The True Mark of Spirituality - Zac Poonen - August 5, 2012

part of my calling in the ministry is to expose deception and to save Christians from deceiving themselves more than the deception that comes from other sources from cults and fake Christian preachers which most of us may have light on the greater danger for those of us who have light on that and are pretty proud that we have light on other deceivers is self-deception many-a-times the Bible speaks about how a man can deceive himself if it's amazing to see how many places in Scripture it says about our deceiving ourselves and it says that God will allow us to deceive ourselves that's the great danger and the only way to escape self-deception is favorite passage of mind one of the most scary verses in the New Testament 2nd Thessalonians 2 verse 11 I believe this is one of the most scary verses for any believer if he has years to here in the New Testament and that says God will send on them a deluding influence so that they believe what is false I can't think of any other verse in the New Testament where it says God Himself will deceive people and allow them to believe a lie I've seen it happen among believers everywhere all over in good churches where they believe something false about themselves and God is the one who has allowed them to believe something false and now remember this is written verse one second business to one two brethren brethren I don't think this is written to unbelievers brethren God will deceive people so that they believe a lie what sort of lies have I seen I've seen people who imagine they are born again when they are not born again I've seen people who imagine that they love the Lord when they don't love the Lord they are absolutely convinced that they love the Lord I've seen numerous people imagine they are filled with the Holy Spirit and they are not filled with the Holy Spirit imagine living all your life in self-deception thinking I'm something when I'm not imagining that I have an experience which I don't have and then finally waking up in the day of judgment and standing before the Lord and discovering in that day when it is too late that all my life i deceived myself and there wasn't anyone in my church kind enough or wise enough to correct me to show me where I was wrong to show me where I was deceiving myself because the preachers were too kind to offend me they didn't want to hurt my feelings so they let me go to hell deceiving myself they let me live a worthless life even if I did get to heaven discovering that day that I did not live as God wanted me to I take my responsibility whenever I stand in a pulpit very seriously many years ago I said to the Lord Lord I don't want any money from anybody I don't know any any honor from anyone I want to make sure that I tell them the truth so that in the day when they meet me at the judgment seat of Christ they will not say to me brother Zak you never told me the truth not one person on earth whom I've spoken to will be able to say that to me that's my only desire and that's why I speak as I do not only here but everywhere I go because it's an awesome responsibility to stand and speak as the mouthpiece of God to people the Bible says that that anyone who speaks 1 Peter 4 must speak as if God Himself is speaking through him otherwise he's got no right to stand up in the name of Jesus Christ and preach to others he must speak as the utterances of God as if God Himself is speaking through them so I won't know the whys why does God allow some people to be deceived that's what I want to show you here first of all before I proceed verse 10 2nd Thessalonians 2:10 who are the people whom God allows to believe a lie those who do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved so there are two things there one to receive the love of the truth and second to be saved do you want to be free from God himself deceiving you I mean we've got our lusts deceiving us Ephesians 4 says our lusts are full of deceit Jeremiah 17 says a heart is deceitful above all things revelation 12 says the devil is the deceiver of the whole world see what we've got arraigned against us that double deceiving us our filthy lusts deceiving us a heart that's deceitful above all things against these three things our only hope is if God is on our side to protect us from this deception if God Himself joins that and deceives us we're finished there's no hope and I don't want to be like that I've got less just like anyone any other human being that deceived me all the time if I'm not careful I can let my heart deceive unless I allow it to be led by the spirit and of course the devil is always around with his demons to deceive me but my salvation lies in the fact that I have God on my side and if I go if I want God on my side I have to first of all love the truth and that means for me two things one when I read something in the word or I hear a message that convicts me about something in my own life maybe other people don't know maybe your wife doesn't know maybe your husband doesn't know maybe your parents don't know but something God shows me wrong in my life by wrong I mean not wrong according to the low good-for-nothing standards of the world but low according to the life of Jesus Christ anything unlike Christ unlike Christ's likeness in my attitude thoughts words deeds actions motives anything that's contrary to the Spirit of Christ and the Lord shows it to me in some situation could be in a meaning could me when I'm reading the Bible alone it could be when nothing else is happening it could mean when I see another godly man and his life convicts me and I see something and I'm honest I say Lord I see something on Christ like there when I'm honest to acknowledge a lustful look as adultery nothing less than that and