The Way To Growth In Christlikeness | Part-2 | Zac Poonen

let's turn again to Matthew chapter 5 we were looking at that verse and a couple of verses there and the earlier verses in the seven on the Mount some time ago a couple of weeks ago actually and I want you to notice something here and the way Jesus reacted to crowler's if you turn to Matthew chapter 4 in verse 25 we read large crowds followed him and the very next verse is when Jesus saw the crowds he went up to the mountain and then he began to teach this long sermon on discipleship in fact the longest sermons of Jesus here in Matthew 5 6 and 7 and also in John 14 15 16 17 at the Last Supper for all on discipleship on following wholeheartedly not on evangelism and when he was my name I saw a large crowd you notice that he preached establishing some of the hardest words you could ever hear is what he spoke here in ninety five six and seven and even though it was primarily spoken to the disciples it says here at matok 5:1 he went up to the mountain and his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and began to teach them that is the disciples but the crowd was still there listening as we read at the end of Matthew 7 at the end of the Sermon on the Mount we read the crowds verse 28 Matthew 7 28 the crowds were amazed at his teaching so even though Jesus was primarily speaking to his disciples the crowds were there beyond the resides listening so what we notice here is whenever Jesus saw crowd he knew that 90% of them were not serious about becoming disciples just like he go to preaching in church today 90% are not really interested in being disciples or paying the price for it but he breathed his hypership you see another example in Luke chapter 14 very similar there's another situation Luke 14 25 large crowds were going along with him and he turned and said to them if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father mother wife children brothers sisters he cannot be my disciple now that man is saying that to a crowd of Jewish people who were taught to respect their parents and loved their children to say that you got to hate them in comparison with your love for me and he does this big crowd if you are not willing to verse 27 Luke 14 27 if you're not willing to carry your cross and come up to me who cannot be my disciple and then even more in verse 33 none of you can be my disciple if you don't give up all your possessions your possessive attitude towards the things you own now that's not the type of thing you find preachers preaching today when they see a large crowd and preachers say see a large crowd today the first thought is let's take an offering and after that let's preach to them some nice words so Jesus who loves you and God loves you and he forgive you and he always wants the best for you God's plan is the best for you and how he loved you so much that He gave His Son and all that which is all true and nothing too hard nothing too difficult so that they'll come back again next Sunday you can collect another offering this is the tragedy of Christendom Jesus was exactly the opposite we saw that in Matthew 4 and 5 we saw that in Luke 14 now turn with me to third example in John's Gospel chapter six I'm just showing you these three passages to see how Jesus was consistent in the way he preached the size of every time he saw a crowd we got to learn something from that God Jesus could see through these large number of people who came to listen to him it's not only because He healed the sick he wasn't always healing the sick he fed the multitude here he gave them food and he told them new people are coming because you saw the you ate the loaves this is John chapter 6 it was another big crowd we read in verse 24 John 624 he just finished feeding the multitude and they crossed the sea and came to Capernaum and then he saw this big crowd and jesus said to them you come to see me because you made the loaves and the fishes and then what did he preach to them to this big crowd he said to them that my flesh is true meat true food verse 55 and my blood is true drink if you eat my flesh and drink my blood you abide in me and otherwise you'll have no part with me and you only he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever now we know he was referring to their to taking up the cross his flesh and his blood speaker he's dying on the cross and behind those words the meaning was you must be willing to die to yourself - but he just said that and left it and it says here that many of his disciples were 60 John 6 verse 60 heard this and said this is a difficult statement I mean if you hadn't heard the explanation you say the same thing to you you think Jesus is preaching cannibalism eat his flesh and drink his blood who can listen to it now these are not the Jews the Jews were also there it says here that Jesus spoke to the Jews but here he's speaking to his disciples as you see in verse 41 he spoke we see the Jews were grumbling but in verse sixty it is his disciples who were grumbling those are not the Jews the Jews grumbled in verse 41 the disciples grumbled in verse 60 you're not talking about the Twelve Apostles now there were many other disciples you know Jesus said on centric circles of people he ministered to one is a huge crowd the outer circle within that was a circle of 70 disciples you read in Luke chapter 10 verse 1 disciples whom he there was so they were good enough to be sent out to preach the gospel and within that was a group of 12 a smaller circle and within that group of 12 was a smaller group of eleven because one was a crook and then within that was a smaller group of three Peter James and John there was three and eleven and then there was the seventy and the multitude so in every Church you find it's like that this is a big crowd that comes and sits in a church calling a mega church or even if your church is about three four hundred people but within that there's a smaller group maybe seventy a little more serious but within that is a still smaller group of eleven who are really willing to follow the Lord wholeheartedly but even within