Living Only to Please God - Zac Poonen - April 3, 2013

exactly like the Pharisees and we become like the God we worship whenever I see a very legalistically minded person who's always particularly about rules and the letter of Scripture I know that's the type of God he worships his God is a legalistic strict judge who makes life miserable for him and that's why he looks miserable most of the time and he makes other people miserable too but that's not the way we're supposed to be so we got to clear the wrong ideas you have people have about God and Jesus manifested God not only by what he spoke it was his whole way of life he spoke only for he preached about God only for three and half years but he lived for thirty three and half years and he didn't say if you have heard me you know the Father we try to explain God by words jesus said if you have seen me you've seen the father a hearing is a great word in the Old Covenant in the New Covenant it is seen in the Old Covenant it was coming here what the prophet of God has to tell us the new message from God that has come but when the disciples asked Jesus where do you live he said come and see so when we look at the earthly life of Jesus you see what God is like and when you see how Almighty God planned the body of Jesus - first of all to be born in a stable in a cowshed in a little truck for manger the thing from which cows eat I don't know if in the history of the world as any baby that was born in a cowshed I mean even poor families I've seen in India extremely poor they'll have some little place for a baby to be born and Jesus took the lowest place of all to be born and that was how he began his life and when he ended his life it was also in such a shameful way as a criminal crucified between two terrible criminals so it was ignominy sin the start and the end that which man would despise I mean man would despise a baby born in a cowshed I mean if you were born in a cowshed you wouldn't want anybody even know about it and if you were finally condemned as a criminal everybody thought you're a criminal when you died he wouldn't want people to know that either but that's how Jesus began and ended his life and in between most of the time he was called Prince of Devil's and how types of names and it never disturbed him so one of the things I learned from the life of Jesus is that he never bothered about the opinions of men so what if I was born in a stable so what people thought I was the Prince of devil so what if I was crucified in the midst of criminals and everybody thought I was another criminal that is the body of Christ I want to ask you are you a member of this body you are if you can say I also am just as free from the opinions of men as Jesus was it doesn't matter one bit to me what people think about me whether they despise me whether they look down upon me there's something which in the eyes of the earth is shameful what a lot of effort we put in to try and create a good impression there was zero of that in Jesus the first body of Christ there was zero desire to make a good impression on people it's one of the very important things we must remember if you want to be effective members of the body of Christ is one of the things that leaves us very slowly we can get rid of dirty thoughts okay with some effort and anger perhaps we can forgive people we can clear up debts so many of these things we can do but to be free from the opinions of people some of some people don't even think that's a sin they don't even realize that the desire to impress others is one of those terrible sins that is found among God's people and Jesus demonstrated by his life from birth to death that the opinion of men was fit for the trash can but he cared a lot about his father's opinion he always sought to please his father you know one instance where the disciples came to Jesus and said to him Matthew 15 when the Pharisees criticized him for not washing his hands his disciples were not washing their hands on the east and that they were concerned with the Old Testament law if you look read Leviticus there was a great emphasis on hygiene there must be hygienic there's a lot of emphasis on that in the Book of Leviticus because they were living out in the wilderness they didn't figure died with infection and there were laws which are good hygiene is good but the Pharisees made so much of it that you know they were very particular about washing hands right from the elbows down before they ate anything and when the Matthew 15 the disciples didn't do that they probably saw Jesus never bothering too much about it not that he was on a hygienic but not as a ritual and they asked him why he disciples transgress in verse to the tradition of the elders they don't wash their hands when they eat bread he answered and said I mean there are a lot of Commandments you don't obey like honor your father and mother because instead of helping your aged parents verse 5 you say I've given my money for God's work and he doesn't care for his aging parents and thus you cancel the Word of God by your wretched traditions you know that teaches us that it's one of the things I keep telling people if you have needs in your family don't give money to God take care of your family's needs there's no other preacher who'll ever say that because they see you've got to give to God but the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5:8 if a man doesn't care for his own family he's worse than an unbeliever and Jesus said that here don't say I gave to God what you should have given to take care of your aged parents so many things I find in Christendom today are so completely opposite to what Jesus taught and one of the main reasons one of the main reasons is because human beings are lovers of money if you want to be completely ignorant of the scriptures just love money every understanding you have of Scripture will be wrong even though you think you got it right I've seen that through the years because jesus said there are only two masters God and money and who will commit to your trust the true if you're unfaithful with these false riches called Mammon so I've discovered through the years that one of the important requirements to understand scriptures to be faithful with money now nobody thinks of that connection people think you got to study scriptures and really understand it you'll understand it all wrong if you love money that's why the Pharisees couldn't understand it