The Holy Spirit Show us Jesus by Zac Poonen

they that the reason why the Apostle Paul knew Jesus Christ so well was because he says in Philippians 3 I considered everything outside of Christ as rubbish and in the measure in which we are convinced that everything outside of Christ is worthless in that measure we will know him you know as human beings we have a great desire to get everything at the cheapest possible price whether its buying a house or buying anything we say where can I get it for the cheapest price and if you go too much along that line and what you'll get is a duplicate a counterfeit of the real thing you know that in in the world there are so many expensive gadgets which are duplicated made in China or Taiwan and they're not the real thing it's the same in Christianity if you aim to get to know Jesus by paying the minimum price possible you're not going to get the real Jesus I'll tell you that because the Bible speaks about another Jesus and it's not only now in the first century let me just show you that verse 2nd Corinthians 11 and verse 4 he says if someone comes and preaches another jesus when we have not preached and you bear that beautifully you can receive another spirit and hear another gospel we're living in a day when another Jesus is being preached Jesus who can forgive you take you to heaven and all the rest that he does for you is make you rich and healthy on earth doesn't free you from the most serious problem you have which is your sin that is another Jesus the real Jesus the angel Gabriel told Joseph you must call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins that's how you know whether you're believing in the real Jesus if you if your faith is in a Jesus who can not forgive your sins but save you from your sins then you come to the real Jesus you know if you're sinning and getting forgiven and sinning and sinning and sinning getting forgiven you can say that you really don't know Jesus as Savior you know him is forgiver and we got to be honest a lot of people who call Jesus Savior I say has he saved you from your anger no as he saved you from lusting with your eyes no as he saved you from love of money as you save you from unforgiving spirit no what has he saved you from well he forgives me then be honest and call him Jesus might forgive her because if you are honest the Lord will lead us to the next step but if you call him Savior when he's not your Savior it's like calling somebody your husband is not your husband just your friend so God loves honest people God loves those who are ruthlessly honest and say lord I only know you as forgive her I don't know you as Savior at all I've been calling you Savior Savior Savior just because I am with empty words mouth what other Christians around me are saying but I want to be real that's another Jesus who forgives you but doesn't save you or it says about receiving a different spirit and there's a lot of that to a different spirit in Christendom I'm not talking about in among which crop circles and heathen circle and Christendom there's another spirit I ask people let's let's go through this logically an unclean spirit makes you unclean right an evil spirit makes you evil what is the Holy Spirit do make you some plague good songs and music no it makes you holy and if you got a spirit that didn't make you holy how do you know it's the Holy Spirit I remember one man came to our church once from some Pentecostal background there's some very good Pentecostals I know but there are some who don't understand the truth well who came and said after just attending a morning service and he said hey you don't have the Holy Spirit here in your church I say how do you know do you live with me do you know how I handle my finances do I know how how how I speak to my mother how do you know whether I have the Holy Spirit or not well he said you don't make enough noise in your meeting I said oh I said your Trinity is father son in noisy spirit my Trinity is Father Son and Holy Spirit that's the big difference I said so unfortunately a lot of people assists that's what I mean by a different spirit some people think of the decibel level goes up somewhere the Holy Spirit moving it's a lot of rubbish if holiness is increasing you know the Holy Spirit moving in your life these are practical things and so many Christians differ in so many argument about this doctrine in that doctrine and the other doctrine but when it comes to holiness they're all in the same rut defeated by sin and I say the important thing is to recognize am i receiving have I really believed in the real Jesus never I believe in the real Holy Spirit and a different gospel oh boy this is such a lot of an Old Testament gospel was just keep preaching health and wealth no the old our only solution is you know if we read the New Testament with an open mind and say Lord I want to see the real Jesus here in the Gospels especially it'll really change your understanding about many many things now I want to show you a verse in John chapter 16 where a lot of people are confused concerning the Ministry of the Holy Spirit I will talk a little bit about that in the question/answer time yesterday how people think the Holy Spirit would come and the main thing is speaking in tongues etc but let me show you here what Jesus himself said about the coming of the Holy Spirit there are a number of things he said but maybe I should show you John 14 first then go to John 16 in John 14 he said in verse 15 if you love me keep my Commandments and you know that his Commandments were far higher than the standard of his Commandments were far higher than the commandments under the law Jesus came and raised the standard of the law when he said you're free from the law it's because we're the standard was