Heaven: Undistracted Devotion to Jesus - Santosh Poonen

uh you brothers who shared already you must have looked at what the lord had planned for me to say um thank you for sharing i really believe the lord led you in what you had to say both and paul together with what he laid on my heart to share this morning i've been thinking much about heaven over the last week or so especially a week or two we've had we've known that uh roseanne's sister louise would be passing away soon we've been anticipating this time for a while because she had cancer you probably heard of billy graham who would serve the lord faithfully i believe according to my knowledge of his life and ministry uh for 99 years almost 100 he would have been 100 in october and the reason heaven is is predominant in my mind as i've thought about them i was looking at a picture of louise and her family a few days ago after i heard she passed away and it's looking at that picture this is the thought that came to me those eyes are actually seeing jesus right now i mean that face that i saw it was in a picture that i've seen right now is actually looking at jesus face what a tremendous thing that is that's what we have to look forward to this person that just a few days ago was here on this earth amidst her family and others that you know that have died and gone on there was a time when they were here and they had the perspective of life that you and i have and in a moment when they were caught up in the glory they saw jesus face to face it's a tremendous thing i want to show you a quote here in a second but what it's done for me is it's there's it's been done a couple of things that's really the essence of what i'd like to communicate to you this morning but the first was i want to live every moment of my life that if i don't have warning that i'm going to die because i'm still young enough that you wouldn't expect me to die right the world doesn't expect you to die at my age but you could the bible bible's very clear on that don't plan on tomorrow because you're not guaranteed it jesus spoke about a man who was a fool made big plans for tomorrow i imagine he was a man about my age thinking nah i'm not gonna die maybe if he was 90 he wouldn't have made those plans but he was in the prime of his life planning to build bigger barns jesus said you fool this night and i want to live my life at whatever age i am and for the rest of my life in such a preparedness that if the lord was saying hey you got two minutes and i'm going to call you home i wouldn't have to scramble to all of a sudden like what have i not said right what have i not what have i missed out on my opportunity to live for god's kingdom that i still need to before the end of my life this is a quote that um see if i can get there this is a quote by a quaker missionary i read it years ago and i was reminded of it this uh earlier this last week he lived a couple hundred well 150 years ago but look at what he said i expect to pass through this world but once any good therefore that i can do or any kindness i can show to any fellow creature let me do it now let me not defer that means wait say put it off i'll do it next week or let me not defer or neglect it for i shall not pass this way again yeah you know you and i probably have things that we do every day paths that we walk every day but there's a sense in which i'm walking down this path only once because i'm only walking down that path today once and this moment in time that is today right now i only get to do once and so even if i maybe it's a co-worker and i think well i could do that good deed to them next tomorrow because i'll see them tomorrow or i could set that thing right later on i can put off that good thing that i can do the opportunity to do that right now is the one this i shall not pass this way again i shall not pass this moment in time again let me read that again this quote by stephen grayer i expect to pass through this world but once any good therefore that i can do or any kindness i can show to any fellow creature let me do it now let me not defer or neglect it for i shall not pass this way again and i want to tell you practically what that looks like for me see we could take it one of two ways then you could say well i'm gonna run around like a chicken with its head chopped off thinking what do i need to do next this could result in a an unhealthy panic to do good that's not god's intention at all when i look at the life of jesus who in 33 years finished every possible good thing that he could do in those 33 years have you thought about it when jesus said it is finished on the cross what he had finished was this even though these aren't jesus words there's a sense in which i believe he lived on this earth with that mindset we've been seeing in matthew chapter 18 that the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost which is another way of saying the same thing that jesus christ went about his earth saying what good must i do now and it wasn't in a way that caused him to be in a be stressed out you know we we heard already how multitudes came and pressed on him the words that's used in and think in the king james they thronged on him that means that just like they squeezed him so much physically and how much more mentally and emotionally they it must have been draining for jesus to constantly be answering people's questions and healing people and then somebody else says come over here my servant is like sick so he goes over there but jesus lived a life of rest and the reason for that was because he wasn't answering to the call of man so when he thought about the good that he could do on this earth it wasn't so-and-so says hey i need your help somebody else says hey i need your help and then there's a schedule like a calendar the only calendar jesus had was the one that his father wrote and the father said jesus i want you to go here right now i know they're calling you over there but you need to go over here and that other person that's asking you i want you to say no to that and that other person that that needs help i want you to say yes to that so his command his chain of command was only one the father and he wasn't affected he wasn't he didn't allow himself to be pulled this way and that emotionally or physically by the