you say to God Lord I'm sorry I committed adultery right now that's honesty or when you're angry with somebody even though you haven't spoken lord according to your word I murdered that person in my heart right now that's honesty I find very few believers who say that that's why they never get free from anger they never get free from the lust of their eyes even though they become 70 80 years old because they never called sin by the worst name that Jesus called it by they always gave it some tender you know nice name you never get free from it unless you call it by the worst possible name called anger murder call lust adultery and you'll be free from it pretty quickly otherwise you'll never be free I predict you'll never be free I've learned through the years to call sin by the worst possible name you can give it and that's loving the truth about myself anything that God shows me and not to justify myself it's such a spirit of self justification and the racer Adam ever since the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam did you eat of the tree and he just divided himself blaming his wife the second thing there's a lot more to say on that but you can meditate on it the second thing about loving the truth is this that when I read the scriptures and I study the Scriptures carefully and I find some truth in Scripture which is contrary to what I have believed up until now even if I'm a hundred years old to humble myself and say lord I was wrong for 100 years and I'm willing to change I'm willing to publicly acknowledge that my stubbornness and my arrogance and my pride prevented me all these years from acknowledging something I see so clearly in the world that's loving the truth and when I love the truth I will never be deceived when I was converted I knew almost nothing of the Bible I knew the Lord's Prayer and a few things like Christ died for my sins but there's so many other things in scripture I mean that is all there is in the Bible you probably need only one page why is the Lord put more than a thousand pages here scripture because a lot of other things in God's Word more than Christ died for my sins and I'll go to heaven my sins can be forgiven and I didn't know so many things but as I discovered things you know when we are young just like little children you teach little children something you can teach them anything you can teach them that the moon is made of cheese they'll believe it and like that you know I was in a church and I had to believe whatever that particular church taught me their doctrines and we start like that but you shouldn't end like that because what that church taught you could be wrong so as I compared what that assembly I grew up in with God's Word I found a number of things that they didn't talk about they never taught about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit but I found it all over Scripture in the New Testament so I decided I'm going to seek for something my church does not teach me and I'm glad I did otherwise that I spent all my life missing out on something God had for me and I saw things I had to change my views on many things they taught me that the church would never go through the tribulation when I looked in Scripture in Matthew 24 Jesus said clearly that I'd go through it I changed my view I changed my view on whether Jesus came as a man and was tempted like me in all things I didn't believe that before the many many things that changed my eye to publicly acknowledge I was wrong now I've seen Scripture that's loving the truth you know it's very difficult for people who've been believers for many years to acknowledge after that I was wrong dear brothers and sisters would you rather humble yourself for a moment and acknowledge II were wrong and have the joy of never being deceived for the rest of your life or save your dignity and your false sense of pride there and allow God to deceive you for the rest of your life it could be a little thing or a small thing people talk about little Commandments little Commandments given by a great God are they little anymore concerning the Old Testament law jesus said not one jot or tittle would pass away that's like our saying dotting the i's and crossing the t's now when you write a letter even if you don't cross the I I'm in dot the I people will still understand what you said but in the Lord Jesus said you got dot every I and I apply that to the New Testament that means every little thing is a dot over the letter I important jesus said it is and is a little commandment a very very little thing in Scripture important for me it is I'll tell you why because I don't want to be deceived I don't want to spend my life living for the wrong thing I don't know about you but I see there's only one life God's given me to live and I want to live it totally according to the manufacturer's instructions just as I'm careful when I get an expensive electronic gadget to follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly when it says press this button before you press that one I do that even if it doesn't appear right to me if I press the other button first and something messes up or the machine blows up I got myself to blame and when I read something in Scripture it doesn't appeal to my clever brain I put my clever brain aside say Lord I'll do what you say now tell you after 53 years of doing that I become a very happy man I've never had a problem and God hasn't solved because I set aside my clever brain and I said I'll do it according to your word I would recommend that way to you what is the mark of true spirituality that's really what I wanted to speak on today what I said so far is just an introduction now I want to show you what true spirituality is because we've got so many wrong ideas we can think humility