you've got a sickness you take this tablet regularly every day you'll be free you come back to the doctor and say after six months and say oh doctor i'm still having this problem the doctor says did you take this tablet i asked you to take every day no doctor i forgot about it once in a month i would take it well the doctor says no wonder the sickness is still there no wonder you're still discouraged man shall live by every word that proceeds from god's mouth you've got the bible there in front of you in your house and you don't read it well no wonder you're discouraged so that's the second thing the word of god and third is the holy spirit's power it's not psychology it's not a change of mind it's not trying to imagine something or trying to okay i'm going to live by that you got to recognize you don't have the power to overcome discouragement you don't have the power to overcome sin you don't have the boldness to be a witness for jesus i said that i remember when i started trying to be a witness for christ i said lord i'm i'm ashamed to stand in the streets and preach the gospel and sometimes ashamed to give a tract to somebody telling him about christ you were not ashamed to hang on the cross for me but i'm sorry i'm ashamed i don't want to be ashamed but i don't have the power i don't have the boldness to witness to others about you fill me with the holy spirit i prayed and i pray my prayers god filled me with this holy spirit i had the boldness to be a witness for christ and all these 60 years that i've been preaching yeah i have been preaching nearly 60 years now god has given me the power even today when i come to preach i say lord i don't know what to say i don't know the needs of all these people sitting in front of me you know what their need is and it's not like one patient coming to a doctor there are hundreds of people coming to listen and i have to help all of them at the same time who is sufficient for these things not man not me but i said lord with your holy spirit there is no need that i cannot meet in my own life or in other people's if you call me to serve people you will definitely give me the power you will not send me to bread to the market to buy bread and not give me the money i won't do that as a father i told you my son came running back and i said son when i asked you to go and buy the bread i expected you to ask me for the money i didn't expect you to go and earn that money yourself i learned something i've never forgotten and when god asked me to do something he doesn't expect me to go and produce that power to do that don't be anxious god says and he expects me to produce that power to overcome anxiety no he expects me to come to him and say dad that's what i call god dad in the hebrew abba you know whatever your language is apa you asked me to do this give me the power you asked me to rejoice always philippians 4 6 philippians 4 4 give me the power you ask me never to be anxious philippians 4 6 give me the power you read anything in scripture god has commanded you to do it love your enemy father i can't do it give me the power you know that's what scripture is for to challenge you so that you will go to god that's the third thing well one two three fourth thing are the holy spirit seek for it and then number five the fourth finger the way of the cross jesus said if you want to follow me you got to take up the cross every day luke 9 23 and follow me i'll tell you this one of the ways to overcome discouragement is by saying i'm going to die to myself every day deny yourself and say lord you walk the way of the cross every day i want to die to myself every day i want to die to my rights if people insult me i want to be i react like a dead man when people praise me i want to react like a dead man no reaction when people insult me i want to be a dead man no reaction when the world attracts me with something that i am covetous about dead man i refuse to be attracted by that if you don't choose that way you will get discouraged definitely the way of the cross death to self every day and finally number six fellowship with the body of christ god has not called us to live alone he wants us to have fellowship with others the bible says encourage one another in hebrews 3 3 13 lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin i need encouragement from others and i need to encourage others and when i can't find for example many of you are married who is the person you see every day husbands your wife let me ask you a straight question some of you have been believers for so many years so many years you've been believers let me ask you a question do you encourage your wife encourage one another daily who's the one you see daily do you encourage her day daily we don't take such things seriously unfortunately we need fellowship encourage one another daily and seek for fellowship with other believers wherever you can it's i mean fellowship over the phone is also good enough if you don't have physical fellowship in these days when we're not allowed to meet one another so much as in non-pandemic days we can still fellowship with one another on a phone yeah so we must seek for fellowship don't think that i can live this christian life all by myself i thank god that i have fellowship with others and i always seek fellowship with them especially people who are different from me they balance i'm not a perfectly balanced person i find my balance in the body of christ even in the ministry in our churches my ministry alone is not good enough for our churches i need the balance of others so here are the six things