demands of people on this earth and as we build the church it's very important for us to see that i recognized that from the day that i knew that god was calling me to be in ministry here in the church here that the most important word for me to learn first of all would be the word no because my tendency is to say yes i like to say yes now it might sound spiritual before you uh before you credit me for being spiritual i want to tell you that it can be quite carnal actually to say yes because that saying yes could come out of what will they think of me if i say no they'll think oh he must be he's not compassionate or he he doesn't have time for me or he's self-centered and that that fear of man that fear of what people will think if i say no can hold us in such bondage and i know i myself in my thoughts in the past have been held in bondage by worrying about what people will think about me if i seem unchrist-like or uncompassionate the way i do things or the way i see things and what i want to bring out today is this ultimately again we're going to be talking about heaven but ultimately it is to hear from the father and to seek to please him alone and um going back to what i was saying when i when i saw that i was looking at that picture of louise and her family and how her face is looking at jesus in a pure undefiled way and i've been trying church as we stand up here and saying for us it's a little bit difficult because we're facing you and we see you guys looking at us and it's a struggle pray for us that the lord will help us that when we're up here that even though we're trying to sing in a way that doesn't distract you and uh doesn't sound off key we practice hard so that we're not a distraction to you not to be an attraction you've heard us say that before but it's difficult for us to get into that spirit of heaven where even though we're facing you we're really facing jesus and i thought about that as like oh if only i could be there with louise with billy graham with others who've gone ahead and praised jesus in such a pure undefiled way where i'm not affected by the fact that you're here next to me and i found that it's i find that it's it's like the layers of an onion perhaps even more than other things in our flesh that are like layers of an onion that the more i strip it off the more i realize man i really seem to be affected i'm aware i'm conscious in some way that you're standing here next to me or you're looking at me and as much as i'm trying to behold only the face of jesus it's hard but i i don't believe and this is the essence or what i'd like to communicate i don't believe we have to wait until heaven to get to that place where jesus captivates us in such a way it's pleasurable like ulu was talking about in such a way he mentioned it actually in passing i hope you didn't miss it that that experience of dwelling in the presence of the lord begins now do you know that when you were born again when we were born again our eternity began then it's not after we die our eternity became when we now for us at least was when we saw that we were placed in christ we were hearing on wednesday on our wednesday meeting how zach spoke about how he placed us in him before the foundations of the world so god through his foreknowledge placed you and i if you're born again and i'm born again placed us in christ before the foundations of the world i only realized it on the day that i was born again but my awareness of my eternity should have begun then and really we should be growing in our experience of that eternity now on this earth i think that's what a lot of christians miss and i did too for many years where i was waiting for eternity to begin after i die i was like oh eternity is going to be great going to be great in the future and i'm i'm starting to increase my awareness through the holy spirit through him opening the eyes of my heart to see eternity is great if you're willing to see it right now here on this earth and thinking of those people who are in there in the presence of god presence of jesus rejoicing with him with such unadulterated undistracted attention that's what i was looking for undistracted attention on jesus i know it's true and i believe your brothers and sisters that god wants us to have that in our spirits yes we'll have physical eyes that still look at the things of this earth but in our spirits we can increasingly become more and more undistracted by the things of this earth this privilege is not just for those who are physically in the presence of god that's what i want to show you second corinthians chapter three second corinthians three it's a wonderful chapter that talks about the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant in the old covenant they couldn't see god this way moses begged god read it he beg god will you show me your face and god said if i do you would die but i'll tell you what i'll hide you i'll walk past you and then you can look at my back and i hope i don't know what that means to look at the back of god perhaps that means that you say lord i really want you to answer this prayer i need a little bit more money i needed some healing in some way i need this other thing this other earth material thing or i need a job i need to get married and you know what those are that's like the back of god those are the things that follow god as he comes into your life and moves through your life his blessings goodness and mercy follows god wherever he goes and if that's all you want your experience with god was just as good as that was in the old covenant and we read about that in different passages in first corinthians 10 and hebrews 3 as well of how there were people who were content with just seeing the back of god his blessings now we read about moses in psalm 103 that he really wanted more but god said that's the best i can give you and you even you you just see my back but you know that for us is so much greater and that's what he talks about here in second corinthians chapter 3 3 and 4. i just want to read the this one verse verse 6 17 two verses actually so second corinthians 3 verse 17 now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty what do you think of when you read that verse i i've heard a lot of people quote this verse out of context where