that's the mark of true spirituality if you understand it right yes but most people understand humility wrong they think humility means acting very humble putting your leg head down or you know speaking in a very humble self demeaning type of way that's a lot of rubbish I never see Jesus speaking in a self demeaning way oh I'm such a wretched sinner you think that's a very humble man who gets up and says I'm such a wretched sinner I don't think so at all I've heard enough people pray in public Lord I'm a wretched sinner they don't believe it one bit if somebody else said that about them that behind their back that that guy was a wretched he'd be pretty upset that's the proof that he doesn't believe in himself a lot of hypocrisy in prayer a lot of pious rubbish a lot of people think if I'm upright or if I dress in a proper way that's spirituality these are all important but the mark of true spirituality is something far deeper than all this and if you don't understand it you can be deceived on your life for example humility can you tell me one verse in scripture that tells me how Jesus proved his humility and where was his humility seen Court Jesus the greatest example of humility because he said in Matthew 11:29 learn from me for I am humble he never told us to learn from him how to preach or how to sing I mean we spend so much time learning how to preach and how to sing but Jesus said learn humility from me learn gentleness from me the only two things Jesus ever said for us to learn were the two things we lack completely which the race of Adam lacks humility and gentleness we think gentleness is an effeminate thing for women it's not a strong man is gentle weak men are hard Jesus was the strongest man that ever lived and he was humble and he was gentle we got a wrong understanding of strength he thinks strength need shouting yelling Jesus never did that I remember in my preaching as I've sought to understand the Lord's ways I feel that if I have to shout and yell means I contrast the Holy Spirit to take the words home to people's hearts Jesus never had to do it he was forceful in the way he spoke but he was humble and gentle and his humility was not seen in his acting like a doormat before men being like a doormat wall that everybody tried over you that's not human no we need to understand it right you know you can take the letter of Scripture and see Jesus said when somebody slaps you on one cheek what should you do turn the other cheek he said that in Matthew five let's see what Jesus himself did you can't have a better example than Christ's John chapter 18 when the high priest asked Jesus something when he was standing before the high priest at his trial John 1819 jesus replied to him and Jesus the high priest wanted to know about your teaching and Jesus said Gomez the people who heard me verse 21 and when Jesus said this verse 22 one of the officers standing by Jesus gave him a bowl on his face and said is that the way you answer a high priest what did Jesus say when somebody slaps you on one cheek what should you do turn the other did he do it no he didn't that is the danger of following the letter of the law he said if I have spoken wrongly bear witness of me of the wrong but if I were it rightly why do you strike me how do you reconcile that which is the same turn the other cheek the letter kills the spirit gives life Jesus wasn't a doormat for everybody walk over him he asked for his rights if I have spoken what is right why do you strike me people have take one scripture and live by that that's how we go into wrong doctrine you can take this trip gently by this and go wrong doctrine - I presume they struck him again they kept quiet the meaning of what Jesus taught is don't fight with people you can ask for your rights but if they don't give it to you leave it in God's hands we can ask for our rights in a court of law you're accused falsely but if they don't give it to you well trust God but we don't have a spirit of fighting back with someone who strikes me on one cheek that's just an example where was Jesus humility seen I'll show you as I said it was not in being like a doormat what is true spirituality it's not being like a doormat it's not in speaking always very nicely you remember Jesus turned to the parishes and said in Matthew 23 said about them you serpents you generation of vipers how will you escape the damnation of hell that's in Matthew 23 verse 33 what was his humility scene in telling the moneychangers will you gentlemen please not do this here no he took a whip and chased them out learn from me for I am humble and gentle that doesn't look we're like very gentle does it to turn over the tables and make the coins run away I tell you if you follow the letter of Scripture you will deceive yourself follow Jesus look at his example they spat on him he never got angry that's true Christianity you would never defend himself when Peter tried to defend him cutting off somebody's ear with the Saudis that put your soul back don't fight for me you don't have to defend me have you ever said like that to anybody are you excited when somebody stands up for you and defends you you say you don't have to defend me I can call 72,000 angels right now but I won't call all there's a lot we have to learn about true spirituality a lot because we follow the letter and not Jesus in the Old Testament that was ok thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path in the New Testament you have to interpret the word by the life of Jesus otherwise you'll have a totally wrong understanding of humility so let me turn you to Philippians 2 which to me is the clearest example of Jesus humility the unmistakable proof of Jesus humility Philippians 2 and verse 8 being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by