that there'd be a small group of people who are really committed to go all-out for the Lord and willing to sacrifice anything so among these disciples Jesus was always trying to reduce the number to get this small number who were all hearted he was never interested in multitude if he was interested in the crowd he would not crease the type of things we see here we saw in Matthew 4 as soon as he saw the crowd he preached the Sermon on the Mount some of the hardest words followed in all the Gospels and when he saw the crowd in Luke 14 again he said some of the hardest words found in the Gospels about discipleship and here in John 6 when he sees the crowd he speaks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood causing them to stumble and finally he wearied there were only twelve people left you read that finally in John chapter 6 and verse 66 many of his disciples withdrew the effect of Jesus message was not gathering more people as we see today oh the church is expanding is that a good sign it's expanding in the number of disciples good if your church is expanding with more disciples more radical wholehearted people joining our chat praise the Lord but if it's just increasing in size rather because people say oh this is a nice church there are nice people here they've never taken offering here that's the place I've always liked to go to a place they then never ask you for your money so I can spend all my money on myself and I like to go to this place because my children are small I want my children to grow up in a good place with other good children and these are all well behaved children in this church and the young girls are modestly dressed and god-fearing I'd like my grown-up my son to find a bride from this church all types of worldly selfish reasons with which people join a church and if you're an elder of the church you can see through these people you're not fit to be an elder you need to have discernment to see why have these people come here to this church is it to become disciples or is it for some other femur or some friend of mine is here my brother goes to this church my sister goes to this church so I'll go here that's not good enough brother sister that's not the way to join a church the true Church of Jesus Christ consists of disciples for whom Christ is supreme so you finally see that Jesus turned around there were only 12 people left in John 6 verse 67 only 12 from that great crowd there were 10,000 people when they were fed 5000 men was women and children meant 10,000 people can you imagine a message that reduces 10,000 people to 12 that is the way Jesus preached and a true servant of God will preach like that where he reduces the numbers or even if they sit there in his church it will be made clear to them then you're not the fellows who are committed you can sit and listen to the messages but I'm going to work with a small group within this this 400 people sitting here I'm going to work with about 20 of them they are the committed ones that's the church within the church that's the only way we can do God's work the rest come along for the Sunday school or to find brides and bridegroom's and all those silly reasons white people and it's like it's a club for them it's not the Church of Jesus Christ so don't be deceived by the numbers in your church and remember these three chapters Matthew four and five the first John Luke chapter 14 the second and John chapter 6 and now they were twelve left and now when the multitude is reduced of twelve one word thing Jesus would say oh I hope you fellas won't leave I think you will stick by me no what does he say to them do you want to also go in he was so secure in his father and the power of the message he preached and he knew when his father had sent him down to earth to proclaim that he was not disturbed if a whole lot of people left that he could turn around even when twelve are left is it you also want to go away and Simon Peter says Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life now sometime around this time that you read in Matthew 16 when Jesus explained to them Martha he's going to the cross and verse 23 24 onwards that Simon Peter had turned around with Jesus and rebuked him it says in Matthew 16 Lord you're not going to go to the cross and Jesus turned around and said to Simon Peter at that time get behind me Satan the last time he said that was in Matthew 4 when he confronted Satan himself in Matthew 4:19 onwards but here he uses those words that Peter get behind me Satan you are interested in the things that men are interested in not in the things of God can you imagine getting a rebuke like that how would you feel brother sister if Jesus turned around to you and said get behind me Satan you're only interested in earthly things in the things that other men are interested in not in the things of God how would you feel at the end of that maybe some of you get so offended I said well I don't want to follow this rabbi I better find another one but you know what Peter called that get behind me Satan you're interested in the things of men and all the things are gone you know what Peter called it Lord these are the words of eternal life that you gave me that's the thing that's gonna save me from wasting my life on this earth and doing something useful with my life on earth I'm sorry I thought the cross is something we avoided but you've shown me that is seeking earthly things as seeing the ways of men and that's the way of Satan Satan tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross in the wilderness when he said you don't have to go to the cross to get the world bow down to me I'll give you the world and he said get behind me Satan a voice that tells you no more in the cross is always the way of voice of Satan avoid the cross Satan said you want the world I'll give it to you your mother under we don't go to the cross get behind me Satan years later Peter comes with Jesus and says don't go to the cross get behind me Satan let me give you a little recommendation every time somebody suggests to you take the easy way don't go the way of death