the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty i can do whatever i want i'm not under the law and all kinds of other things now it's true you're not under the law but what is the liberty you now have if the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty what are you at liberty to do what do you have the freedom to do he tells us very clearly in verse 18 we are at liberty to behold the glory of the lord they they didn't have the liberty to do that oh moses begged for it paul god said no i can't do it because my spirit doesn't dwell within you if i could put my spirit in you moses if i could um expand on what god would have said to moses back then because we know now under the new covenant moses if i could put my spirit inside you then you could behold my face you would be at liberty to do that but you don't have my spirit dwelling within you it comes upon you and so you're not at liberty to oh this is changing my life as the lord is walking through this passage walking me through this passage this the lord is the spirit where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty now my dear brothers and sisters you have the liberty to see the face of god more undistractedly than you ever have before what a higher standard than that is then oh i'm liberty to eat shrimp now or i'm at liberty to not have to live by the the tithing and all those literal things of the law i'm at liberty to behold the glory of the lord that's what he says verse 18. let's read it we all if i could say are at liberty with to with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord what do you see when you look in the mirror you see yourself and that's why we are at liberty to look because if i'm truly ex have the spirit dwelling within me then i look in the mirror and i see myself but i don't see myself anymore i see something in my spirit beholding as in the mirror of the glory of the lord in here and that allows me to communicate spirit to spirit as it were beholding the glory glory of the lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as the from the lord this the spirit and so this privilege is not just for those who have died and are in the physical presence of god this privilege this liberty this freedom is for you and i who have god's spirit dwelling within us and my dear brothers and sisters if if you're born again god has planted the seed of the holy spirit within you why then do we pray fill me with your holy spirit lord i used to pray for many years i'll tell you first i prayed the first time i started praying for the baptism of the holy spirit was because i wanted to speak in tongues i thought it was the ultimate thing even though i grew up in a church where we were taught that that's not it it just seemed like if i could really pray in tongues that'd be i know i have the holy spirit if i could pray in tongues and then my prayers got a little bit more spiritual i started to pray that i would have the holy spirit to overcome in my battles in life to overcome lust to overcome anger to overcome bitterness to overcome uh the use of my tongue um jealousy the love of money all these things that the lusts around us the pride of life the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes i needed help and so i cried out for the holy spirit for that and that's good too maybe that's a that's second grade first grade was speaking in tongues and you realize god wants to give you more than just speaking in tongues because he may not give you that gift but victory over sin that's for all of us but you know what's even greater than that lord fill me with your holy spirit after you bring me to a place of victory in a particular area the reason i still want to hunger and thirst for your spirit is because i want to behold more undistractedly your face that's why i need this spirit where the lord is where the lord is there is the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty and i found that that liberty was hindered in some way because i was distracted by this and distracted by that and if you're there my dear brother and sister as i hear you often testifying up here and i testify too i find that my biggest battle in life now is distraction distraction with this and distraction with that distraction with thoughts about this and distraction with thoughts about that and in order to be able to praise the lord and dwell on him and and meditate on him in an in a more undistracted way today than i did yesterday i need more of the holy spirit so that his spirit within me here reflects his glory more clearly more purely this is what i want we sing a lot of songs about seeing jesus in fact over the last week or so i've been going through my mind with different songs we sing here even on sunday morning we want to see jesus lift it high or open our eyes lord we want to see you or this one turn your eyes upon jesus in fact let's sing that can we see that together you know the song turn your eyes upon jesus look fall in his wonderful face and the things over will grow strangely in the light of his glory and grace if you think about how dim is the the things of this world to louise right now i'm just going to use her as an example how dim is it's just darkness i mean that the draw i i'm just using her as an example please please just because this is fresh in our mind but these are the thoughts the lord's been reminding me of i want that on earth lord i don't want to for the glare of earth to be so powerful and then i get to heaven and realize man that was just darkness and i believe that what we're seeing here in second corinthians chapter three is that we can be transformed from glory to glory and behold in an increasing measure in such an undistracted way that the that what we just sang is a reality and if it's not it's not because i need to work harder at it or do something else it's just lord give me your spirit clean this glass that is supposed to reflect your glory of all the things that pollute it so that i can look in that mirror and see more clearly more undistractedly your glory be more taken up with you and truly experience what we're just saying the things of this earth truly growing strangely dim matthew chapter 17 this is a little bit of the experience that the apostles had the three apostles on the mount of transfiguration