being obedient unto death even the death on a cross that and that alone is the clearest unmistakable final proof of genuine humility total obedience to God in secret even to the point of death to myself if you've got that brother sister you got humility if you don't have that you can act like a doormat all your life you're just seeking honor for your humility you can speak nervously humbly put your head down you're just seeking honor for yourself oh how we like to pray in such a humble way so that everybody recognizes us as humble people garbage any spiritual man can see through that type of hollow prayer but because 95% of people in most churches are not spiritual they admire your prayer but any spiritual man can see through the hollowness of these pious bogus humble prayers Jesus never prayed those type of artificial humble prayers he prayed with great boldness to his father his humility was seen in secret obedience to the Father in a loss which we know nothing about which I'm not even written in Scripture so many areas and if you seek the Holy Spirit's left on these things God the Lord will show you the areas in your life where you need to follow Jesus in secret in obedience to God and then God will back you up publicly and the proof of humility is that God gives grace to the humble for me there's only one proof that I know that God thinks I'm humble not what people think about me it's absolutely worthless the opinions of men good or bad are fit for the garbage bin a trash can whether they call me a prophet or the devil trash can the opinion of God number one most important the opinion of the devil even that is more important to me than the opinion of men because the devil knows a lot of things about my private life which you folks don't know and what he thinks about me is much more important than what you think about me because he knows my private life it's not more important than God because God knows even my thought life which the devil doesn't know so God's opinion is number one let's seek to live like that brothers and sisters it'll liberate you it liberates you from the constant temptation to seek honour from men for our holiness or our humility or getting a reputation for something or the other before men and it'll liberate you to truly serve the Lord secret obedience before God and little little things which other people know nothing about secret sacrifices that you've made in private which people know nothing about that and that alone is the proof of your humility and people may think you're a proud arrogant man because you whip the money changers out of the temple let them think what they like people can think you're an arrogant person because you speak about serpents and generation of vipers that will go to hell let them think what they like isn't it enough God thinks you're humble and I know God thinks I'm humble he will give me grace because he always gives grace to the humble you don't have to ask him for grace when you're humble it comes automatically you know it's like water you don't have to force the water to go down to the low place it just flows automatically you can't force the water to go to the high place God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble and how do I know I got grace one and one proof alone sin shall not rule over me Romans 6:14 when I get grace I will not lose my temper when if I have grace I shall not have dirty thoughts if I have grace and if I continually receive grace over a period of time even my dirty dreams will disappear that may take a few years because we've lived with so much filth for so long but if they're not disappearing dear brothers sisters I don't want you to feel condemned but you probably need to take a warning that however humble you think before you are before others God doesn't think so scary dreams which women have and dirty dreams which men have you're not part of God's will let me tell you that they're not sin because they are unconscious but it says something about our conscious thought life it's not one of humility and Trust the reason may be we are seeking so much the honor of man live before God's face he humbled himself by being obedient so what is the mark of true spirituality let me show you Isaiah 14 which is the origin of sin in the universe not in the human race that is in Genesis 3 the origin of sin in the universe is Isaiah 14 where the one whom he knows Lucifer we don't know his name Lucifer is just a King James translation of a Hebrew word in Isaiah 14:12 anyway let's call him Lucifer since he's known like that the head of the Angels this is what he said in his heart isaiah 14 verse 13 and 14 you see the origin of sin do you notice something in isaiah 14 verse 13 and 14 something repeated two words repeated again and again and again and again there's the origin of sin what is it I will I will I will I will I will five times I the origin of sin a created being has the audacity and the arrogance to say I will do what I want to do I don't care what God says it's not only unbelievers believers who do that John 6:38 the origin of salvation the opposite to the opposite of this the origin of salvation then you'll understand what true spirituality is here is true spirituality John 6:38 there we need a one who wanted to ascend to heaven in Isaiah 14 and say I will I will I will here is one who descended from heaven Christ Jesus came down to earth he had come down from heaven not to do this I will I will I will I will never to do it that brothers and sisters is the origin of salvation the opposite of what Lucifer did not to do my will not to do my will not five times but a million times in his thirty three and a half years he never did his own will but the will of him who sent me that is the meaning of the Cross if you want to