How Jesus Lived Under Grace -- Zac Poonen -- August 22, 2021

[Music] one of the most common words that christians use is the word grace and that is also one of the most misunderstood words and the devil has made sure that it is misunderstood so that people never experience it i've heard so many definitions of grace god's unmerited favor completely wrong everything is god's unmerited favor i mean that atheist out there the fact that he's got life and that he can breathe is god's unmerited favor but he doesn't have grace or god's riches at christ's expense g-r-a-c-e it's a very clever way of putting it but it doesn't really tell me what i'm what i how i can get it [Music] i don't know i mean if you were to ask the average christian did jesus need grace to live on earth they'd say no we need it he doesn't need it well that would prove that such people have never read the bible let me show you luke chapter 2. [Music] we may learn a few new things today be open to that because i've seen through the years that many who read the bible do not read it carefully if it was a legal document that they had to sign in a court oh they would read it very carefully they would read it again and again they would go to a lawyer and ask them to explain it because it may involve money it may involve prison or something like that so therefore they are very careful in reading it but when it comes to the bible which can which determines our eternal destiny it's amazing how the devil does not allow people to read the bible carefully so luke chapter 2 it says about jesus you know he came back after being dedicated in the temple we read in luke chapter 2 verse 40 the child jesus continued to grow and become strong okay that we can understand increasing in wisdom that we can understand and the grace of god was upon him that's one of the first times in the new testament in the story of the new testament anyway when we find grace the first human being remember this the first man jesus christ was a man the first man [Music] on whom the grace of god was he did not give up being god when he was on earth god can never stop being god but he did not use the resources of god when he was on earth i've often used the example of a billionaire supposing a billionaire went to some poor country and wanted to teach the people living in a slum how to live a clean life how to keep their little tent clean or hut and how to live with the limited resources they earn in that poor country well if he wants to be an example he can't use his credit card there because those poor people don't have credit cards so he will say to them i will never use my credit card i will work like you work as a laborer carrying bricks or whatever it is and i'll earn what you earn and i'll make a little hut in this slum and live with you and show you how you can keep your heart clean how you can live with this limited money that you get 200 rupees a month or 300 rupees a month that is just three or four dollars a month and i'll show you how to live with it that's how jesus lived on earth he never used his heavenly credit card he never used his power as god but this man i told you about was he a billionaire oh yeah probably one of the richest men on earth a billionaire but he never used those billions when he was there he lived like the rest it's very important for us to understand this because otherwise you will always make the excuse when you sin and you ask you why didn't jesus sin oh he was god that's exactly what the devil wants you to say to make as an excuse for your sinning jesus was god that's why he lived like that i can't so then you are accusing him of cheating that would be like somebody in the slum telling this rich man you're cheating sometimes at night you're going and going to the atm and taking some money and fooling us he wasn't [Music] and jesus did not use his heavenly credit card he never used his power as god to live this life he did exercise his power as god when he forgave sins that was about the only thing he did that was an exercise of a blessing to others but for himself he never used that power for anything at all then how did he overcome here's the answer the grace of god the father was upon him so if you think of grace like a big huge umbrella on top of jesus what happens when a person comes under the umbrella of grace the bible tells us in romans 6 and verse 14 you know if you read the bible you find it's a very simple book it's like two plus two is four romans 6 14 says when a person is under grace the same expression under grace sin cannot rule over him sin cannot master him no sin can make a person fall or master him in his thoughts in his words in his deeds in his attitudes in his motives in no area under the umbrella of grace sin cannot master you that's clear so you link that with what we read in luke 2 40. that's why jesus did not sin not because he was god he was the grace of god was over him and he lived under that grace all the time so whenever you sin don't call it your weakness no all men are weak jesus said that to his disciples when they were sleeping in gethsemane the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak the flesh is very strong to commit sin the flesh is very strong to get angry the flesh is very strong strong to lust after women very strong to love money very strong to be selfish and evil towards others but very weak when it comes to obey god and to be pure the flesh the spirit is willing it's the words of jesus but the flesh is weak so don't say that it's because i'm weak that that brother can overcome but i can't no there is only one reason when you sin it is because the grace of god was not upon you at that time well now the question is does god arbitrarily put his grace on somehow and not upon others no there's some type some people who teach that type of doctrine that god sort of picks somebody and says okay you're going to heaven and the others are not that's not true because if god did that he'd be terribly unjust no there is a reason why the grace of god is upon some people and that is written in scripture that's the same reason why the gracious god was upon jesus turn with