raised that the law only dealt with outward sin but Jesus the gospel deals with sin within he came with an axe to the root we can say the law was like a pair of scissors that kept cutting off the bad fruit every time it came on the tree and the problem has never solved because this tree keeps on producing bad fruit you got to go around to the scissors all the time that's what the law did and the law did you know make Israel a pretty good nation compared to all the other nations in the world in fact all the laws of all the nations are really based on the Ten Commandments so Israel was the only one who had the Ten Commandments those days and therefore their external standard of life was far superior to other nations but that's because they had this law the scissors that cut off there was murder adultery that cut it off and externally their life was good but from within all these things kept coming out and if you find that that's all you're doing in your life you know and comes out you cut it off you're living under the law really but John the Baptist said I've got good news for you if you repent and turn towards the kingdom of heaven Jesus has come with an axe that he's going to lay to the root of the trees so Jesus didn't come with a pair of scissors he came with an axe and that was laid to the root of the trees to destroy the root and that solves a problem or I sometimes use the illustration a more modern illustration would be the difference between and say an ointment the law is like an ointment every time a sore came up you'd rub this wonderful ointment that would get rid of the sore but then it'll come up somewhere else and you rub the ointment there and then you rub it there and then it comes somewhere else and you keep carrying this tube with you all the time because these sores are popping up in your body here and there and then one day you hear the good news that somebody has discovered a thing called an antibiotic which you don't have to rub anywhere you take it inside and that deals with the root of the problem within and then the source stopped coming out that's the gospel the law is like an ointment so what have you got they had forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament but Jesus the real Jesus to know Jesus not as a forgiver but a savior and Lord if you love me you will keep my Commandments and my Commandments he already said in the Sermon on the Mount of such a high standard and it's let me paraphrase his words I know that it's impossible for you to live up to my standard and therefore verse 16 I will pray to the Father to give you a helper now in the context if you know plain English read verse 15 and 16 together and then you understand what is the Holy Spirit a helper for a helper to keep his Commandments it's so clear I mean going to be blind not to see it if you love me you'll keep my Commandments and I pray that God will give you a helper because you find it difficult to keep them so if you're serious about keeping the commandments and you find yourself failing I tell you you will really seek for the Holy Spirit a lot of people are seeking for the Holy Spirit and I say what for are you seeking for the part the Holy Spirit to keep God's commandments are you seeking because you've read the Sermon on the mountain you see oh god is impossible to live this life I want to live it because you said this is the wise man who obeys these Commandments build his house in the rock I want my house to be on the rock I find it impossible to keep it how do I do it he says I'll pray to the Father he'll give you a helper and he'll be with you forever that means forever he'll help you to keep those Commandments that's the first verse I wanted to show you and the second is again about the Holy Spirit in John 16 in John 16 he said when the Spirit of Truth scum verse 13 he will guide you into all the truth and I see that as having two meanings first of all all the truth there is in God's revelation in Scripture the only way to understand all the truth is not by going to a Bible School which will only teach you in your mind but revelation that's a great word in the New Testament revelation is the thing of the heart where God shows you something in your heart that changes your life a lot of people the way they study the Bible is information they know the verses they know the facts they know the doctrines doctrine of justification and sanctification and second coming and baptism and baptism in the spirit it's all knowledge but revelation is something of the heart that changes our life and the Spirit of Truth will guide you into all the truth or the Holy Spirit wrote the scriptures and you can't have anyone better than the author of this book sitting with you telling you what he meant when he wrote it and so you must believe that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all the truth that's why he's come that's why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and he it says he will verse 14 he will glorify me he'll glorify Christ because he will take of mine and disclose it to you he will not speak about himself he will glorify Christ see this is one of the wonderful things about the Trinity but we need to understand that each person of the Trinity glorifies another the father glorifies the son the son glorifies the father the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ and the person who's of the Trinity was glorifying the other seeks to keep himself hidden let me show you this characteristic of God that really blessed my heart Isaiah 45 and I Sarah 45 we read one of the characteristics of Almighty God which we need to acquire as well because man is so unlike God he was created to be in the image of God today we're so unlike God Isaiah 45 it says in verse 15 Isaiah 45 15 