understand what it means to take up the cross here it is to take up the cross every day here it is not my will but thine where my god crosses God's will I have to die to my will des the cross and if I don't die to my will it's just this horizontal my will that means I do what I like and that's how Jesus brought salvation and it isn't easy we know in the Garden of Gethsemane I don't want to turn to that passage but you know how he struggled to give up his own will you think it was easy for Jesus to give up his own will is it easy for you to give up your own will in some situation Jesus didn't have a sinful flesh like we have we could inherited from Adam because he didn't have a human father but he did have a thing called my will and you see that particularly in Gethsemane his will was contrary to his father's will get so many the clearest proof of that he might one was Jesus said my will is I don't want to drink the skull the Father's will was drink the cup complete opposite that is the mystery of the Incarnation when Jesus came as a man he did not have sin in him he did not have a sinful flesh but he did have my will and he was tempted in all points as we are and all our temptation that came to Jesus in thirty three and a half years was say I will like Lucifer say I will choose my will he said no no no no a million times and every time he said yes yes yes to the father's and if it meant a struggle I get cemani okay there'll be a struggle but I'll still do the father's will that is true spirituality and that is true humility he humbled himself by being obedient I hope we see it that's why there is no spirituality without the cross I don't mean the cross on which Jesus died we need that to begin with to have our sins forgiven but the cross in our own life there is no spirituality without the cross the one here in this room whose taking up the cross most faithfully a hundred times a day every opportunity a day is the most spiritual person in this room whether he can preach or not whether she can preach or not whether other people think he or she is spiritual or not makes no difference that is the most spiritual person in this room as far as God is concerned and that is the person who will have maximum victory over sin because God continuously pours out grace on that person that's the person who will hear the voice of God most clearly in his or her heart because all deafness caused by sin is gone the years are unplugged and he can hear God like John said in the Isle of Patmos like a trumpet while people standing next to them saying I can't seem to hear God speaking to me well you won't God doesn't speak to the proud but he's constantly speaking to the humble and they hear his voice like a trumpet especially in moments when they have to take important decisions you can't suddenly become humble at that time yo God please speak to me if you walk that way faithfully for years in that moment of crucial decision you will hear God's voice like a trumpet but if you are unfaithful and you don't confess your unfaithfulness to God and you're careless about obedience to God's commands you won't hear it so submission to God in everything not my will but vine Hebrews 5 7 tells us about the struggle he had throughout his life not just in Gethsemane let me read Hebrews 5 7 and then paraphrase it to you for you Hebrews 5 7 in the mass of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying in tears to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety now I want to paraphrase this without changing its meaning one bit but explaining it clearly in all the thirty three and a half years that's the meaning of days not the last day in Gethsemane in all the thirty three and a half years that he lived on earth with his flesh which means when he had a thing called my will that's the meaning of flesh in the days on earth all those days when he had this thing called my will what did he do he prayed and supplicated means specific lot this particular thing general prayers and specific prayers supplications and how did he pray with love crying that's why I used to go into the wilderness to pray so it doesn't disturb anybody at home you know I sought the Lord about that once and I said Lord and most of our towns and cities nowadays it's very difficult to find a wilderness how in the world can we go follow Jesus here and the Lord taught me you can lie down in your bed and have a loud cry in your heart without any noise coming out of your mouth I said that's great so I can allow crying in tears without anyone hearing me while I lie in bed at night without disturbing anyone have a love crying my heart Lord I don't want to do my will I want to do yours is it such a struggle yes it is because my will is so strong The Devil's always energizing it to your will do your will I have to pray we think it's easy Jesus didn't think so that's why you never sinned you know what you seen it's not because you're weak brother sister it's because you're too strong the day you discover that you sin because you're too strong not because you're weak it'll be your salvation the devil keeps fooling people saying when you're so weak that's why your sin rubbish it's because you're so strong God is to make you weak that's the whole purpose of the cross he was crucified in weakness it says in 2nd Corinthians 13 and was four and five we also are linking him and therefore we shall readily die so that we can a strong person will resist the cross a weak person submits Jesus submitted he stretched out his hand say please put the nails right there the strong thieves and robbers say rubbish I'm not going to open my hand you like that there was a difference with the way Jesus was crucified in the thieves and robbers and the Romans would say to the robbers stretch out your hands