it says in Luke 16 they were lovers of money so they couldn't understand the Scriptures and you don't have to be rich to love money know some people think all those were very rich they love money and some of us may can can think oh I'm very poor I don't love money I've never seen a beggar in India who doesn't love money and every beggar is much poorer than all of us there are love money so it's not that to do with poverty or wealth it's an attitude towards money and so here you know these these people serve I giving my money to God and Jesus said you should have been giving it to your parents that's what he said in verse and he said if you'd because you don't do that you're canceling God's work with all your traditions you're all hypocrites he says you people who give money to God don't care for your parents you're hypocrites when you hear peace preaching like that today because their heart is far from me and they got so offended with this and he said the important thing is then he said he answered that question it's not a question of a little bit of dirt going inside your stomach maybe you ate with unwashed hands I mean in India most of time then people need to their hands in India and you know nobody uses forks and spoons a lot of times just eat with unwashed hands you don't get sick and it says here now don't let the children do that I mean if our stomachs are acclimatized to India okay Jesus said it's not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man but what comes out of the out of the mouth that the words and the Pharisees came to Jesus and said in verse 12 this is the verse I really wanted to find out don't you know the Pharisees are offended the way you spoke to them told them that traditions are all rubbish they were disobeying God's Word that even when they gave money to God they were disobeying God's Word don't you think thereof they were offended and Jesus said don't worry about them verse 14 leave him alone don't bother about them they are blind and there are leaders of the blind and if a blind man leads a blind man they will both fall into the ditch he was so completely free from what people thought about him even what his disciples thought about him I think of that instance where he took a whip it says he made a whip I don't know whether you noticed that he asked his disciples to bring bits of string or something like that and he sat down and he it says John 2:15 he made a scourge of cords it wasn't ready-made he got a whole lot of bits and twisted it together and I can imagine him sitting there twisting all this together and the disciples wondering what in the world's he doing making a scourge of cords John 2:15 and once it was so tight he took it and chased all the sheep and oxen John 2:15 out of the temple and he went to the table of all the money changers of the different currencies lying there and turned the tables and la santé coins rolling all over the place and he said take these things away and don't make my father's house a place to make money he'd say the same thing today lots of preachers who make God's house a place to make money and at the end of it thing that blessed me is that you know if you saw somebody doing that today you'd say boy that guy really lost his temper and Jesus never called his disciples and say hey I want to explain to you I didn't actually lose my temper I had a clear leading from the father to do this I know what a lust there is in my flesh when I do something which most people will not understand to explain to them that I didn't really lose my temper it was the leading of God it's blessed my heart to see how Jesus was so free from it so free from it because you know if you have something very expensive in your house you can you want to explain that well you didn't spend the money on it somebody gives you as a gift or something why all that explanation we want to show that we are very wholehearted Christians we were so bound by the opinion of people we break free from the opinion of the world and then we come in the midst of Christians and then we have to break free from the opinion of Christians and that's a little more difficult I'll tell you that it's easy for all of us to be free from the opinion of worldly people but it may not be so difficult for you to be free from the opinion of people in this church you may be very concerned that at least the people in this church have good opinion about you you don't care of people out in the world that's a slavery it doesn't matter which man it is the please men is the opposite of pleasing God and you can never please God fully unless you're completely free from wanting to please man and it's one of those onions you know we've got to keep peeling off the desire to please and impress people and you see that right through as I told you from birth to death you're completely free from the opinions of men even I never explained to his disciples why he called the Pharisees a generation of vipers now he had explained many parables to the disciples but he never explained anything where he would justify himself he had zero desire to justify himself and that's the body of Christ and now I want to be a part of that body which is you know exactly like Jesus lived in his earthly body that's what the church is supposed to be the church means us people we're supposed to be a group of people who are completely free from the opinions of men and the opinions of each other because we want to live before God you remember in the Sermon on the Mount he said when you give don't let anybody know what you gain keep it a secret as far as possible let people think you give nothing that's much better it's much better if everybody in the church thinks you give absolutely nothing when you may be sacrificing a tremendous lot in your giving it's before God the same way it's much better than everybody in the things church things you don't pray at all and you may be praying a lot in secret for the church must think that you don't pray at all it's much better than people in the church think you don't fast at all but you may be fasting a lot in private that's what he got to the meaning of what he said in Matthew chapter 6 and you see you don't have to worry about their opinion because it's your father who's going to see everything in secret he will see what you're doing in secret how much you pray how much you gave how much you fast and his reward will be open and when he rewards you openly everybody