to south don't go the way of dying to yourself don't go the way of dying to your reputation don't go the way of loving Jesus supremely so that everyone else on earth knows that they don't have a place in your heart about Christ but Christ first above your possessions above your own self crucify yourself put in your death at every opportunity that's the voice of God any voice that tells you to avoid that is the voice of Satan if you recognize that you're blessed and Peter said Lord you have the words of eternal life and even then Jesus said I'm not excited there are 12 of you here because I know one of you is a devil Oh direct Jesus was oh I want to preach like him Lord I know that I've been to your church only if I learn to preach like you I want to say to all of you who are leading churches you will never build a church in Jesus Christ that lasts for into the time when Christ comes again if you don't learn to preach like Jesus Christ of course he preached with encouraging words very frequently come to me you who labor and are heavy-laden I'll give you rest and many wonderful words of your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom that's true we need to preach that to but to whom did he preach them he preached that to people to whom he had spoken directly you've got a love father and mother less than me but love me more than father mother wife children for die to yourself take up the cross forsake your possessions you're willing for that okay then it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom come to me I'll give you rest first and I'll kill you the Holy Spirit so many people are seeking for these blessings who are not willing to pay the price and that is why we find today thousands and thousands and thousands of Christians who are getting fake experiences of being filled with the Holy Spirit and who are frustrated and seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit because most register them just seek just seek and pray fast and pray and cry out to God I say brother before you do all that make sure you put Christ first in your life and love them supreme me above father mother breath everyone on earth and make sure you love it more than all possessions of Earth but you love him and you don't love money and make sure that you're willing to die to yourself every single day of your life take up your cross then ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit and you won't have to wait long and do it immediately so remember that that's how the Sermon on the Mount begins to whom he speak when he sees the crowd he preaches this message and we have to proclaim it I remember when we started CFC way back 45 years ago we first took a number of weeks on Luke 14 and then a number of weeks on Matthew five six and seven these were very very important and that what did it do it reduce the numbers sure we need to keep preaching that again and again because the new generation is growing out the children it goes over with us then who have not heard these messages and new people coming in because those days CFC was rejected and despised of men unfortunately it's becoming a little popular now in different places so people come and join it because it's father is their nice place to go there's a nice church to join very good sermons there are good people there but these people will join very often are not fervent disciples of Jesus Christ I've seen that in every single CFC Church very often the elders don't have discernment wagons see through the people who come in many many of our CFC churches today are not disciples and they're not serious about being disciples either they've become almost deaf to the strong messages they hear think of many people who hear our messages on the internet they listen and they're excited oh this is a wonderful message and not like all these other preachers are preaching prosperity and all that but do you think that by itself makes them disciples no they're not willing to pay the price so we have to keep on preaching the standards Jesus proclaimed in Luke 14 and here in Matthew 5 as well so that's why we turn to Matthew 5 again and again we looked at verse 3 blessed are the poor in spirit those who are always aware of their need like a poor homeless man everyday aware of his need poor in spirit means every single day aware of my spiritual need I can do nothing without abiding in Christ today even though I've known him for 50 60 years I cannot do anything that's poor in spirit and depending on the father all the time depending on the Lord and we saw also blessed are those who mourn not those who mourn for their earthly sorrows and problems and lack of anything on this earth but who mourn because they're not overcoming sin Oh Lord I'm defeated again a game that dirty thought came to mind I want total purity in my thoughts Lord I'm defeated and they weep at night because they had a dirty thought during the day when was the last time you did that or do you just say Oh Lord I'm sorry I heard only thought please forgive me up praise God he's forgiven me he doesn't remember my sins anymore I'm justified in the blood of Christ you'll never become a disciple that way blessed are those who mourn they will be strengthened by the comfort the Holy Spirit is called a comforter if you want the comforter to comfort you when we filled with the comforter more blessed are those who mourn they will be comforted by the comforter Jesus called the Holy Spirit comforter in John chapter 14 so link that with this worse then we go on to verse five bless it out and meet King James Version says me here it says in the NASB gentle but they shall inherit the earth this is a very difficult word me gentle to try and understand what exactly it means but this is the one thing Jesus told us to learn from him one of the two things he's told us to learn from him I often like to quote Matthew chapter 11 and verse 29 so word spoken to disciples take my yoke upon you it's something we have to do the picture is of two Bullock's plowing a field the senior bullet Jesus Christ teaching the junior bullet who doesn't know head or