me to james chapter four the answer to everything for our spiritual life is found in the word of god every single thing like i said it is like two plus two is four james chapter four and verse 6. therefore he give but he gives greater grace for to whom does he give greater grace james 4 6 god is opposed to the proud when he gives grace we can say only to the humble and he always gives grace to the humble that you can be sure of so how did jesus get grace all the time because he was always humble [Music] why don't you get grace all the time because you're not always humble face up to it you may think you're humble but you're not and the proof of it is that you sin the proof of it is that you get angry the proof of it is that you lust with your eyes the proof of it is that you love money more than you love god the proof of it is that you murmur you complain you are [Music] not trusting god in a difficult situation you cannot love your enemies not because they are because you are not humble how could jesus love his enemies not as god i wish i could demolish this wrong concept that the devil has put in your minds that jesus overcame as god i believed it for 16 years and all those 16 years i was defeated my excuse was always he was god i am not but one day when god demolished that false idea from my mind and taught me the truth that what the bible says if i say i'm a christian [Music] 1 john chapter 2 verse 6. if anyone says he abides in christ he must walk as jesus walked without sinning when i faced up to it faced up faced up to it and i said lord i want to know the secret remove from my mind all the wrong ideas and concepts that the devil has put in it for years and i don't care if this is i really said this to god i don't care if there's a single christian on earth who doesn't believe it i'll believe it if your word says so that's what changed my life till then i was believing what every christian around me was telling me but that day i started to read the bible you know all those 16 years nobody ever told me these these two simple truths if grace is over you you will not sin romans 6 14. nobody ever told me that i could have found it out in the bible myself but i said i don't know sama i missed it i read it but it never took it seriously and secondly nobody ever told me that the only way to get grace is to humble yourself and if you humble yourself there's no partiality with god you'll get it there was always an excuse for my sin but that day all my excuses disappeared i didn't get victory immediately because bad habits take a long time to go but i started the path of victory my life changed completely completely 46 years ago my dear brothers and sisters there is a life god wants you to live is way above what you're living right now and the secret is to know the grace of god in your life it doesn't matter if you're the worst criminal on earth and the greatest sinner on earth you can overcome you only need to be willing to humble yourself james said that and in 1 peter 5 is repeated you know i've often thought about it why does god repeat a statement a second time i think it's because you read it careless god knows some people read the bible carelessly so you miss it the second time he wants to catch you the second time you mess it the first time he wants to catch you the second time and say hey listen the only reason you don't get grace is because you're not humble no other reason you may think you're humble but you're not the proof is you're defeated by sin so 1 peter 5 verse 5 god is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble when you think of jesus death it is the most painful most difficult death that any human being ever experienced not because of the crucifixion there were thieves also crucified but there was more to jesus death than the physical agony he was he had to experience hell hell h-e-l-l he had to experience hell on the cross if he was to forgive our sin because that's another thing which i never understood for a long time the punishment for our sin is what if you read in the bible you read that those who did not repent of their sin were finally cast into a lake of fire called hell and then finally the lake of fire which is eternal separation from god that's what hell is your connection with you know on this earth nobody's experiences total separation from god the very fact that you got oxygen to breathe and even terrorists can get married and have children children are a blessing bible says children are a gift to the lord you know there's a verse like that what about terrorists and murderers can they have children yes which proves that god has not forsaken them it's one of the clearest proofs god has not forsaken them do they have oxygen to breathe yes breath is another gift from god so people on there's nobody on earth forsaken completely by god not even terrorists and not even murderers they have food to eat they earn money they live comfortably but when you go to hell it's gone that's the only place in the universe where god is totally absent and the agony of it is indescribable that's why jesus had to describe it like in earthly pictures like fire and worms there are no fire and worms in hell i'll tell you that just like there are no mansions in heaven they're all pictures crowns there are pictures god uses because those are the things we know on earth to show you how terrible it is to be separated and how wonderful it is to dwell in god's presence so that's what jesus had to suffer on the cross hell for three hours because hell is the punishment for our sin for many years i was ignorant i thought death is the price jesus paid for my sin but if death is the price for sin jesus doesn't have to die i can die myself when i die okay if that's the punishment for sin i paid it i can go to heaven and every man who dies has paid the punishment for his sin and can go to heaven if death is the punishment for sin every person who dies will go to heaven because he's paid the price so when you think that christ died physically and that's how he paid the price for my sin no i can do that myself you can do that yourself you can die but what is it that i