what does it mean then to truly see jesus matthew 17 verse 8 you know the context we went through it a few months ago how they were there on this mountain and jesus was there and he was transfigured and moses and elijah showed up and i believe god the father allowed that as a test to see what will they do if i call put jesus there and bring two other men that they respect i believe the jews respected perhaps moses and elijah more than anybody else and if moses had showed up and done the things that jesus had done the pharisees would have received it think about that for a moment if moses and elijah had showed up and done the exact same things that jesus did i believe the pharisees would have received it they believed in moses and elijah and i think peter james and john were a little bit like that they were jews too and they were taught to respect these two as the pillars of their faith moses and elijah and when those pillars of their faith show up next to jesus their natural res response and peter's the only one that's honest enough to admit it but their natural response for all three of them was like okay great the big three jesus moses elijah we got it and then something happened verse 5 a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold a voice out of the cloud said how dare you think of a big three this is my beloved son with whom i am well pleased listen to him throw out everything you've heard from elijah and from moses because there's only one voice now that's speaking it's not jesus plus adding a liberal moses and adding a little bit of elijah is jesus this is my beloved son and what what i believe the father was saying is moses was not my beloved son in fact you read about that in hebrews 3 he was a servant elijah was not his beloved son he was a servant too jesus my beloved son hear him listen to him when the disciples heard this they they fell face down to the ground and were terrified jesus came to them and touched them and said get up do not be afraid and lifting their eyes they saw no one except jesus himself alone i get two things from this passage if i really want to see jesus if i really want to have this undistracted devotion to jesus it will come out of a conscious blinding myself and deafening myself to the things of this world two aspects blinding myself to the things of this world and through god's grace through the power of his holy spirit within me i must choose to make to be blind to the things of this world and death to the things of this world as well um i've talked a little bit about blindness already being blind to the things of this world i want to talk about deafness uh i read a story of some time ago which i thought i'll share with you you may have heard it before if if so wait to laugh until after it's over um don't spoil it for everybody else there two frogs fell into a well and uh it was a pretty deep well and they couldn't get out and so they decided to try to get out they jumped and jumped and jumped and uh tried hard to get out of this well they just couldn't make it seemed like they would get close but they couldn't make it and they're expending all their energy to try to get out and their friend frogs came to show up kind of like job's three friends showed up to to uh analyze what they did wrong and falling into the well first of all and then maybe give them some techniques about how to jump up and you know armchair critics who sit at the top of the well telling you what to do when you're in the bottom of the well and it was getting it was wearing on and finally their friend said hey might as well give up there's no hope for you there's only about a half hour of daylight left once it gets dark you're not you're just gonna die in that well might as well just prepare for the worst and one of the frogs said yeah you're right i'll just give up so he just laid down and decided to calmly pass into whatever eternity the frogs have the other frog said no i'm not i'm not dude i'm gonna get out so he kept jumping and the other frogs yelled at him from the don't waste your energy and they were waving their arms as frogs do and yelling their voices as frogs do and saying no don't don't waste your energy just look at the other frog he's he's having he's just peacefully going into sleep and don't waste your energy and this frog kept no i'm gonna get out and believe it or not the second frog got out what do you think was the difference between the two frogs was it that the second frog had more determination had more willpower it's very simple the second frog was deaf so he couldn't hear a single thing that the other frogs were saying and he saw the frogs at the top of the well waving their arms and he thought they're cheering me on i'm gonna get out of this this is what it means to be deaf and you know i it's really spoken to me because i find that one of the reasons i'm distracted from hearing the voice of jesus only is because i'm hearing these other voices now they may be criticizing me they may be praising me i'm not saying that everyone that's speaking into my life is putting me down but imagine if you were really deaf to the things of this world and you could pers you could perceive the arm waving and all of this stuff that the world throws at you as positive reinforcement because you hear the voice of the one who says like we sang in that song with jesus i can take it with jesus i know i can survive he is speaking his love into my life that he is at the right hand of the father interceding and satan is the loudest of those frogs i'll tell you that he'll tell you he'll remind you of your sin and remind you of this and remind you of that and tell you how you're never going to make it it's like that song the voice of truth that i think casting crown sings talks about how the giant keeps reminding me i've i've ruled you all this all your life how dare you think that you're going to win now that's exactly what goliath said to david see the the philistines i mean the israelites had tried to fight goliath tried to fight the light and go the more they fell the more empowered uh goliath felt let's look at that second first samuel chapter 15. and when we battle against sin and battle against sin and perhaps you fall and fail in many areas and you and the the giant's voice seems louder and