tail about plowing how to plow a straight furrow without any crookedness they say Lord I don't know I want to learn from you teach me the Lord says take my yoke upon you move at the same pace I'm moving don't lag behind when I tell you to move forward move and I tell you to stop stop that's what a senior Bullock tells a junior below I'll teach you how to plow a straight furrow and don't weave to the left or right just stick with me submit to me be under the yoke 100% then he will flow a straight furrow you live an overcoming life take my yoke upon you Matthew 11:29 and learn from me for I am meek and humble so meekness is different from humility there's not a repetition it's probably a close connection there but I am meek and humble and gentle and humble and when you think of gentleness you know we think we must speak kindly and yea there is a place to finally like Jesus did has no man condemned you a woman neither do i condemn you go and sin no more putting your arms around the leper and say I want to heal you but was Jesus meek and gentle when he took the whip and chased the money changers out sure his character didn't change he was just as meek and gentle when he whipped the sheep out of the temple and chased the money changers and threw their coins on the ground humanly speaking that doesn't look like gentleness that's because we don't understand what Jesus meant when he said gentle what does it mean to be meek it means to have I think we got to understand it from Matthew 5 and verse 5 they shall inherit the earth the meek are those who have no possessive nature we won't fight for their rights who won't fight for anything earthly they don't fight for their rights you know when Paul was slapped in acts 23 when he was standing before the ice cream Paul got upset he got angry and he turned round to the judge and said how dare you toss this man despite me when you're violating the law yourself but when they slap Jesus he didn't retort like that he said gently I've spoken the truth why he's laughing so the meek are those who don't fight for their rights they don't want to possess this is my right I have a right to get this they don't fight even for a doctrine you're not the argumentative side you know me read in acts 28 and give you an example some people say we must argue and defend doctrine well Jamie didn't actually eat that G that Paul when he was in Rome and he spent a long time in math acts 28 verse 23 solemnly testifying about the King while trying to persuade them from morning till evening about Jesus from the law of Moses the prophets some were persuaded Muslims but most of them turned away and when this argument went on all got fed up and he said okay let it be known to you verse 28 I am leaving you Jews I'm going to the Gentiles now that's what he did but towards the end of his life and all rights to the rights to Timothy you know he says the servant of God second Timothy two must not argue no the Lord's one servant there is second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 24 the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome that's weakness you're not the quarreling type but we kind and able to teach patient when wrong with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of truth not argumentative not quarrelsome that's a pretty good definition of a meek person it's not trying to force his view across and if somebody doesn't accept it once we're getting an argument say well brother I'm sorry I don't want to get in an argument I've had numerous cases like that of people who come to my home and want to argue about some doctrine and I say listen if you want me to show you the troops from Scripture I don't mind spending any amount of time showing you and I've spent some time two three hours with people showing them something from Scripture but when I see the guy is just interested in arguing and trying to force is you not willing to listen the reason you know what I tell them I say brother let's stop this discussion let's talk about something that you and I are agreed on I don't mind talking about the weather or if you're in India cricket something like that on which people don't have an argument and I say I'm not interested I want to hate argument like I hate kovin 19 I'm not interested I want to hate a quarrelsome attitude a meek person is one who does not quarrel for any to stand up for some right of his or to claim something for example you know there are a lot of people who feel they're being cheated out of their family inheritance a lot of Christians who think their disciples when it comes to division of family property if they suddenly discover they are not disciples at all they love money like anything and they loved Christ and sometimes a present mind is so much on this you see the classic example of that in Luke chapter 12 where Jesus is speaking about Luke 12 verse 8 about confessing him before men when they are persecuting you it says they may try to kill you Luke 12 verse 4 and harm you in some way and if you confess me before men Luke 12 verse 8 I will confess you before the Son of before the angels of God but if you deny me I will deny you and don't be ashamed of me and don't everyone who speaks a word against Son of Man will be forgiven if he's speaking as the Holy Spirit only forgiven so he says about this very serious thing when they bring you Luke 12:11 in front of the synagogues and the rulers and authorities don't worry about how you speak the Holy Spirit will teach you in that are what to say now if you were hearing that message and you say I have a question what would your question be something related to that message right or the Holy Spirit really give me strength to stand up at that time but here's a man raises his hand and says teacher I have a question what is it my brother is not dividing the family inheritance with me Luke 1213 tell him to divide the family inheritance with me he's completely off track and he's one who's come to listen to Jesus there are so many people like that today who sit in churches they can listen to powerful messages where their mind is on my family