cannot do i cannot go to hell and pay the price for my sin that the worst part of jesus sin of jesus suffering was the last three hours when he was hanging on the cross those last three hours when he was forsaken by god that was the price he paid for my sin not the first three hours he did not pay the price for my sin the first first three hours for the last three hours he did and that is the only time in jesus entire life on earth when he looked up to heaven and did not call his father father he always called him father but during those three hours he said my god my god because he was now standing before the judgment seat of the ruler of the universe paying the price for your sin and mine it changed my life when i understood it it made me hate sin more than ever before if you sin i can i can tell you clearly you haven't seen it yet that's why you have not seen the price jesus paid for your sin that is why you can glibly say oh lord forgive me cleanse me in your blood and move on and do the same thing the next day you would never be able to do that you'd be mourning and weeping like i used to mourn and weep on my pillow at night because i had one bad thought during the day have you ever thought of that how seriously do you take sin you will take it seriously if you see the price that christ paid on the cross but how did he pay such a price it's not easy i mean even physical death on the cross is so painful can you imagine taking the pain of an eternal separation when you say when i say eternal separation it was eternal separation compressed into three hours see only god can do that only god can face eternity in three hours that's the reason why i say jesus was not a man like the jehovah's witnesses teach if he was a man or he was a created the most perfect man he cannot take punishment for my sin maybe he can take the punishment for one person's sin but not for the whole world and in any case eternal separation is not something he can face he has to go to hell but because jesus was god he could face eternal eternity and three hours are the same for god eternity and one second are the same he could face to me the proof of christ being god one proof is there on the cross he faced eternal separation in three hours so how did he face it turn to hebrews chapter two verse nine it says here now we saw how he started his life as a child the grace of god was upon him now we see how he ended his life we see him who was made little lower than the angels jesus because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor now listen to this here it is how did he taste this eternal death for everyone in the world [Music] by the grace of god the same grace that was upon him from birth that kept him from sinning it was only with that grace that he could face that eternal separation for our sin and if jesus lived from birth to death under the grace of god he has told us that is how we are to live also that is the meaning of 1 john and chapter 2 the verse i just quoted 1 john chapter 2 verse 6. the one who says he abides in christ i think almost all of us here say we are in christ and we say christ is in us do you say that then here is your responsibility it's not optional it is your response otherwise don't say you're in christ if you don't say you're in christ then you can do what you like but the moment you say you are in christ it says you have to walk in the same way as he walked do you see that in 1 john chapter 2 verse 6 please see it in your bibles you have to walk in the same way as he walked and if you don't do that you're just slighting god saying you're coming to the church i'll tell you in jesus name it's a waste of time you're wasting your time sitting here singing the songs and listening to the message if you don't take god's word seriously so this is how he walked and let me share something else with you about how he lived in his because of this grace of god how jesus lived we had to walk in the same manner as he walked and any if you're a serious christian you take one john 2 6 seriously i have to walk as jesus walked ok we saw how he lived with the grace of god upon him let's see first of all how he was as a child for the first 30 years there are very few things told to us about jesus during his first 30 years basically only two things i want you to look at those after the 30 years the last three and a half years there are many things written about him mostly about his miracles and his sermons and all we can't do all that but in the first 30 years he's not talking about his ministry he's talking about his life when jesus said follow me he didn't say follow me in my ministry we can never follow jesus in his ministry he died for the sins of the world can you do that no we cannot follow him in his ministry many of the miracles he did we can't do it because those were attestations from heaven that this is the son of god people are foolishly trying to say that we are going to do the same miracles as jesus did go to a grave and try to raise up somebody who was buried four days ago like jesus did with lazarus don't deceive people i tell to say to all these pentecostals charismatics who say things which are not true jesus miracles were an attestation from god about who he was and don't take me at my word i'll show it to you from scripture acts chapter 2 we read that it says here that jesus was a man verse 20 acts 2 22 easy to remember 222. jesus the nazarene listen to this men of israel a man attested to you by god the father how did god attest him by miracles and wonders and signs which god performed through him so those miracles and signs and wonders were an attestation from god this is my son my beloved son when he anointed him in the river jordan a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased and for the next three and a half years god kept on attesting that by signs and wonders and miracles you and i can't do that you can't walk on the water neither can i you can't raise a person dead for four days no person can't touch your clothes like that woman and be healed immediately we mustn't fool ourselves god occasionally does some miracles but nobody can claim that he