Oh God truly you are a God who hides himself God is a God who does not display himself in an ugly way he hides himself and you see that in creation see how wonderfully God has hidden self in creation and the greatest proof that God Himself is the fact there are so many atheists in the world who say there's no God see how wonderful he God has hidden himself but there are atheists in the world who say there's no God what a perfect job God has done of hiding himself I mean God could have easily every time the Sun rises say hey fellas I'm here I run this universe there would be no atheists then in the world but he doesn't say that he has hidden himself that's a characteristic of God the Father and when Jesus came to the earth he hid himself for thirty years he was in Nazareth nobody even and a clue that this is the second person of the Trinity walking on the earth as a man they just thought he was an ordinary man in fact they despised him saying oh he's the son of Mary we don't even know who his father is and it was Almighty God in human form how he hid himself and even when he moved around in Israel and he did a miracle he oh he was so unlike today's so-called healers and I've seen these television programs I don't waste my time going to their meetings but I've seen them on television these healers will some guy who well he makeup maybe they pray for somebody to be healed he could hear 50% in his 1 year and now he can hear 75% so they say come here give a give a testimony here and they display him in order to show you see what I did I prayed for this guy he could hear only 50 percent now he can hear 75 percent now you don't have a clue what anything happened really but see how it was with Jesus the real Jesus when He healed people he said don't tell anyone Jesus hid himself there's a characteristic of God God who hides himself he says I'm delighted that you got healed you were genuinely healed you're born blind and now you can see Jesus and I'm so delighted that's what thrills my heart I don't want you to go around telling people that I am the one who healed you I'm not interested in myself I'm interested in you where do you find healers like that where do you find preachers like that who can honestly say I'm not interested in what you can do for me I want I want you I want to bless you in some way that is how Jesus lived on the earth and you know after his resurrection as I've said before he didn't sort of appear before annas and caiaphas and say hey fellas you couldn't get rid of me I'm here or before Pilate he hid himself do you know that after the resurrection jesus never appeared to anyone but believers he appeared to 500 believers we read in 1 Corinthians 15 but never to any other Pharisees why didn't he do that I mean if he was the displaying type like a lot of preachers today he would have appeared before the Pharisees and say Here I am you thought you'd get rid of me on the cross I'm you didn't you know what a lust there is in us to vindicate ourselves before people who have criticized us or spoken evil about us as a tremendous lust in us to prove that we are right never wrong and Jesus had no such desire he hid himself and the same with the holy spirit the Holy Spirit as he moves you don't see him he hides himself because it says he read here he's come to glorify Christ he will glorify me he doesn't speak about himself the Holy Spirit doesn't come to talk about himself he talks about Christ and a spirit-filled preacher will draw you to Christ because he will exalt Christ not a preacher who draws you to himself he's not filled with the Holy Spirit not at all a preacher who seeks to attach you to himself saying you got to be attached to me that's closer to the devil than the Holy Spirit we need to be discerning otherwise I'll tell you this we are living in a day with tremendous deception and you can spend all your life deceived by another spirit and wake up in eternity when it's too late to discover that you were completely wrong so recognize these characteristics of God God is a God who hides himself the Holy Spirit always glorifies Christ and that is what he seeks to do when we read the scriptures he shows us Christ when it says he leads us into all the truth it's not only the truth in Scripture but when he glorifies Christ before us you know what happens when I see the real Jesus I see my own need I don't have to look inside and dig in into my heart to see where I went wrong if I see Jesus like Isaiah when he saw the glory of God he immediately was convicted of his sin he didn't get her eyes I wasn't convicted of his sin by listening to a preacher he was convicted because he encountered God John the Apostle fell on his face because he encountered Christ and I believe if we lift up Jesus that's the that's the thing that will convict people of sin they'll see the glory of Christ and they see their own sin and the next thing that happened or Isaiah was a sin was cleansed away in Isaiah chapter 6 so that's how the Holy Spirit does it he seeks to glorify Christ before us all the time he says this is how Jesus is and so if you really want to know Jesus you've got to allow the Holy Spirit to show you the real Jesus from Scripture I wanted to show you because he wants to transfer into that image so let me show you another words about which I find is them perhaps the clearest verse in the entire New Testament about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and then under the New Covenant and if you keep this verse in mind you'll never be confused concerning the Ministry of the Holy Spirit I've never found a verse that expresses the Ministry of the Spirit more clearly 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 2nd Corinthians in chapter 3 and verse 18 so here is how