more empowered as time wears on first samuel chapter 17. um he says in verse 8 you read about how how strong and powerful he was and and he was there you know basically showing force with all his weaponry he said he stood and shouted to the ranks first samuel 17 verse 8. he stood and shouted to the ranks of israel and said to them why do you come out to draw up and battle array and that's like the lust telling you what what do you mean you're going to fight and try to overcome in this sin again they tell you ah you think you're going to win this time why do you come out to draw up and battle the rape am i not the philistine and you servants of saul interpretation have i not ruled you all your life choose a man for yourself and let him come down to me etc etc verse 10 i defy the ranks of israel this day give me a man that we may fight together and that song worship truth says time and time again the giant tells me you'll never win or you'll never win but the voice of truth tells me a different story the song goes on to say and this is the voice of truth this is the voice of faith that david says [Music] he you know skip down to verse 20 uh sorry it's 30 [Music] okay 41 42 philistine looked at saw david coming up this is first samuel 17 verse 42 and he disdained him it's like i've beaten worse stronger people than you you're too puny you're too weak you're too small to win disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance the philistine said to david am i a dog that you come to me with sticks and cursed david by his guards and philistines also said to david come to me and i will give you a flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field do you hear your lust telling you this that same temptation that same area that's held you in bondage then david said to the philistine this is the voice of truth you come to me with a sword and a spear yeah you might seem to have more power in your historically i am doomed for failure you come to me with a sword a spear and a javelin but i come to you in one name and one name alone the name of the lord of hosts the god of the armies of israel whom you have taunted this day the lord will deliver you into my hands and i will strike you down and remove your head from you and i will give the dead bodies of the army of the philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth this is the voice of truth let's go back i found that this to continue what i was talking about with in my battle against sin in my uh in my seeking to overcome in my seeking for the power of the holy spirit as well the reason i'm distracted often from from seeing the face of jesus and hearing the face of jesus is deep down the reason i'm affected by what people see of me and what people say to me or say about me is because deep down there's a desire to preserve my identity there's a desire to preserve my name in some sense and there was a time in my life when when i sought to overcome i want to say say this carefully so you understand what i'm saying there was a time in my life when i wanted to overcome and be victorious so that i could get some credit for it so that somehow i would be the one that overcame i would be the one that overcame and i pictured this that uh i would battle and i would battle and i would battle and i would overcome and jesus and i would be there together you know there'd be jesus there'd be i was like hey i was part of this too and i overcame and my name could be attached to it and i could perhaps give a testimony to you all about how i overcame in that temptation and i was tempted to do that or i really felt the pressure but i overcame i overcame i overcame and i envisioned perhaps at the end of my life after all these my overcomings i would be there seated with jesus on his throne and me on my throne jesus and santosh overcame jesus overcame in his life santorush overcame in his life too and i saw i remember the time in the lord showed me so clearly how horrible how filthy that mentality was even in my desire to overcome and to live in victory how off-balance it was and how corrupt it was how how adulterous it was because it was the spirit of the world brought into the things of christ and i was trying to bring this preserve me my name and i realized when i read this verse in ephesians chapter five i'd like to show you ephesians chapter five because i envisioned jesus coming back from coming back to to this earth and i would be the one that rise up and says yes lord i overcame so take me with you and somehow i would be there my name santosh would be there and it's true that i have a personal relationship with jesus he calls me by my name but i saw this this verse really spoke to me some years ago in ephesians 5 verse 27 that jesus christ is coming back for his church he's not coming back for santosh specifically he's not coming back for me in that individualistic kind of way that allows me to somehow have an identity on my own read what it says here ephesians chapter 5 verse 27 it says in verse 26 that he's washed her by the word by the washing of water with the word that he might present to himself does he say he could have said you in all your glory in all the battles that you won and how you were tempted and you you fought and you fought and you overcame he's not coming back for me in all my glory he's coming back it says to present to himself the church in all her glory having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she would be holy and blameless and what i'm getting at was there was an aspect of my overcoming and my striving and my coming to victory over sin that couldn't care less about yours about the church of jesus christ and ultimately that's what brought me to seek a local expression of the body of christ because i realized that jesus christ is coming back for his church and in that church there is only one name it's not my name it's not that oh yeah santosh you want to victory in that area and let's keep a record of who all have overcome they're the good guys and who all have not they're the bad guys and we do this to ourselves too but there's one name over that that's the church the body of jesus the name of jesus is stamped over all of our lives and there's a big difference between me thinking that i've overcome and feeling like i've overcome