can do it in jesus case it was an attestation so let's not go into those things because we are not called to do all that but we are not called to preach as jesus preached that's a gift i've told numerous people of my co-workers don't try to preach like i preach it's a gift if you don't have that gift you can try for 100 years you will not be able to do it i can't preach like somebody else preaches because that's his gift don't try to imitate a person's gift imitate his life jesus never said follow me in my ministry you cannot do his miracles you cannot die for the sins of the world you cannot preach like he preached but we can follow his life following his only his life paul said in 1 corinthians 11 follow me as i follow christ does that mean we all have to be apostles paul raised the dead we can't do that handkerchiefs that touch paul's body would cast out demons you're not going to do that what did he say he's not talking about a gift he's talking about his life follow him in the way he lived the way jesus lived right paul lived that i would tell people follow me in the way i live the way i live at home the way i live with my wife the way i bring up my children the way i handle money follow me in my life definitely i'm and i'm following paul and paul is following christ and we should be able to say to those who are younger to us follow me as i'm following other godly men who have gone ahead of me and following christ but let's look at jesus life then particularly in the first 30 years there are two things mentioned and i want you to see that and i took them very seriously first of all when he was 12 years old luke chapter 2 you know he was alone in the temple when the joseph and mary went away forgetting about him and when they came back after three days luke 2 46 luke's gospel chapter 2 verse 46 they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers listening to them and asking them questions can you imagine asking a bible professor questions that stump him and all those teachers of the law scholars were amazed at his explanation of scripture and his answers at the age of 12 he knew the scriptures better than those priests who were 60 years old how did he do that are we supposed to walk as he walked i've thought about that when i read it lord if you knew the scriptures at the age of 12 he did not come from heaven as a baby with the bible crammed in his head then he was not born like us but he was born exactly like us when he was a baby there was nothing in his mind anymore than a baby has borne today everything was acquired like a baby learns by touching seeing hearing that's how jesus learned he grew he says he grew in wisdom we read that in luke 2 40. he didn't come full of wisdom he grew in wisdom just like a baby so how did he know the bible by the age of 12 a lot of people with a lot of children at the age of 12 don't know the bible how did he know it and he did not have a bible at home there was no printed bible in the world till the end of the 15th century when printing was invented before that there were these parchments expensive parchments which is so expensive it cost thousands of dollars to get one copy of the bible and there's only one copy in the synagogue so in nazareth in the synagogue there have been one copy of the bible on the scroll parchment scroll so i can imagine that jesus went to the rabbi there perhaps the age of five during a weekday and say can you please read something from the bible for me from the scriptures the rabbi would have been excited you've never seen a five-year-old coming and asking to read the scriptures jesus went to school he lived a normal child's life and then helped his mother but the same time he found time to go and learn from the rabbi and the rabbi would read something and jesus would pay attention it's very difficult to get a five-year-old to pay attention jesus paid attention as the rabbi read and he had to pay attention because he didn't have a copy of the bible at all he listened listen listen listen and then when it came to a certain point he said rabbi please stop i can't remember more he'd go home and he'd think about what he heard there are very few grown-ups even who go home and think about what they heard in the sermon it's over they forget about it this is the reason why many many christians never grow they are in the same level as they were 25 years ago because they don't meditate on what they heard jesus was not like that i'll tell you this my brothers and sisters if you listen to me what i'm saying your life will be changed from today it will not be wasted like it has been till today and the next day jesus would go back to the rabbi and say okay we stopped at such a place in isaiah can you please continue from there and then go on from there and like that in seven years jesus read heard entire old testament that was all there was the 39 books from genesis to malachi it's not that he memorized them he's not memorized but he understood the principle of we don't have to memorize whole books of the bible we memorize important promises and commands but the truth of scripture went into his mind and he meditated on it there's only one way to keep scripture in our mind meditate on it not just read it if you read it it won't come read it if it goes in if you meditate it goes in and stays there it's like if you eat food and it's not digested it's expelled but if it's digested it becomes part of your body it's exactly the same with whatever we put into our mind if you take scripture into your mind and meditate on it psalm 1 verse 3 says meditate on it day and night that doesn't mean i'm reading day and night i read maybe 10 minutes in the morning but i meditated on it whenever i got a spare time i woke up in the middle of the night i meditate on something i read in the morning how many of you have that habit of meditating in your in between five minutes or two minutes that you get in between during the day don't you get some spare time in between [Music] sometimes when you're driving a car or in between when you're having a shower oh sometime when you're free lying in bed develop the habit of meditating on something