will see it and if they want to know how that thing came there was a life hidden in secret which they know nothing about I see that you know in Jesus life he never you know what do they call those 30 years hidden years he's nobody knows anything about because in no message of his did he reveal the sacrifices he made during those years when he was in Nazareth but the more I have sought to understand the life of Jesus is the Holy Spirit's revealed to me there are so many hidden sacrifices that he made in Nazareth and the Holy Spirit showed to you too he showed you if you are interested in it if you are interested in the external life of Jesus because you had an external type of Christian then you'll only see the external life of Jesus but if you have an inner life type of Christian the Holy Spirit show you the inner life of Jesus the way he lived when he was in Nazareth thirty years is not written in the scriptures but the Holy Spirit show it to you the sacrifices he made the sub denials he made and as the Holy Spirit shows you you have an example to follow but he doesn't show that to everybody because I mean God doesn't show things to people who have no interest in obeying that he's not revealing things for information he doesn't teach us things that are good points for us to preach in some sermon but I'll tell you this if you are really serious about wanting to walk with God in secret away from the eyes of men the Holy Spirit will show you some amazing things about the secret self-denials of Jesus in those thirty years which which will be footsteps for you to follow and like I said let me repeat the Holy Spirit doesn't show it the people are not interested in that I mean that's why it's so important to be free from wanting to live before the face of men he never spoke a word about what he did in those thirty years but you can see the father rewarded him openly when you look at his external ministry and the fantastic ministry he had in those three and a half years it was based on 30 years of sacrifice in secret it is that as the basis on which he could minister so effectively and that is New Covenant ministry new covenant ministry the body of Christ and that's for brothers and sisters and all of us is not standing in the pulpit and preaching that's just one part of it some people are gifted to do that but we're ministering all the time I mean we're meeting one another we are meeting people in the world people come to our homes we meet them in our place of work the body of Christ is always coming in contact with the world every day right from morning till night we're coming in touch with other people that's your ministry the people you come in contact with first of all in your own home your husband in your wife and there is the body of Christ ministering and the effectiveness of your ministry there depends on what you have sacrificed in secret if there is no sacrifice in secret there will be no effective ministry in public the reason for a lot of our external sins is because there's very little sacrifice in secret and you struggle to overcome some of these sins is because there are no sacrifice in secret and that's why some people never get rid of their anger yeah because they're only wanting to get rid of things that ruin their testimony before others I mean if you get angry your testimony spoiled even if it's only between your before your husband or your wife or your children or other people but if you're so concerned about that you'll never get victory over it not in 50 years you got to be concerned about the other things which other people don't see and when you're concerned about the areas of your life which other people don't see and you don't care for the external then you'll find it you get the victory over the external as well because it's the route that Jesus is dealing with he came with an axe to the root he's not so concerned about just chopping off the bad fruit that was the law he's dealing with a root that's John the Baptist said the axe is laid to the root of the and when Slade there then the fruit will be automatically good Jesus said that if the tree is good the floatie be good the tree is bad the fruit is bad and so the fruit that comes out of our lips in our life is because something is wrong underneath in our hidden light Jesus said about the Pharisees in Luke 16 one characteristic of the Pharisees you've probably seen that little book of mine called fifty-fifty marks of Pharisees and as I was studying the marks of Pharisees I saw this is one of them it's a very interesting study because very often we think we're not Pharisees I ask people to go through that book and see whether you're a Pharisee or not he may be surprised it says here in Luke chapter 16 that Jesus said one mark of the Pharisees is here verse 15 you are those who look 16 15 who justify yourselves in the sight of men that means you are people we're always wanting to make a good impression before others mark of a Pharisee always wanting to make a good impression by on others by the things you say and you go back and meditate on how what you said would have impressed some of those people whom you wanted to impress with your Bible knowledge perhaps or with your spirituality or how God used you somewhere or whatever it is you are those who seek to present a good image before men and you don't realize that that is verse 15 and abomination in the sight of God boy what a word an abomination you know idol worship was called an abomination in the Old Testament the Lord used to use the prophets to say to Israel get rid of your abominations and those abominations or idols the idols of Bay are what are the idols of Christians other human beings see when I try to impress somebody what I'm actually doing is I mean bowing down before him and say oh my god I hope you think good of what I just said I hope you're impressed by what I just did it's idolatry if you really go to the root of it it's idolatry I say something and I want people to be impressed that person is my idol maybe a group of people maybe a whole lot of idols you have in your church you don't realize they're bowing down before them God is a jealous God he will not give his glory to another and he said in the Old Testament law you shall have no other gods but me you shall not bow down to anyone this is one of the biggest sins that Christians are guilty on Jesus was never guilty of it he wouldn't bow down to Satan in the wilderness he