i mentioned knowing god is a father and secondly being cleansed in the blood of jesus christ declared righteous in the blood of christ and then thirdly hearing god speak to me through his word every day even if i don't have a bible when i get up in the morning lying in my bed that's the best place it's like jesus went into the wilderness to lie down in bed even for a few minutes before you get out of bed saying lord i want to speak to you i want to hear you before i get out of bed today whenever the whole world is sleep around me i want to hear you before i get out of bed it will make all the difference in my life and then number four i want to be filled with the holy spirit every day not just once i want to be filled with the holy spirit every single day and number five lord as you died to yourself every day and took up the cross i want to die to myself every day of my life pick up the cross and follow you i want to walk the way of the cross and then number six i want to find fellowship with others in the body of christ please help me lord to find fellowship with others in the body of christ so if you follow these things i believe that god will help you to live a life of overcoming discouragement let me read one verse to you finally in romans 8 and verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus that is a word that god says to you god does not condemn you don't condemn yourself there is no condemnation even though we slip up get up what do you do if you see uh we went through a stage in our life where we could not walk when we were babies we had to crawl then a time came in our life maybe when you were one year old or a little later when you could walk steady on your own feet in our christian life also it's something like that in the beginning we go through a period where we don't know how to walk properly we fall and get up and fall and get up and then one day we learn to walk that's a great day how excited a parent is when a child has learned to walk god is also excited when you have learned to walk an overcoming life but even though all of us have learned to walk none of us can say i will never slip and fall now no you must slip on a banana skin tomorrow and fall down but what do you do when you fall down you don't lie down there discouraged no you get up and continue walking that is our example okay you've learned to walk you become an overcomer but even the overcomer slips up sometimes and falls but he gets up he's not falling regularly like when he was a child you're not falling every day 20 times like a child falls no when was the last time you fell down somewhere when walking you can't even think it's rare and that's what will happen in your christian life the your falling will become rare but you can't say i'll never fall i can't say that even today physically or spiritually but i know it's becoming less and less and less i become more steady on my feet spiritually and so will it be with you god's will is that we progress in our christian life but we will still slip up but there is no condemnation zero so i hope those words encourage you let me just say this also that some people condemn themselves because they look for a ministry don't worry about ministry some people covet a ministry they want to be a preacher they want to get honor well then you deserve to be discouraged because you're not seeking to please god you're seeking for honor in the christian church to be known as a well-known preacher as an elder or some rubbish like that let your aim in life be to please god not to become a well-known preacher or to get some honor from other christians if we seek honor or we seek out our money then i say to you you deserve to be discouraged and you'll be discouraged all your life and you deserve it stop running after money and stop seeking honor from people and say father in heaven i want to please you that's all fill me with the holy spirit i tell you your life will change from today god bless you let's bow our heads in prayer while our heads about in prayer i want to ask you to please think of one thing not 25 things one thing that god spoke to you today even if you're a very spiritual person maybe there's some one thing god spoke to you also think of that one thing and say lord i want to be an overcomer in that area i don't want to be a defeated christian i want to be a better christian tomorrow than i am today yes i want to be a better christian tomorrow than i was yesterday than i was all my life determined before god say lord i want my life to progress i want to overcome discouragement and condemnation completely in my life help me lord i believe god will help you heavenly father i think of all these dear brothers and sisters who've taken all this trouble to listen to me i pray that something they have heard will be a word from you to their own heart lord jesus heavenly father many of these dear brothers are hungry and seeking some are really sincere many are really sincere some are discouraged please lift them up lord fill them with your holy spirit give them a hunger and a thirst for you and help them to walk in lowliness of mind and humility believing that you'll do mighty things for them we pray in the name of our lord jesus christ amen [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 24,343

Rating: 4.9068413 out of 5

Keywords: rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church, god, jesus, bible, scripture, overcome, discouragement, global, online, meeting, sermon, zac, poonen

Id: EXMrHsvEIN4

Length: 69min 15sec (4155 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021