the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ first of all it says you know it's speaking about an unveiled face and the veil spoken of in that passages is the law you know I can go to the Bible with the spirit of the law and then like it says in verse 6 of this chapter the letter will kill you do you know that you can get spiritual depth from reading the Bible the Pharisees killed people spiritually by quoting the Bible they read the Bible and interpret it in such a way that they condemned people and any any preaching that makes you feel condemned now without giving you any hope his legalistic it's from the devil it's not there's no condemnation the Holy Spirit never condemns he convicts and we need to understand very clearly the difference between conviction and condemnation it's one way we can discern whether the voice I'm hearing is the voice of God or the voice of the devil the devil's call the accuser of the Brethren condemnation is that which makes you feel miserable you know if you feel well you're good for nothing you'll never amount to anything the way some foolish fathers speak to their children you're good for nothing now you'll never amount to anything in your life that's the best way to destroy your child keep on telling him negative things and God is not like that God's not a bad father he's a loving father he never says he when you do something wrong it's not that he ignores it that would be a foolish father who ignores the wrong that his son does so but the the Holy Spirit convicts is my son my daughter that wasn't right that wasn't the way to speak Jesus would have spoken like this so let me help you to change your way of speaking that's the way the Holy Spirit convicts not what a good-for-nothing fellow you are again you went and spoke like that that's the devil now if you recognize the difference it into these two voices you'll never be feel condemned in your whole life I used to live under condemnation for many years after I was born again because I nobody taught me this as a young Christian to distinguish it in condemnation and conviction I'd feel condemned feel rotten and after all this is the Holy Spirit hammering me down and it wasn't it was the devil and the more I felt condemned the more I got defeated by sin but the Holy Spirit when I understood that he convicts it's it's only as a gentle voice it's a still small voice not like a thunder and with lightning and all as a gentle voice that says that was wrong and that's the way we should correct our children - it's not with anger and condemnation and the result in my life is there is absolutely no condemnation in my life now it disappeared from my life long ago I never feel condemned I'll tell you honestly but convicted every day every single day the Lord shows me I'm not exaggerating something where I need to be a little more christ-like something maybe some attitude some speech in word some motive something this this is called progressive sanctification until one day I'll be like him completely he who has the hope of Christ's coming it says in 1 John 3:3 keeps on purifying himself and Paul says in the next chapter chapter 4 verse 16 our inner man 2nd Corinthians 4:16 is renewed every single day that's inspired scripture that challenges me that the Apostle Paul reached such a level of spirituality that each day he was more spiritual than the previous day do you believe such a goal is possible and we think of each year we are a little better than the previous year that itself is a great thing but Paul wasn't satisfied with just being a better person after one year renewed day by day I know when a took me many years to be challenged by that and say Lord that's what I want I want to be a little more christ-like today than I was yesterday and a little more christ-like tomorrow than I am today and that can only be as the Holy Spirit convicts me and shows me some on Christ like in them unless in my life that I need to cleanse away shows me Jesus that I know Jesus a little more this is what he's really like so here it says this with an unreal face second Corinthians 3:18 as in the mirror in the mirror it is God's Word we see the glory of the Lord in the Old Testament they looked at the law as a mirror and you know what the law did for them just like any mirror will do for you in your bathroom shows you the dirt on your face or your hair is not combed or something wrong with your face it shows you but the mirror in the in the New Covenant it's not primarily convicting you like the law did which may feel feel condemned it says you see the glory of Jesus there so when I look into God's Word I'm supposed to see the glory of Jesus there that's what it says here and like Isaiah when I see the glory of Jesus then I feel convicted oh I'm a man of unclean lips and the more I see the glory of the Lord the more I'll see on Christ's likeness in my life and progressively if I'm really seeing the glory of the Lord day by day I'll see more and more on Christ's likeness in my life day by day and I'll become more and more christ-like I'll be more gracious in my speech and more more pure in my thoughts and more pure in my motives and free from the things that are UNCHR iced like in my life it's a tremendous place to come to if you seriously seriously say Lord I want to experience this being renewed every single day but remember what I said at the beginning all experience that because he felt he not he felt he knew everything outside of Christ is rubbish and a lot of Christians have not come there they want Christ plus a few other things they say well this is not actually rubbish it's some of those things are pretty good but if Paul didn't feel like that if God gave him I mean Paul needed money to live and he needed work to do etc all that it was all there but he