you read of course you never if you never read the bible in the morning you've got nothing to meditate on it's like if you never ate your breakfast there's nothing to digest it but we never forget our food during the day no it's the bible we forget right because that's not so important let's face it the one who forgets to meditate on scripture in the morning is the one who says god you are not important my food is important that's more important to me today i mean you may have never thought of it like that but you hear it today from me straight god is not important in your life that's why you don't want to read this his word at any time during the day even though you've got maybe two or three versions of the printed bible in your home and you do get a spare time sometime sure take time to read the scriptures my brothers and sisters and if you're so busy during the the day at least when you sit on the toilet your restroom read it there there's nothing unholy about that everything in everything is pure and if you don't find any other time to read it read it there read the scriptures meditate on it i i try to read it whenever i get a spare time anywhere and then i think about it so the gift of preaching may be a gift but knowing the scripture is not a gift knowing the scripture is just hard work and if you don't know the scriptures it's because of laziness laziness only l-a-z-i z-i-n-e-s-s that's the only reason [Music] jesus was not lazy he meditated in seven years he really knew the scriptures that was a challenge to me when i was converted at the age of 19 and a half and i had never read the bible fully till then [Music] even though i was born in a christian family went to sunday school regularly but i decided okay i'm going to read the bible through fully full speed and i finished the bible in six months because i didn't understand most of it but i read it in addition to that i would spend a few minutes reading a small portion i advise you to do that have two sec times i mean two types of reading one is long reading whenever you get spare time sometimes you can read it if you've got a couple of hours you can read a whole book of the old testament in one sitting in addition to that spend a little time meditating maybe five verses particularly in the new testament develop that habit jesus did it at the end of seven years he really knew the scriptures my seven years was in the navy after i was converted then i quit the navy and during those seven years i got such an understanding of the scriptures because i was diligent every morning every night to study the scriptures when i got up in the morning and before i went to bed i was single of course it was easy but even if you're married you can find some time so that's the one thing we see about jesus in his life he knew the scriptures because he studied it took pains to study it and christians don't know it today because they are lazy that's all the second thing we learn about jesus in those 30 years was this in luke 2 51 he went down to nazareth and he continued in subjection to joseph and mary that's the other thing the bible says honor your father and mother children obey your parents that's a command in exodus and jesus had heard the rabbi say it when he was reading exodus jesus read there um children obey your honor your father and mother respect them obey them that's how you honor them and so he went down and whenever he was at home he honored his father and mother by not speaking rudely to them by respecting them speaking respectfully to them obeying them not obeying them when it's easy i mean if you tell up tell a child come on you got to eat up that ice cream you don't test its obedience by that i'll tell you where you test a child's obedience because i know i've had children when he's playing a game with his friends whatever game you play in india used to play cricket and i'm sure in jesus day also there must be some type of game with and all games are with a bat and a ball but there's cricket or baseball and so i can imagine jesus playing with his friends outside a home this is what i used to picture in my mind and when you're fielding it's not so exciting but when your time comes to bat that's the best part of it and it has come time for jesus to bat and his mother says jesus i want you to do something for me come here quickly i want you to go to the well and bring some water i got to do some cooking guess what jesus did excited it's my turn come to bat he dropped his back and went to his mother and the boys would have teased him ah your mama's boy mama's boy and teased him he did not bother about it he was going to be obedient to god no matter who teased him in any way he went to the well and drew the water came back and gave it to his mother and by the time he came back his bad turn for batting was over he couldn't get it that's fine he joined in the game happily no complaint he who says he abides in christ must walk as he walk you don't have to preach that may not be your gift you don't have to heal i don't have a gift of healing that's a gift god gives to some people okay but the life why can't i live that life of studying the scriptures why can't i live the life where i respect those who are in authority above me why don't we teach our children obedience we teach them mathematics correct grammar correct spelling geography who were the presidents of the united states and all that wonderful good what about teaching them obedience in little things teaching them the scriptures fathers bring up your children in the instruction of the lord the most important thing a child needs to learn is not mathematics and physics it's obedience to his parents our children know more about physics and geography than jesus did so what are they better than him it's obedience to parents respect to parents and if you can teach that to your children when they are small never once allow your child to speak disrespectfully to either parent if he does that children do it all children do it in a moment of anger they may say something to their mother or father usually the mother they're a bit scared of the father then the father must come