wouldn't bow down to any human being throughout his life he only lived before the Father he never wanted to explain to his disciples anything that if they misunderstood they misunderstood he didn't care whether people misunderstood or not he said if you really love the truth you won't misunderstand if you want to do God's will you'll know he never wanted to justify himself before men where's the Pharisees were so particular people shouldn't have a wrong impression if they did something which people could have been have birth you know people could have thought less of them they would explain it it's like I mean if a Pharisee today were to buy an expensive car he had to explain to people why it was necessary and you know somebody gave them a gift or some guy what for I mean if you look before God's face why are you bothered about explaining anything to anyone anytime we find we have to explain some things so that people won't misunderstand you got nidal Brian you got an idol and you're bowing down to that idol and that's not a proper testimony for the body of Christ first body of Christ and had no idols he worship totally the Father he said in John chapter 8 John's Gospel chapter 8 verse 29 the father has never left me alone now we'd like to have that testimony right God never leaves me alone but he gives a reason here in the middle of that verse the one who sent me is with me and he has never left me alone because because I always do the things that please him I couldn't care less whether it pleases men or not that's why he could say my father is with me all the time do you want that do you want God to be with you in all the circumstances of your life you know what a wonderful thing it is to have God with you and all the circumstances of life if you can solve many problems many times our problems remain unsolved because God is not with us or situations where we don't know what to do because God is not there I find in Jesus life there was never a situation why he didn't know what to do he faced some really complicated situations and people came to him with all types of complicated problems but he always had an answer never do you find them confused wondering what to do because God was with him the father was with him most Christian they only have a verse on the wall which says lo I am with you always and they imagine the other Lord is with me don't be so sure jesus said the father is with me because I only want to please him I feel like that you can be pretty sure that'll be with you in every situation always means 24/7 always my only desire is to find out am i pleasing to the Father that was all and I believe there's some tremendous blessings when you're like that because that always see another workplace whether word always comes John 11:42 John 1142 Jesus said in his prayer father verse 41 last part I thank you that you've heard me and I know that you hear me always Wow I'd like that I didn't really like that the father hears me always because of Johnny twenty-nine I always do the things that are pleasing to him I'm not at all interested like to be like the Pharisees to impress people in any way with what I say or what I do or with my knowledge or any such thing let people think what they want let them think that I'm busy bill the Prince of devils let them think I'm a deceiver let them think I'm not following the law of Moses never never did he try to explain to them that was a dignity he had because he was so free from people's opinions and the father is always with them the father was so delighted with that you remember at the baptism of Jesus there was only one certificate that the father gave Holy One this is my beloved son with whom I'm totally pleased how is that because 30 years in Nazareth he only wanted to please the father he had no ambition that is the body of Christ for 30 years hidden away nobody knows even today nobody knows all the details of what went on there and the Holy Spirit's never allowed it to be written because it was a secret life before the father but outwardly you could hear the voice saying I am well-pleased look at his life and I examine it and I'm well pleased you know it's something like we read in the first chapter of Genesis you know the Bible says that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and we hear the beginning of that in Genesis 1 words proceeding from the mouth of God let there be light that was the first word verse 3 and from wherever it was light came out there was an obedience and instantaneous obedience and God gave a certificate I'm well pleased that's the meaning of when it says God saw it was good and like that with other things when God said let the earth sprout vegetation verse 11 and immediately without any delay verse 12 the earth brought forth vegetation God said I'm well pleased then God said Let there be lights and the two great lies the Sun and the moon verse 14 and God said yah I'm well pleased was 18 you know that's how it was every day he said something and without his moment's delay there was a response from the earth or from the universe that was already there and immediate response God was well-pleased well pleased well pleased well pleased right up to the last day when he saw everything verse 31 and he was very well pleased with everything and I see that as the earthly life of Jesus every single day he lived by the Word of God when he said man shall not live by for alone but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth he was talking about his own life he wasn't quoting a verse he was a in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy chapter eight but it lived that for thirty years every single day and if you go to that verse in Deuteronomy with Jesus quoted I don't know how many of you to have the habit of looking up New Testament quotations in the Old Testament this is the reason God never gives revelation to many people because they're lazy when they study the Bible God told Adam by the sweat of your brow you'll earn your bread and is exactly the same way you get bread from the scriptures by the sweat of your brow you know that a lazy man will not make much in life the Bible says in second Timothy 2 the hard-working farmer is the first one to get the crops the yield of the crops Paul told Timothy the hard-working farmer second Timothy 2 and so it's the same when you come to scripture the hard-working person who goes into it digs into it spends time on it believes that this