he said no I'm not going to stretch it out that is to three people had to pull his hand open the palm I'm not going to open it but when came to Jesus they didn't need anybody to help him he stretched through out himself that is voluntarily going to the cross and there's a lot of application in our personal life but we need to pray and cry to God to help us and with those tears Hebrews 5 7 he prayed to the one who was able to save him from doing his own will that's death the way of death is to do your own will you see that in Lucifer who said I rely we live I will and then I ended up in spiritual death and Jesus said I don't want to go that way have you said that Lord I don't want to go the way of Lucifer your stubborn self will is the way of Lucifer sag me from that word death and he was heard because of his godly fear his godly fear of disobeying the Father's will and even one small area I found very few believers like that who are scared of disobeying God's will in one small area I sometimes search the scriptures and say lord please show me is there one little command that I have not obeyed is there one little ie that I've not doubted is there one little T that I'm not crushed should be let us press on to perfection yah brothers and sisters verse 11 Hebrews 5:11 concerning this Jesus who many people don't know we have much to say but it's very hard to explain because you guys have become so used to sinning that you become dull of hearing and the time has come that many of you who've been believers for so many years should have been instructing these things to other people but you're just glorying in your increased knowledge without spiritual wisdom and the church suffers the church is built by crucified people not by clever people not even by gifted people gifted people build Babylon Jerusalem the true church is built by crucified people who walked the way of the Cross Matthew 16 we read three times I mean three things that Jesus began to speak here for the very first time three things that Jesus began to speak for the very first time to his disciples number one the church verse 18 this is the first time that he spoke to them by the church which Satan would not be able to overcome number two from that time verse 21 he told him how he would suffer and die on the cross that's the second thing he said for the first time number three for the first time he taught them verse 24 if you want to follow me you got to take up the cross to those three go together building the church Jesus dying on the cross we dining with him they all go together and that's how the church is built against which the gates of Hell will not prevail and that's a trump which the god of this world is blinded the minds of believers too they don't see it he's not blind of their minds to forgiveness of sins they know their sins are forgiven he's blinded the minds of unbelievers to that but he's blinded the minds of believers I see it like this unbelievers are being blinded to the mind to the truth of Jesus dying on the cross believers have been blinded to the truth of by dying on the cross in simple terms it's that as the god of the world succeeded in blinding your eyes to the truth that you died on the cross are you still living he couldn't blind Paul Paul could say it's no longer I I finished I died with Jesus on the cross I'm crucified with Christ I don't live I don't live means I don't do my own will now you've got other groves and you see does anybody there do his own will no it's finished he was stubborn as long as he was alive as long as she was alive she was stubborn but not now she's dead she doesn't live he doesn't live that's why this truth of submission is something that the Lord emphasized so much you know he made a woman to be submissive demand to demonstrate right from the beginning of creation how the church will be submitted to Christ and wherever a woman rebelled against the authority of man in a home or in a church or wherever a woman acts like the head of the home it's the spirit of Lucifer whether you know it or not maybe you're unconscious of it till now what I've got to tell you the truth and that's why you find that in the world today there's the effort by the devil to break down the distinction between man and woman in the way they dress and now even in marriages it's all the work of the devil if you if you understand if you know God you'll see behind all this controversy which they call a political debate and all this rubbish it's God and the devil and a Christian sees it it says Genesis 1:27 when God created man in his own image he created them male and female and the devil says no it's male and male God created them female and female rubbish he created them male and female the devil tries to erase that distinction that's his aim because his prints principle of submission disappears if it's male and male it makes the church equal to Christ you see that know the churches to be submissive to Christ as a wife is to the husband he made Eve to be a helper to Adam not Adam to be a helper to Eve he created Adam first and that's why he says in Deuteronomy and chapter 22 verse 5 a woman shall not wear man's clothing nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing for whoever does these things is an abomination do you know the meaning of abomination you see what is God emphasizing there he's emphasizing the distinction between male and female which the devil is trying his best to destroy in every way possible once you see God's thought in this I tell you it will give you a completely different picture what's happening in the world around we just read the newspapers we're hear preachers and say oh this is not serious that's not serious once you get in to see things from God's viewpoint the whole thing takes a different