in and say go and apologize to mommy i don't care how important the work you're doing stop it you cannot speak to mommy like that go and apologize that's what i used to do and then continue your work teach your children to obey their parents all children tell lies i think it's in uh you see my memory is still okay i think it's in psalm 58 yeah psalm 58 verse 3. children tell lies from the time they are born it's a characteristic of children children know that if they cry the mother will know that they are in some pain and pick them up and sometimes the children are not in any pain but they just want to be picked up so what do they do they cry they are telling a lie and the mother says oh my darling is in pain and picks it up they tell lies from birth even before they can speak and when they speak they tell more lies so that's the second thing that we have to help our children with to speak the truth there were only two things that i taught my children when they were small honor your father and mother obey them and speak the truth the rest you yeah work hard study your geometry and your physics and biology and all that do by all means important but it's that's useless if you don't learn these two things i want to ask you what is the priority you have with your children you want them to grow up to be disciples of jesus or do you just want them to be good students and to get a good god will help them to be good students i tell you if they honor god you think they'll do badly in their studies no they'll do very well in their studies if they honor god they won't cheat they won't tell lies they'll respect their teachers it'll go well with them we'll go well with them in every area of life let me show you that in scripture psalm 1 psalm 1 is a wonderful psalm [Music] it says here that how blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wickeds to stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers and that applies to children also if you [Music] teach them not to mingle with bad company that's basically what it means don't let them mingle with bad company keep them away from bad friends warn them but don't just do that negative part the positive part is teach them the god's word delight is in the law of the lord and the law he meditates day and night how will that child be or how will you be if you grow up like that you'll be like a tree whose leaf never withers what is the meaning of a tree is evergreen [Music] ever fresh [Music] do you know that you can live a life where you're always fresh never gloomy discouraged people come and meet you anytime day and night you're in a good mood i was not like that before i understood the life of victory i'm sorry that when i was a young christian i did not have an elder brother to teach me the way of godliness i didn't have a spiritual father i wish i had i could have come into this life 15 years earlier but it took me 16 years to get there because i had to struggle and find my own way through this wilderness and then i learned that this is the way that i can be like a tree whose leaf does not wither i understand it means 24 hours 365 days right through the year i'm never in a bad mood jesus was like that you know why you have bad moods you want to hear the truth because you love yourself so much that's all the number one person you love is yourself no wonder you have so many bad moods get rid of it jesus said he who loves his life will lose it and you're losing it with your bad moods but he who hates his life in this world lord this wretched life i've got from adam i'm hating it i want to live in the holy spirit every day i used to be one of my biggest sins was discouragement the early years even of my married life discouraged discouraged discouraged but it's gone from my life completely it's the truth my leaf i believe my leaf should never wither if i do those things mentioned in verse 1 and 2. there's not a big complicated list of 25 things to do two things avoid bad company and meditate on god's word and your leaf will never wither obey it you'll live a life where you'll be like a fresh evergreen tree 24 hours a day right through the year now because you have not lived like that it may take some time for you to get there but you can get that you want this life that's the question and here's the best part of it listen to this i was telling you how children can do well in their studies whatever he does he will prosper you like that whatever he does will prosper i believe that is god's will for us that everything i do i'll prosper i'm not saying you'll be a millionaire or a billionaire thank god you don't get there and ruin yourself but your prosper means you'll have more than enough for your needs and more than enough to bless other people that's prospering as i understand it more than enough for my needs and more than enough to bless the people i come across even financially i've experienced it and you don't have to be a rich man to experience it but you have to stay away from bad company you have to meditate on god's word you have to remain humble and get the grace of god upon you it's the most wonderful life that anybody can live i want to say one emphasize one thing jesus submission to his parents is a very important lesson because submission to authority is a law god has placed in this universe the stars the planets are all subject to an authority that's why they are split second time you can set your watch by the stars yeah i remember when i was in the navy we used to find the exact position where our ship was in the middle of the ocean by the stars that's how we used to plot our position on the charts in the navy so in the days there were no satellites those days they go according to a perfect obedience to god's law so submission to authority they submit to authority the planets this exact time in which they rotate around the sun it's only man that does not submit to authority if you can teach your children submission to authority at that young age is the greatest thing you can teach them obey your parents and when they grow up respect your teachers at each stage submission to authority don't make fun of your teachers