is the only book that God's given to man and spends his time trying to understand it because he wants to live in a way pleasing to the Father one thing that you can do is whenever you see a New Testament verse quoted from the Old Testament go back and perspire a little in metaphorically speaking and study what is very calm so when you go back to that verse man shall not live by bread alone you find it in Deuteronomy chapter 8 God was teaching you he says there in verse 3 the last part that man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God Deuteronomy 8:3 but he compares it verse 3 which you don't get when you read the New Testament that's the blessing of searching it out in the Old Testament compares it to the that fell everyday he says God gave you manna every day you know you couldn't keep one day's manna to the next day you know that it would breed worms I can't think of any food that we have today that breeds worms within 24 hours manna did in 24 hours it began to breed worms an unusual type of food worms got into it in 24 hours and it says here that this was to teach you let me paraphrase it that every single day you got to receive God's Word freshly you can't live on yesterday's if you try to live on yesterday's it'll be full of worms they'll be a death in it even though it's God's Word the letter kills that's the meaning man shall not live managed to live by every word that proceeds it's a present continuous tense in grammar not that preceeded out of the novel or 2,000 years ago but that precedes continuously it's like a river constantly flowing what is it that keeps a river fresh why is it a lake is stagnant why is it you'd rather drink water out of a river flowing river than from a lake why are you hesitant to drink water from a lake or a pond but from a river you are happy to drink because it's flowing that keeps it fresh God's Word is like that it's not a stagnant lake for many people this book is like a stagnant lake it's all there God's Word is proceeding all the time we need to read this but to hear what God is speaking to our hearts in a living way like manna and that's what Jesus meant every day he got a word from God just like in Genesis 1 Jesus did it and he got another word the next day he did it he lived his whole life like that father I want to do your will I want to do your will and it's based on Scripture I mean Jesus she's not memorized but he studied description you know how difficult it was in those days he didn't have a Bible at home how did he know the Scriptures by the age of 12 he'd go to the synagogue that's the only place where they had the scroll is very expensive to have an Old Testament in those days handwritten on parchment how many people had have a copy of that there are what is the Hebrews schools would teach them from the Scrolls of the Old Testament so he would listen carefully and there was no copy he could take home he'd had to listen and listen and listen and in seven years he absorbed it and that's what taught me when I was a young Christian that if Jesus could do it by listening if I'm serious about my work serious about the Scriptures I can also learn in the scriptures but you got to be serious about it that when God says something that's the first chapter of Genesis something happens when God says something the next day something happens God says something the third day something happens and the manna falling every day was also teaching the same thing he got to live by the word that proceeds from God's mouth and every day God's examining well-pleased good and the next day yep good and I see that that's how God wants to examine my life every day this is how Jesus lived these are the things which are not written in so many words in the Gospels but if you sweat a little allow the Holy Spirit to explain scripture to you you'll see behind Jesus life how he lived by the word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and it was this man who Jesus who was filled with the Holy Spirit today I see so many people so glibly saying yeah I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and a whole lot of other Christians were not even bothered whether they are filled with the Holy Spirit or not for them it's a doctrinal controversy for controversial subject of doctrine that's exactly where the devil to keep it keep it as a controversial subject of doctrine to be argued and discussed forever and never experience it in your life it doesn't matter if you don't understand it or not my digestive system works even though I may not understand how it works I don't need to explain it that's true huh we don't explain how our eyesight works or hearing words inside the brain but it works but so often I find Christians are more interested in the theology of what does redemption mean and what is the fullness of the Holy Spirit mean to get into all the explanations and the thing is not real in our life we can understand so much today which the early Christians never understood but we may not have the life that they had they were so gripped by the truth of God when there was no written New Testament on the day of Pentecost 3,000 people got baptized without understanding what baptism meant Romans chapter 6 was written 30 years after the day of Pentecost we can explain it they couldn't but they were baptized and they were so wholehearted when they were baptized that they gave their money in plenty to God that doesn't happen today today we are so calculating and we can explain so many things but we don't have the heart they have our lives are so shallow compared to them but we can explain things better I think a lot of us can explain scripture better than even the Apostle Paul we probably know more of Scripture than even Paul because we got the printed and we've studied it and we know the chapter we know the worse we know everything well you don't have the life because we're not gripped by the body of Christ how did that first body of Christ live now I'm called to be a part of the body of Christ in this day and age I need to see how the first body of Christ live that's my example he never said admire me he said follow me and yet the vast majority of Christians that I met in my life admire Jesus more than they follow him they don't care to understand how can I follow him but boy do they admire Wow what a lion what a sacrifice all that but he never once said admire me we're not supposed to admire Jesus we're supposed to follow him