said I don't live for those things he said I've learned to live with little and more much it's all the same to me he says in Philippians 4:13 I've learned to be a Philippines 4:10 2 onwards I've learned to be content with whatever I have I'm never longing for something God doesn't give me God gives me plenty praise the Lord if he gives me a little it's just the same as it's me it's just the same as whether I wear a blue shirt or a white shirt it doesn't really make a difference to me Paul says I don't have a preference for one color and false is the same with me I don't have a preference for wealth or poverty if God determines this is best for me at this time I accept it and if another time God determines something else as well for me I accept that God so it's wonderful to be free from these things because I say everything outside of Christ is rubbish the main thing in our life is that God's goal in our life can be achieved to make us more and more like him finally that will be completely like him so the Holy Spirit the first Ministry of the Holy Spirit is to show us the glory of Jesus Christ in the scriptures and secondly if it was only if it stopped there we'd be terribly discouraged because the more we see that glory the more we feel convicted of where we are unlike him so there's a second Ministry of the Holy Spirit it to transform us into that same image from one degree of glory to another not in a moment step by step by step by step and that's one of the things we see in Genesis chapter one like I said yesterday the corrupt earth which had been corrupted by the fall of Lucifer in Genesis 1:2 God changed it he could have changed it overnight like that created everything and in the second year worming the Sabbath but he didn't do it like that he did it stage by stage by stage by stage little by little by little by little to teach us a lesson right in the very first chapter of the Bible that when our lives are corrupted by the devil God wants to change us through the Holy Spirit and through God's Word but he's gonna do it progressively day by day by day by day until finally on the sixth day man was made in the perfect image of God and God said very good so that is a picture of our sanctification where we allow the Holy Spirit to renew us like Paul says day by day by day by day by day until one day were like Christ and there was no day in Genesis chapter 1 where it says God did nothing there was something on the first day something on the second day something on the third day something on four days something on fifth day a progressive improvement in the earth till finally it was perfect and that's a message for me that in my life there's no day in my life no day where God wants to do nothing every single day of this rest of this year now I can't do anything about the past our past we've been ignorant about all these things and thank God the Bible says a lovely verse in acts 17 verse 30 I like to quote that verse to a lot of people acts 17:30 the times of ignorance God overlooked God says okay forget it you're ignorant and I overlooked it you can forget about it you can't do anything about the past you can't bring back the past that's over but now he says in that verse he commands everybody to turn around and take life seriously repent and say now how many of you will are eager about this you don't have to answer me but answer the Lord do you really want to have a Genesis one type of experience in your life where no day is wasted where it says in the first day God did this in the second day God did this unlike how it does in the past where days on it says God did nothing in our lives because we didn't permit him see the difference in Genesis 1 was the earth responded every time God said something it said fine go ahead right ahead and do it you want trees to come out sure here the trees you want something else to come out here it is and the seed said you want fish to come in okay Shore fish and imagine if we responded like that then every time the spirit says something you say yes the spirit says don't look at that picture turn your head away yes sure Lord wouldn't that be great don't click on that site on the computer sure lord I won't click there imagine if you responded like that I tell you you will experience being renewed day by day by day by day when you speak rudely to someone and immediately the Spirit of God says that is not the way my son my daughter Jesus would speak correct it immediately respond and say Lorna I'm really sorry and go to that person and say I'm sorry that I spoke like that I really feel bad and if it happens 10 times a day go 10 times a day to that person and maybe your wife would say I'm sorry and your wife says you just keep doing that all the time okay I'm such a bad person but I'm improving well your husband says that don't get discouraged God's changing you little by little by little nobody gets changed overnight like that little by little by little by little and sometimes we fail many times in the same area that's certainly been true in my life but you work at it and say Lord I'm determined I see the goal you have made for me is to make me totally like Jesus Christ one day and I'm on that road that's the narrow way that leads to life and I'm determined to make progress along that there's a lovely verse in Proverbs 4:18 which says the part of the righteous is like the shining light that shines more and more into the perfect day and second Corinthians 3:18 is the New Testament interpretation of proverbs 4:18 like the Sun rising getting brighter brighter brighter so our life gets more and more like Christ and the Holy Spirit has come to do that so when the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus how did what do we see first of all let's start at the beginning