and rising up in my glory in my self-righteousness as it were and jesus christ looking down from heaven and seeing his church ephesians 5 27 in fact uh turn over to uh philippians chapter three this is the verse look at what i contribute to the glory of the church okay the church says in all her glory and jesus has his glory and his because of his glory the church has a glory you know what my part in that is you know what your part in that is philippians chapter 3 verse 20 for our citizenship is in heaven from which also we eagerly wait for a savior the lord jesus christ who will transform our lowly estate my translation says the who will transform the body of our humble state humble is almost a little a little too good i think it's a king james that says lowly what's that vile that's even better i like that who will transform this vile person this vile state this vilest state that's what i bring into the table bring to the table he will transform santosh's name vile the church in all her glory and the reason i think so much of god's work in the church suffers is because there are these vile estates sticking up their heads and saying hey me none of this church is oh what about me don't am i not of value how dare you speak to me like that i'm going to leave the church in my vile estate it's like paul was saying right you know the moment the person who thinks he's perfect when he comes to looks for a perfect church makes it imperfect by being there this is vile estate this is my contribution to the body of christ vile estate and he says but he doesn't leave you like that he will transform this vile estate person into conformity with the body of his glory and that's why when he comes back he sees the church all glorious and i believe that that's the reason that the devil has succeeded in blinding the eyes of the vast majority of christendom to the beauty of the body of christ and that local expression of it where it's lived out where yes we're part made integrated into the body of christ when we're born again but i the reason that we speak often about the local expression of the body of christ and being committed to it is because what happens as i walk alongside you if i'm really becoming seeing jesus turning my eyes to him and the things of this worth world are growing strangely dim i'm increasingly seeing myself as more and more vile in my own contribution to this church and so hey what's your role in the church vile estate what's your responsibility in the church oh i'm the pastor or i'm the music pastor i'm the the deacon or i have all these let's be done with that vile estate this is what i bring but you know why it's good news is because he will transform this vile state into conformity with the body of his glory and i think of i remember hearing this in the message that brother zach spoke once so when when uh jesus when god was making adam he had to make him out of dust and clay as it were and he was gathering little piles of clay and let's say there was a piece of clay that says what are you gonna do with me you're gonna twist me and turn me and bend me and i'm kind of you're going to integrate me into a body where all of a sudden i lose my identity god says yes and that pilot clearly says no i don't want that i want to be a nice little pile of play here by itself and the god would have just passed by that little piece of clay that says me my identity my name and would have missed out on what happened some minutes later when god went and breathed into those piles of clay that had allowed themselves to be integrated into this body that he was forming this is the same thing god is doing today in building his church there will be those who says no but i want this and my likes and you've got to pay attention to me and have it my way and and all these things and my my feelings got hurt and all this stuff and god says okay i'm not gonna force you to do it but if you will yield into my hand and allow me to break you and see yourself as vile outside of the the glory that he breeds into his church and i am that and this christendom sadly exalts gift if you can preach you can sing if you want a grammy award if you can uh you know if you if you got a good voice play a musical instrument well or you're good administrator or all these other things articulate these are the things that christendom looks for in making itself bigger thinking that they can accomplish the work of god by those means and god is looking for vile estates seeing themselves that way it says come let me integrate you into your into my body and that piece of clay that said i'm vilestate on my own make me a heart make me a lung make me a a muscle that that that that strengthens make me a fingernail that itches when you when you need that make me make me a hair that that helps keep warm whatever it might be and finding our fulfillment in our function in the body of christ it's a beautiful thing um turn me to revelation chapter two and i want to close with this now maybe we'll continue i don't want to rush through it there's more that i'd like to share we can we can meditate on that for now lord i pray that you'll you'll continue to help us to see that the best we can do is give ourselves to you as we are and think nothing of ourselves come fill us with your holy spirit lord i pray thank you that when your holy spirit breathes inside of us you you make our existence on this earth meaningful believe you'll do that build your church lord jesus all over this world but here too build it through us we give ourselves to you believe you'll do that thank you that you're not afraid of our weakness you're not afraid of our filth you come and you thrive on weak circumstances your grace shows up best in weak vessels and those that have seen themselves in their helplessness and hopelessness we come to you that way this morning and believe you're going to do a great thing you are doing a great thing that's great in your eyes no matter what the world thinks of it we trust you in jesus name amen you

Channel: CFC India

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Keywords: zac poonen cfc Christian Fellowship Church Church Fellowship Christian Zac Poonen, Sermons, CFC

Id: YgsrLJAADbI

Length: 43min 13sec (2593 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 12 2021