otherwise our admiration is all empty hollow shallow you know that's the meaning of breaking of red what you call communion or the Lord's table or breaking a bread when the bread comes to us and we break it and take part of it I'm saying Lord I want to go the way you went the way of death to self that's the meaning of the breaking of bread I want to drink the cup and pour out my life in obedience to the Father but if I don't mean that if I only admire the life of Jesus I tell people he shouldn't take part in the bread you must look at it at margin and say wow what a lovely bread pasta to the next person or look at the cup and say wow what a lovely wine and pastas and experts don't drink it because your no desire to follow the only desire to admire Jesus wow what a life he lived what a death he died but that's not what we do in a in a ritual that costs us nothing it passes nothing to eat the bread and drink the cup we feel a little holy at the end of it I took part in the Lord's table cost us absolutely nothing but the meaning behind it do we mean that Lord I'm not going to admire you I'm going to follow you that's why I'm taking part in it I'm not admiring the Brit admiring the cup I'm taking part in it saying I want to go that way I want to live that way the first body of Christ lived on earth dear brothers and sisters that is what it means to be a new covenant church a body of Christ so often we can compare ourselves with a lot of other church and say we're better than I'm that doesn't mean we are pleasing to God it's like in a in a class if one student gets 10% in mathematics and he comes home excited to his mom saying mom I came first in the class all the others got three and two and one and zero but I got 10 out of 100 he's pretty proud of it that's how a lot of Christians are a lot of churches we're better than them and them environment them they've got only three or five out of a hundred I got ten and three times better maybe you are brother but you're way below Jesus the Bible says we had to run the race not looking at all those others were looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and see how he lived his life always seemed to please the father every day what is the father want me to do and that's the message to me in Genesis chapter 1 that every day of my life like the manner I can receive God's Word and just like the Earth and the universe responded without any hesitation he did they didn't have to pray about it or fast and pray nothing it was immediate God had spoken there's no question of thinking about it anymore and Jesus said this in John chapter 7 is a very important verse why did he not explain to people when people misunderstood him the possibility that his disciples would have misunderstood that he lost his temper when he took the whip and chased people out of he may have lost he got very upset with the Pharisees when he called him a generation of vipers he never tried to explain to them hey listen I didn't really lose my temper they needed to hear that no such thing because he didn't care even for the opinion of Peter James or John that's a wonderful thing when you don't even care for the opinion of those who are closest to you in the church the most spiritual people in the church you don't even care for their opinion because you want to live before that's how Jesus was in John chapter 7 here's the reason why he never had to explain his actions verse 17 he said in verse 16 my teaching is not mine but the one who sent me verse 16 and if anyone is willing to do the Father's will he will know what I'm talking about whether it is from God or from myself if a man is determined to do God's will he will know whether I lost my temper or not when I took the whip whether I was upset with the Pharisees or not when I called them a generation of vipers but if you don't have a passion to desire to do God's will you'll never understand I remember a believer a good believer ones telling me brother Zack don't you think Jesus was upset when he told the Pisces oh you of little faith how long shall I be with you I'll tell you something I don't believe he wanted to do the Father's will that's why he could not understand that was not getting upset he get upset when he told Peter get behind me Satan young only a spiritual man can understand the actions and words of a spiritual man most believers are carnal they cannot understand the actions of the words of a truly spiritual man but he said if you deep down in your heart really want to do the will of God unless your only ambition in life if you can stand before God's face and say God you know my heart I have only one ambition in life to do your will and to please you I don't care what other people think I don't care what sacrifice I have to make I don't care what I'll use in the way I don't care whether I make money or not Ben make money I want to do your will are going to finish the work you sent me on earth to do and I want to please you completely if that is your ambition I guarantee you will understand Jesus perfectly otherwise you will not that's what he said and I believe this was in reference to something that happened in the previous chapter you see John 7:17 comes out to chapter six in Chapter six you read he spoke some very difficult words he said in verse john 6:53 unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you got no life in yourselves and he repeated that verse 54 eat my flesh drink my blood verse 55 eat my flesh drink my blood verse 56 eat my flesh and drink my blood verse 57 eat me eat this verse 58 again and again and again and again eat my flesh eat drink my blood and you know people couldn't understand that today we may understand it because we have the Holy Spirit but think of those Jewish people who didn't have the Holy Spirit listening to this and they'd been taught in the law you shouldn't even drink the blood of animals leave alone drink a human beings blood or eat his flesh and that's why they said in verse 60 hey this is a difficult statement who can listen to this type of rubbish who can listen to this when they said difficult what they meant was this is ridiculous what this man is saying and the day grumbled it says in verse 61 and Jesus said just one word the words verse 63 the words I spoke to you are spirit and life that's all no further explanation and but I know worse 64 some of you don't believe so I'm not bothered about trying to explain to you people because I