like I said we got to start at the kindergarten we don't start we don't send a school and send a child to school and it didn't start in grade 8 he starts in the kindergarten a lot of people when they are when they would say I want to be like Jesus immediately they jump to what he was at age 30 I want to heal the sick and raise the dead and multiply food and perhaps walk on water I don't know what else but I said don't jump to age 30 you you don't send us when it's your child goes to school he doesn't go straight to grade 10 imagine putting a five-year-old child in grade 10 who hasn't learned ABC yet he'd sit there like a dumb kid not understanding a single thing so if you really want to be more and more like Jesus don't start at age 30 start at zero that's kindergarten so what's the first thing we can learn not healing the sick and raising that that's not where we begin that may come years later but where we begin is in Philippians 2 that's where we all need to begin Jesus what's the first thing he did before he even came to earth before he came to earth what made him come to this earth it says he Perkins 2:5 have this attitude in yourself which is in Christ Jesus although Philippians 2:6 he exists stood in the form of God from all eternity as the second person of the Trinity he did not regard that equality with God is something that he's got to hold on to no he renounced it he gave it out he gave up position privilege honor rights reputation name it all that God has respect he gave it all up to become a man so if I want to if the Holy Spirit is going to show me the glory of Christ there and make me like him he says I'm gonna free you listen carefully I'm gonna free you from the desire for honor position respect dignity and a whole lot of other things that men and women in the world are fighting for you will renounce it and you don't have to Jesus didn't have to you voluntarily give it up can you imagine how peaceful our churches would be if nobody was fighting for position or honor or titles that's amazing how in Christendom people are so crazy to get titles Jesus didn't want any title when they wanted once they wanted to make him a king he says he ran away in John chapter 6 this is the first thing he came to earth and it says here he emptied himself of all that and he took the form of a servant I want you to understand this verse 7 properly he took the form of a servant being made in the likeness of men if I were to expand it what it means is he became a servant because he was made in the likeness of men that means being made in the likeness of men the only thing he would proper for him to do was to be a servant so they I learned something there that God created man to rule over sin but we a servant externally to everybody else this is the paradox of the Christian life inwardly a king ruling over sin my lusts and ruling over the devil and triumphing over circumstances etc but externally a servant to everybody this is how Jesus lived in worldly triumphant externally a servant unfortunately it's exactly the opposite with a lot of Christians inwardly defeated by their lusts and defeated in their speech and defeated in every other area but externally trying to show that they're great people impress others why for example that Jesus said don't be called rabbi why did he say that because winner I mean it's all right to have titles in the world maybe you're a doctor or whatever it is in the world they are president and etc etc but in the church he's talking about the church you shouldn't have a title because we're supposed to be servants what title does your servant in your home have and that's why Jesus refused to take a title and he said you should not also allow anybody to call you rabbi or father for insisting no it's a very small thing but if you understand the reason behind it you'll see how serious it is because the moment you take a title you're elevating yourself above other believers saying I'm not at your level I'm a little higher than you I'm not just an ordinary brother I'm a reverend or when they give when there are too many reverence then they become right reverend there's another they always want to go a little higher you know alright Reverend doctor something like that why not be just a brother why not be just a servant this is the first thing we need to learn the only person I want to honor me is God let him honor me well I don't want any honour from men I don't want any respect from men now I want to tell you this may look very simple brothers you may not be looking for such titles in your life but without titles as well you can look for honor now I'm not talking out in the world in the world you need titles for the people know who you are because that's out in the secular world but in the world but in the church you got to leave all that outside and when you come to the church you're an ordinary brother or a sister even if you came at the first hour you're equal to the folks who come at the eleventh hour he's a brother in your brother too he's your sister and she's a sister that is how it is in the church and if you're not willing to accept that I'll tell you this right now you're gonna have problems all your Christian life because this is a very first thing Jesus did he could have taken that position as God when he came to earth but he didn't he renounced it and that's the first thing we need to do and then when he and he is it says here he he knew that if I'm a man I've got to be a servant that's the meaning of that verse and then when he came to earth we read in Luke chapter 2 the second thing about him that we read is that he continued a Luke 251 he was subject to human authority and in his case the human Authority was the ones whom Almighty God the Father had appointed as his earthly