picture altogether you have 30 of the man you see for example Jesus and the Lord taught back to the disciples to the Israelites rather take this verb word for example numbers chapter 30 numbers chapter 30 if a man makes a while numbers 30 and verse 2 if a man makes a battle to the Lord he must keep it he must do what he said if a woman the stree his wife or a woman who's not married makes a well if the father was for hears that well and cancels it she doesn't have to keep it or if she's married and her husband hears it verse seven and cancels it she doesn't have to keep it but if a man says something you've got to keep it see how the Lord is saying that the daughter is under the father and the woman is under the man you read that passage sometime because it's all portraying Christ in the church we don't see this that's the reason why the Bible says a woman should go ahead to show that she's submissive to the man it's a picture of Christ in the church again we can take all these things out for who bothers about dotting the I and crossing the tee say what you like I don't want to be deceived I love the truth I don't want to stand before the Lord one day discover I deceive myself all my life no and if I work the way of Jesus it'll become evident in my whole being transformed more and more into the life likeness of Christ it will be seen in self-control that I have over my speech self control I have over my way of life that over a period of time people will see it and say these words I wanted to show you a little word and I'll close with that Matthew 26 it struck me as I was reading it Matthew 26 verse 73 you know when Peter was standing in the courtyard when Jesus was being tried and he kept denying the Lord saying I don't know him I don't know him one of the bystanders seventy-three say you're surely are woven for the way you talk gives you away or makes it evident that you're a disciple of Jesus and I said Lord make people say that about me that the way you talk makes it evident that you're a disciple of Jesus the way you live makes it evident that you're a disciple of Jesus it gives you away the way you conduct yourself makes it evident that you're a disciple of Jesus and unlike Peter I'm not ashamed of it dear brothers sisters can your husband say the way you talk makes it evident you're a disciple of Jesus can your wife say the way you talk makes it evident that you're a disciple of Jesus the way you behave your attitude to money makes it so evident that you're a disciple of Jesus I said Lord may the Angels say that about me it gives you away the reverse is also true the way you talk makes it evident that you're following Adam then when you talk makes it evident that you live according to the flesh even though you sing wonderful songs in the church everything gives us away our talk and our walk gives us a way it becomes evident who we are following the secret of it all obedience in the secret place in the areas of our life when nobody knows anything but God in my thoughts three areas particularly in my thoughts in the attitudes I have towards other people despising looking down or appreciating esteeming them it's more important than myself it's in my thoughts that i know whether i esteem another person it's more important Maya it's not like this public relations tactic that Dale Carnegie taught salesmen you know speaking away that how to win friends and influence people no I'm not interested in that in my thoughts I want to esteem others as more important than myself not my words to get reputation for myself or to sell something and thirdly in my motives three areas of my life that not even the devil knows the devil knows my private life which I do things I do in secret which you don't see but he doesn't know my thoughts he doesn't know my attitudes he doesn't know my motives holy God sees that and those are the areas we had to guard the most if you bare your thoughts like you've got your words in public if you've got your attitudes to people like you got your words and actions in public if you guard your motives and examine them like you do your actions in public you are a godly man but if you have changes in your thoughts and careless in your attitudes and careless in your motives but very careful about your public life you are a Christian who lives before the face of men you do not fear God you want a reputation for yourself before men God will allow you to be deceived I don't want it I crowd the gap with loud crying and tears in my heart sound me from this death save me from the depth that comes through doing my own will living before the face of man Lord I wanted in secret I want the Angels if they could look at my thoughts and say that gives you away makes it evident that you're thinking like Jesus if the Angels could see my attitudes to people in my private thoughts they should be able to say that gives you away man it's evident that you have the attitude of Jesus and if they can see the motives with what you do certain things it should be able to say it gives you it gives you away evident that you have the same motives that motivated Jesus throughout his earthly life dear brothers and sisters is that possible it was not at all possible under the Old Covenant wonderful New Testament truth we can walk as Jesus walk you can have unbelief say not possible it's exactly what the devil wants you to say or you can confess like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me let's bow in prayer don't believe the devil's lie anymore

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 55,282

Rating: 4.8130841 out of 5

Keywords: true, mark, spirituality, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: hJ2OdMN_Wn4

Length: 55min 44sec (3344 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 05 2012