know that a lot of you guys are not serious about doing the Father's will why in the world should I explain it to you I know already he knew that who are the ones who would not believe in him and as a result of this many got offended verse 66 not unbelievers not Pharisees but disciples they had come to Jesus and become his disciples they believed in him the Pharisees withdrawing we can understand here with disciples withdrawing it's like a whole lot of people leaving a church because of some strong offensive statement made by a spiritual leader who couldn't care less for people's opinion but only wanted to please God that's what happened here and a whole lot of them went away chapter 6 verse 2 begins with a great multitude this is a great multitude decide listening to him and by the time you come to the end of the chapter they're only 11 people left Jesus spoke in a way that he drove people away who were not serious about obeying God and I say the early church that is pleasing God that following the leading of the Holy Spirit is that is a church where people who are no interested in obeying God feel constantly uncomfortable constantly uncomfortable because deep down in their heart they don't want to obey God they come here to listen to messages and be tickled in their years and then there were 12 left were 67 and he's doesn't say oh I hope you fellows won't leave me you see you can go too you want to go you can go too there was a tremendous dignity about Jesus he lived before the Father he knew those who want to do the father's will will understand they will not get offended and I've seen that through 37 years of ministry in different churches those who really want to do the father's will never get offended they stay on the ones who follow AR they follow me over something or the other they make some silly excuse but deep down in their heart they prove thereby they don't want to do the will of God and Peter says hmm Lord to whom shall we go these are the words of eternal life and I often thought of somebody one of those people who left came back the next day to Peter and say hey Peter you stuck around with this guy what's the meaning of eating his flesh and drinking his blood tell me you said is the words of eternal life how does it mean Peter would said hey I don't have a clue really but I know this man is a man of integrity and I'm going to stick with him even if I don't understand what he says I know the man he's a man of integrity as such as I've never found anywhere else in all my life and I don't stick with him because I understand everything he says how a lot of things he says his way about my head I'm not gonna run away just because I can't understand it I've looked all my life for a man of integrity and at last I found him and whatever he says I'm not going to get offended I know these are the words of eternal life because I see it in his life you know that is the basis on which the body of Christ is built I've seen through the years it's not because we gather people who agree with us in doctrine to believe in the fullness of the Spirit do you believe in speaking in tongues do you believe in taking up the cross this is all explanation do you understand what it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood do you understand the meaning of all these verses do you understand what justification is sanctification is good to teach all this but ultimately I've discovered is by life that the body is built not by explanations it's by life that we are brought together that's what made Jesus Peter stick with Jesus I know he's a man of integrity look what Paul says to Timothy Paul says to Timothy similar words I mean the similar thought Paul is writing his last letter to Timothy and you know this is last letter 2nd Timothy and he's unburdening his heart to Timothy and he tells him verse 10 second Timothy 3:10 2nd Timothy 3 verse 10 Timothy you have followed my teaching and not just my teaching you have followed my conduct the way I conducted myself the way I would speak the way I handled money the way I dealt with people the way I've treated my enemies you've watched my purpose in life you've seen me you've seen my faith this is got nothing do with teaching teaching is one word but you've seen my conduct you've seen my purpose in life you've seen my faith you seen my patience you seen my love you've seen my perseverance you've seen how I stood up in persecutions and sufferings what all I endured and continuing verse 14 in these things not just in the doctrine continuing these things that you have learned and here's the important phrase knowing from whom you learnt them knowing the type of person who taught you these things not just the doctrine maybe those things Timothy you couldn't understand it can remove your head but you know the type of person who taught you this me Paul man of integrity a man who didn't care for the opinions of men a man who had no interest in the law in money no interest in honor no interest in the pleasures of the world willing to sacrifice deny myself and suffer anything more from whom you lent them it's very rare for Christians to think of that phrase today people are more interested in doctrine is that correct doctor is this correct doctrine we see I got the right doctrine I'm sticking with this church because it's the got the right doctrine and then 10 years later you discovered the pastor was living in adultery all the time it's happening all over or something or the other or you discover the power of Pastor as a controlling tyrant he wants to control your life or something knowing from you whom you have learned them that's what Peter could say to the people who questioned him I don't have a clue what Jesus meant when he said eat my flesh and drink my blood my dear friends but I know from whom I learned that I watched his life and I know I've never found another man like that if we attach ourselves to a group of people because we agree in doctrine you're not going to make much progress in your Christian life Paul sought to draw people to himself by by his life I'm sure Dimas who left him it says here later on verse 10 chapter 4 verse 10 Dimas has loved this present world and has deserted me just like those disciples decide deserted Jesus here was another co-worker of falls he was a co-worker opposed you read about him earlier on in Colossians and chapter 4 he says verse 14 Colossians 4:14 two of my co-workers Luke and Dimas send you