guardians or parents Joseph and Mary and he had to submit to them for 30 years do you want to know the real Jesus this is the real Jesus and to follow him to be like him I need to learn this he subjected himself to imperfect parents now for an imperfect person to submit to imperfect Authority is easy I mean if you got a boss in your place of work who's imperfect but you're more imperfect than him that's okay but can you imagine if you know your job so well in your boss doesn't he try submitting to such a boss who doesn't have a clue about the job but he tells you to do all types of things can you imagine the irritation well Jesus faced something like that but he never sinned here he was the perfect child with imperfect parents I hope you know that Joseph and Mary were imperfect unless you're a Roman Catholic or something yo Joseph and Mary were imperfect they were children of Adam and they were sinners Mary said God my Savior she needed God as a savior and they were imperfect and they were under the Old Covenant means more imperfect than New Covenant believers and you've seen how imperfect New Covenant parents are can you imagine our old covenant parents were and it was two such parents that Almighty God told Jesus to be subject for 30 years now why in the world does he need that he knew the Bible when he was 12 his Bible knowledge enough to go out and preach it's what a lot of people think if I know the Bible I can go out and preach God said no it's not enough if I have gifts I can go out and preach no you need to learn submission to Authority and I've seen a lot of young people who have got such an itch an urge to serve the Lord to plant churches and be elders over others who never in their life being subject to anybody's authority and I've seen people like that who when they try to serve God they make a mess of their life and a mess of their ministry because God doesn't back them up god never backs up a person with his spiritual authority who has not himself first learned to be subject to some Authority somewhere and that is the reason why God doesn't commit his authority to many many people because they are not willing to submit to any authority now I want to ask you have you ever in your life submitted to some authority over you or you always try to conveniently escape well I can tell you I can prophesy God will never come at Authority - in you in your whole life in your whole life spiritual authority impossible you can make yourself Authority a lot of people try and do that in Christendom when God will never do that God will never never submit give spiritual authority to a man who is not himself submitted to thorny who has not been broken by submission to Authority because such a man we yield I will use authority in a very rough way and I've seen people like that a broken man is the only person who's fit to wield spiritual authority and Jesus had to submit like that and be broken dear brothers this is the pathway that God takes all his servants through even in the Old Testament you remember it's when Jacob was broken that he became Israel when he became lame it's when Moses the mighty Moses at the age of 40 was unfit to lead God's people God took him into the wilderness for another 40 years and said I'll teach you something that all the academies of Egypt couldn't teach you and what was that brokenness he was so broken that at the age of 80 he says Lord I'm not that I'm not fit and the age 40 he felt he was at age 80 he was sure that he wasn't the person I mentioned yesterday how God took me through that path of failure and failure and failure till I said Lord I'll never in my life ever try to plant a church that's not my calling I'll go do something else and it's when you come to that place where you feel you're totally unfit to do something that's when God says well I think you already know this is God's Way his ways are not our ways and the only way he we can learn that is by submission that's why Jesus had to learn to submit where his will had to be broken he had to yield his own will and and he had to be tested even Jesus had to be tested why did God logy the devil to tempt Jesus he had to be an example for us and as he submitted to his mother and Mary it says in Luke 2:52 you see the connection between verse 51 and 52 in Luke chapter 2 he kept increasing in wisdom he already had knowledge at the age of 12 but wisdom he kept increasing wisdom is very different from knowledge wisdom is practical application of the truths you learn from God and a lot of people increase in knowledge they don't increase in wisdom the real Jesus he increased in wisdom and then at the age of 30 God said okay you can leave Nazareth now leave your carpenter's shop let me anoint you and in three-and-a-half years he did the greatest ministry that any man ever did that's a tremendous challenge to me this is the real Jesus this is the Jesus we need to know and do when I say I want to know Jesus as my lord it means that I want to go the same pathway that he went first of renouncing all desire for position honor reputation dignity everything and then being willing to submit to whatever God ordained as the place he is planned for me to be broken now I'm not talking about submitting to people who lead you away from God's Word for example if you're in a church system that is contrary to the Word of God that means you've seen things in Scripture and you see them that the church you belong to is not following Scripture there there's only one thing you can do you say Lord get me out of here as soon as possible it's like some of these websites if you've got a good browser and you go to a web site which is got some malware and spyware and all types of where over there you'll get a notice saying you want to go here or do you one boxes