like all the other children do that's what i told my children okay maybe the teacher's accent is not good so what or the person is not so perfect in teaching but don't disrespect them that's evil we have to teach our children that respect to authority then they go to the next stage where they go to work respect your bosses at work he may be an evil man but you're not responsible for that he may be a crook cheating the tax tax on his tax and all that that's not my business in that office he's if he asks me to do a righteous job i have to do it whether he's a righteous man or not submission to authority very very important don't join people who go on strike and rebel and all that submit to authority not because we'll be punished otherwise not because that's the only way you'll get your salary because god wants it i do it because out of fear of god not to get a salary or because i might get a punishment why do you obey the traffic laws and respect the police i hope it's not because you're afraid you'll be punished that's a pretty low level i mean if there's no other way you do it then do it at least at that level but the best way to do it is because god commands me to submit to authority see this in romans chapter 13 it's a very important chapter romans is a wonderful spiritual book deals with many aspects of the christian life and one aspect is subject to the governing authorities romans 13 verse 1. there is no authority except from god god is appointed secular authorities the policemen the judges in the courts the president of the country i don't care whether the president is a republican or a democrat some of you may be bothered by it i am not i believe that every authority is established by god and so when an election time comes i don't canvas people to go and vote for my candidate i pray because 1 timothy 2 1 says pray for those who are in authority and i my prayer is not this that this candidate will win or that candidate will win but lord i pray that we will be able to live a godly life here as your children read 1 timothy 2 verses 1 2 and 3 that we can live a godly life with dignity so bring to power those the person who will allow us to do that in india you don't have the choice of christian or non-christian everybody is a hindu or a muslim or someone and you have to vote for one of them what do you do i pray i pray lord please bring into authority those who will help the christians to have freedom to preach the gospel and to live a godly life and dignity that's what i've done in every election for all these years that i lived in india and we have changed governments by prayer we have changed policies in the government by prayer i mean you may not believe it i've actually we've actually experienced that in our church small church it's amazing when you obey god's laws god is on your side like i very often said one man with god is a majority one man with god is a majority let the whole world be against him if you have god on your side you're in the majority side and that's why we can pray and so we have to subject to authority because it says here in verse two if you resist in authority you're resisting the command of god you shouldn't be fighting with the policemen you shouldn't be fighting with the laws in the country i mean if there's an unrighteous law which is against the command of god then we say well i'm sorry sir there's a comma god is above you you're not the ultimate authority so he has given me a command which is against what you're telling me to do so i won't do it that's okay i i had to do that when i was in the navy i remember once i was appointed as the person in charge of all the boats in the naval base and the officers were allowed to take the boat provided they paid for the diesel for the fuel so i had to send a bill to an officer if he took the boat out for a picnic and he had to pay for the diesel and one day the captain of the naval base took out the boat and the we were supposed to write in the bill the captain is inspecting the harbor so we don't send him a bill that's what all the other office boat officers did i see i can't tell a lie he didn't go to inspect the harvard he went for a picnic with his family so i was the first boat officer in that naval base who sent a bill to the captain saying pay for this trip private trip so the second in command is called a commander the captain is the fourth strike man i was only two stripes the commander was the three striped man came up to me and said didn't the previous board officer tell you how to what you should write in these things when the captain uses the boat i said yes sir but as a christian i cannot tell a lie what could he say to that so he said okay go to your office and i went and sat in my office in half an hour i got a transfer i was transferred from my job good i praise the lord that's just one experience i could tell you wonderful experiences like i had that i had i rejoiced and i had many experiences like that and that's what made me so confident that god is on my side i had wonderful experiences like that so my my ministry did not come out of study of the bible alone it came out through some experiences like this i would subject to authority if they won't tell me ask me to tell a lie and i can tell you many other stories like that which made me a strong christian otherwise we subject to authority and i'll tell you i've seen many christians who believe that children must be subject to them at home who believe there must be an authority in the church in the society they obey the police they obey the law but when it comes to the church [Music] they feel there's no authority in the church is it possible that god made an institution in the world without an authority the church they feel everyone is too free to do what he likes and that's why they don't grow that's why year after year after year after year they are the same babies spiritually speaking they never grow frequently gloomy bad moods discouraged defeated why they have never learned to be subject to spiritual authority in the church because there's no punishment here if you don't obey oh i'll go to another church i don't have to