their greetings D was my coworker in collections for fourteen five or six years later Dimas has deserted me loving this present world he forgot the type of man Paul was and he joined up with some other fellows some other preachers who probably had the right doctrine but it were more interested in the honor of men and money and things like that he says he's deserted me he's gone not only Dimas it says in 2nd Timothy 1 verse 15 second Timothy 1:15 you are aware of the fact that all those in Asia have turned away from me including fragilis and homogenise it wasn't easy to stick around with Paul I'll tell you that just like it wasn't easy to stick around with Jesus because the standards of purity was so high you couldn't play the fool when you stuck around with Jesus or Paul but I say boy that's the type of person I want to be with all my life because that man's got eternal life he's not teaching doctrine it's a life so like Paul said like Peter said to those people I can't explain the meaning of that what you're asking me I'm not such a great scholar but I know the man is a man of integrity the same way Timothy could have said a lot of things Paul says which I can't understand you know Peter also says in 1 Peter 5 second Peter 3 rather there are certain things that Paul says which are difficult to explain and understand but Peter and Timothy respected Paul because the life he had is the life I find very few people who understand this because there are very few preachers today who can say follow me as I follow Christ have you ever heard of a preacher saying that I read it in Scripture 1 Corinthians 11:1 follow me as I follow Christ on a the young Christian I went to different churches looking for someone who would say follow me as I follow Christ I never found it and I was disappointed but that wasn't new Christian and I thought hey this is how it should be and the Lord said something to being way back then and when I was my early 20s which really helped me and the Lord said if you find a man there won't be many of them but now and then you may find a man who's really following me follow him for the rest of the time just look straight at me and follow me so you'll always have somebody to follow and that's the rule I have followed in my life that when I find a man and it only really have I found such a person who can really open up every area of his life and say look at any area of my life you can follow me in finances you can follow me in the way I deal with people follow me in the way I speak not just from the pulpit in ordinary conversation follow me in you the ambitions you think I have in my life follow me in the way I brought up my family followed me in the way I relate to my wife follow mean every single area of my life follow me as I follow Christ I'm not perfect but I'm following Christ he's at the top of the mountain but I am climbing you can follow me but if you don't find one like that then look at the one who's gone ahead our forerunner and follow him but the challenge that comes to us is that we should be those mini forerunners for other people that's how it's come to me Jesus is the great forerunner and as I follow him I must be a mini forerunner for people who are little lower down the mountain since him I'm not claiming to them I reach the mountaintop like Paul's he have not yet attained but I should be able to say to them hey fellas this is thirty thousand feet to the top I've climbed about five thousand feet and you guys were at five hundred feet follow me we're going to the top can't you say that if you're a mountain climber it's not boasting here just telling him to follow in our tracks because you've climbed safely up to 5,000 feet and it's good that they have an example of somebody the safe track after that up that slippery mountain slope that's what it means to follow me as I follow Christ there's no boasting in it not claiming that he's reached the car but he's saying they're going the right direction and you can examine my life I I've said to people who come to our church in Bangalore I said dear brothers if you find anything that we do here which is contrary to something in Scripture please tell us but show it was in Scripture don't tell us this how they did it there or this holiday I couldn't care less how they did it anywhere else show it to me in Scripture we'll change it we should be able to say that about our church we should be able to say that about our home show me anything in my home which is not according to the Word of God show me anything in the way I'm bringing in my children is not according to God's Word I'll change it but show it to me in Scripture sure to mean the New Testament I'll do it we should seek to follow Jesus like this this is the exam this is why the church is called the body of Christ this is how the first body of Christ lived and this is how we're counting live and I see in his you know in his discussions with the Pharisees mmm he could have overwhelmed them with his knowledge of Scripture why he didn't do it he was seeking to draw them to life and that's why he used simple examples that even a child could understand Jesus didn't come across as a great theologian who could quote this verse and that verse in the other words and overwhelm people with this tremendous knowledge of Scripture he was seeking to draw people in life how is it with you do you seek to overwhelm people with your knowledge of the world or with your explanations are you seeking to draw them to a life that has changed your life that's made your life live in a wholly different level than most Christians live and does your life say to others come up higher there is a higher life than most Christians live at and it's easy to get there if you want to do the will of God let's pray so we bow our heads before God this examine our lives and see peel off another layer layer of that onion of living before the face of men say Lord I want to be an example I don't want to just I don't to be just a Bible scholar I want to be an example in my life that others can be drawn to follow you because they see me help me father help us each one we pray in Jesus name on

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 50,088

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Keywords: living, only, please, god, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: yeB-cq15QCA

Length: 66min 43sec (4003 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 15 2013