get me out of here as soon as possible and you click on that and say I don't want any virus in my system so if you're in a system at church where which is not obeying God's Word there's a little box and get me out of here as soon as possible click that and ask the Holy Spirit to take you out of there because that's not a being Scripture how long they gonna continue disappearing scripture and you disobeyed it enough you want to continue in that way to please man that's a great verse in Galatians chapter 1 verse 10 which the Lord spoke to my heart many years ago said if you want to be my servant you got to decide that you never in your life try to please any human being if you seek to please men you cannot be the servant of Christ all said that I cannot be the servant of Christ if I seek to please man and so if I have the slightest desire to please men I'm immediately disqualified from being servant of Christ because I'm a servant of that man then so I need to ask myself always why am I doing this is it to please somebody or just to please God there's always this choice comes before me this is temptation the temptation that a lot of Christians faces are you going to please men here oh please God are you gonna please your relatives are you gonna please God that's why Jesus said the first condition of discipleship remember he told us go into all the world and make disciples of every nation and having worked for 37 years in India in a heathen nation seeking to make disciples mostly from non-christian backgrounds I've learned one thing that what Jesus said was absolutely right the first condition of discipleship is you got to love Jesus more than your father mother brother sister wife children and your own life if you don't fulfill that forget about being a disciple go and do something else and this is what we have taught we've taught Christians and non-christians you want to follow Jesus you've got to put him above father mother brother sister wife children your job yourself everything if you don't do that you'll never be a disciple you just call you'll be one of these third-rate Christians sitting around in churches and thinking you're pleasing God you're not pleasing God at all you're trying to please some relative you're not praying trying to please some pastor you're trying to please some human being and that's a tremendous insult to God when God stands there and this human being stands there and God says who are you gonna please now me or him and you say Lord has a lot of trouble if I don't please him so I don't mind offending you because you'll forgive me but this guy won't you'll never be a disciple you'll be a third-rate good for nothing useless Christian will spend your life glorifying the devil I might as tell you the truth I don't want to stand up here and please men when I speak it's the truth brother sister and I've seen it year after year after year in all these years in India I've seen people who obey it who become radical disciples who become useful in God's hands and I've seen other people who compromised in this area they're wishy-washy all through their life so it's so important and you see that in the example of Jesus this Jesus who obeyed Mary for 30 years perfectly the moment he left home and went into the ministry you know one of his first recorded words to Mary in Cana woman what am I going to do with you I can't mind Mary getting yourself is this Jesus is the same Jesus who he said yes mommy yes mommy for 30 years yeah it's the same Jesus he was now going into the ministry and he was not gonna let his mother interfere in his life I mean a lot of people could have come to him and say oh Jesus think about how much your mother suffered because she lived under the scandal of being an unwed mother for so many years for your sake and all these sob stories that you can say think of how much she suffered for you they're gonna treat him like that he was not gonna be moved his father was supreme sometimes we do have to hurt our parents sometimes we gotta hurt human beings not because we want to but for us is gonna stand for God this is the real Jesus if you want to make Jesus Lord of your life to know him as Lord everything outside of Christ is rubbish pleasing people rubbish I please them if there's a result of pleasing God sure but if it's a choice I mean my choice I made mine long ago and I've never regretted at all these years and I recommend that to all of you think about it seriously is that an area in your life my brother's sister where the devil's holding you back with human compassion when you should be devoted to Christ I want to encourage you to make a decision today because I'll tell you this if you don't do it today this voice that you hear right now loud and clear like a trumpet will be a little softer tomorrow you won't hear it so clear and by the time a week is gone you won't hear it anymore so now is the time take a decision before God let's pray Heavenly Father I pray that you will apply these truths to our lives and help us to live in the light of the word that you've spoken to us so that we can know you Jesus the real Jesus nor you more and more is Lord of our lives with no competitor but you will be lord help us to know you're really Lord and we've sort of talked about knowing you in a superficial way but we really want to know you we thank you in Jesus name we pray amen there's a little card out there if you'd like to pray for us you're welcome to take it from that table for any of you who want it our website address is also there thank you

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 29,647

Rating: 4.8923078 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: CP_5DfxmON0

Length: 55min 44sec (3344 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 20 2014