listen to you you won't say that to the policeman you won't say that to the judge in the court because there the punishment will be severe i've seen this in church after church after church and i've seen what happens to these people who never learn to be subject to authority before god started the first cfc church in my home in 1975 god had taken me through 16 years of being subject to various types of authorities in different churches who are jealous of me because god gave me a ministry of preaching when i was 23 years old and others older than me were very jealous and they tried to suppress me and i would submit to them i submitted to people who oppressed suppress me in so many ways it was good for me i remember once where some people were jealous of me and they banned me from speaking in that church and the lord said keep your mouth shut and sit there and i sat there for another three or four years people wondered why every sunday i used to speak why what happened to brother zach has he backslidden or gone into some sin or something why is he's not being asked to speak the lord said shut your mouth don't say it's because others are jealous of me so i sat there under submission authority my wife and i would sit there and i say fine i wouldn't give any answer to people i knew the reason [Music] because the leader there was asking me to speak many times and that disturbed some of those who were at the second and third level in that church who were much older than me and those are the years when god did something he broke me brokenness is very important you know we sing in that song spirit of the lord fall afresh on me break me melt me mold me fill me i don't sing that lightly i've experienced it i want to ask you my brothers have you ever experienced being broken because you're submitting to somebody's authority being molded and crushed you've never experienced it i feel sorry for you you've missed a major part of your spiritual education no wonder your spiritual life is so shallow you've always avoided being so bit subject to authority and that is the reason why god never gives authority to such people they are not fit you remember what the roman soldier once said to jesus do you remember that when he said please come to my house and heal my servant peace jesus said i'll come no he said heal my soul and she said i'll come to your house and this man was so humble he said oh no lord i'm not worthy that you should come to my house but you can stand here and rebuke that sickness 15 miles away it'll go and jesus said you know what the reason why he said that he said i am a man read it sometime i matthew chapter 8 i am a man under authority and therefore i have people under me who are obey my authority i tell a servant to the soldier to go he goes why because i'm when my boss tells me to go i go i'm a man under authority and so i tell a soldier to go he goes and lord i i can recognize something in you you know military people usually usually can recognize other military people i've seen that there's something about the bearing of a military man which another military man can recognize and this centurion said jesus i don't know where what authority is but he's under some type of authority i can make that out by the way he lives and speaks and i know that if he's under authority he has authority so he said lord you don't have to come there just speak from here i know it will happen it's a principle when you're subject to authority god gives you authority and if god has never given you any spiritual authority you probably never will because you're never willing to submit to authority and you miss something in life i believe god wants us to develop to the place where we become mature godly men who can lead others not just sit be a follower good be a follower be submit to authority but come to the place where you can lead other younger brothers to a godly life another younger sisters for that learn from jesus to be subject to authority don't rebel against authority in the government it doesn't matter who is the president or which party is in power unless they ask you to disobey god's word in every other area submit to authority and submit to authority in the church the place where the least submission authority in the world is found in the church even the muslims in their mosque submit to the mullahs more than many christians submit to authority in the church this is a sad thing and we are supposed to be the people who say we know god so dear brothers and sisters let's learn to walk as jesus walked he's the one thing we know about his 30 years was he studied the scriptures and he was subject to authority because the two things i wanted to emphasize and i pray it will be like that in our life and i can tell you from my testimony after being a christian for 62 years it will go exceptionally well with you if your wives will subject be subject to your husbands unless they tell you to disobey scripture which i don't think they will and if you teach your children to be subject to you and you're subject to your bosses your place of work and teach your children to respect their teachers it'll go exceptionally well with your family and then you will be a tremendous blessing in this church and in addition if you're subject to authority in the church one day god will give you authority as well god bless you all let's pray our heavenly father we thank you for the wonderful laws in your word laws that are meant for our good we see your laws being obeyed in the universe and we see what tremendous good comes out of that that we can predict what will happen tomorrow in this universe lord help us to learn from the stars and the planets how to be subject to authority the blessing that comes from it help us lord to be students of your word to glorify you we pray in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 18,467

Rating: 4.8798585 out of 5

Keywords: rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church, god, jesus, bible, scripture, how, lived, under, grace, sermon, zac, poonen

Id: rVYRmXFXY2k

Length: 65min 26sec (3926 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 23 2021