inheritance how am I going to get that can I get the elder to come and speak to my brother about dividing the family inheritance equally so that I get my share they are the quarrelsome types a meek person a gentle person is one who will not quarrel and say if you want to take it take it can you have that attitude can you believe that God Almighty will make sure that you get exactly what you're supposed to get because you don't want to covet anybody's property we must have a test it is like that I remember when before I married my wife her father had given her a house in her name put in her name and after we got married we returned it and say it never must have me said that Zack Coonan got her dowry of anything from his father through his life we never wanted to possess it we don't want anything we're glad to let somebody else take it and that attitude your brother even when people take away your rights don't fight there don't fight with people people are taking me to court I don't fight with it know those who are gentle those who are who will not assert their rights you lose some property the Lord says in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 5 the meek will one day inherit the whole earth not only that property your brother stole from you but the whole earth don't fight for these things God will give you the very best I want to give you an example from the Old Testament you read there about a man called Moses there's one thing said about Moses it is very unique either 5 books the first five books of the Bible the Old Testament written by Moses Moses wrote numbers I want you to return to numbers in chapter 12 numbers chapter 12 now in this chapter numbers 12 you find that there's a sentence that's inserted in brackets Moses didn't write that sure somebody added it because most impossible that Moses would have written that about himself insert it in verse 3 in brackets is the man Moses was very humble more than or meek it says in the KJV more than any man on the face of the earth he was the meekest humblest man on the face of the earth then what do we learn about meekness from Moses whenever people came to argue with him sometimes his relatives were jealous that he was a leader he would not fight back he'd fall on his face and say I'm not going to say anything let the Lord prove who is his prophet I'm not here to say that I'm the prophet of God and you guys are not for I'm the leader he would not assert himself he would not stand up for his rights and he's called a meekest man on the face of the earth it was like that with Jesus he never fought for his rights he they slapped him he wouldn't yell at them saying why did you slap me and how does the Lord treat this meek Moses listen to this in numbers 12 the man Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth and his own sister and brother had come to accuse him in numbers 12 verse 1 saying why did you marry an on Israel ight woman you know Moses did not marry an Israelite woman he married a cush I'd read in numbers 12 verse 1 and they began to say to him is it only you numbers 12 - is it only you through whom the Lord speaks who do you think you are amazing listen to these words and the Lord heard it see a meek man stands back and is quiet when people accuse him because he knows that the Lord hears it and the Lord will answer for him he does not have to vindicate himself he does not have to fight for his rights that's a meek man learned from numbers chapter 12 they accuse him for marrying the wrong person not Israelite and they question him who do you think you are using God only speaks through you numbers 12 to and the Lord heard it please remember this verse next time you're accused by somebody about anything keep your mouth shut be meek one day you'll inherit the earth the whole earth will be yours the man Moses was meek above all the face on the earth and the Lord began Lord dealt with those people the Lord said to Moses Aaron and Miriam who had accused him you three come here I want to say it something to you and it says in numbers 12 right there's a wonderful passage I want you to see it the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood there and then he told Aaron and Miriam you guys are criticizing my servant Moses okay you think you're equal to him you don't realize how much he has been broken before me how much I'd prepared him for 80 years to be my servant and you think all of a sudden you're equal to him well let me teach you something he said listen to my words numbers 12 verse 6 if there is a prophet among you who thinks he's the Lord spokesman yes I will make myself known to him in a vision or in a dream but my servant Moses is more than a prophet with him I don't speak in dreams and visions no I speak to him face to face mouth to mouth numbers 12 8 because he's been faithful in all my household as nobody like he was being faithful I speak to him face-to-face even openly and not with visions and dreams I believe this is a very important numbers 12 verse 6 7 and 8 is a very important passage for us to remember in these days when so many people are saying I had a vision I had a dream then another fellow says I had two dreams I saw two visions I saw three angels I said fine and I tell them I don't see visions and dreams I speak to the Lord mouth to mouth and face to face ah they said you only do that we see visions and dreams face read numbers 12 verse 6 to 8 and see which is greater I'm not it lady see visions and dreams I am the bride of Jesus Christ and he doesn't send me the letters and speak to me in visions and dreams he speaks to me face to face if you want that be a disciple be meek don't assert yourself God Himself will justify you very very important are you the argumentative type see Isaiah chapter 54 is a great verse here the Lord's given that to me many times in the years when I being accused I faced numerous false accusations in my life I can't even keep track on a number of them Isaiah 54 it says here in verse 17 verse 15 if anyone fiercely assailed you attacks you he will fall because of you let them furious Pierce Leah saying I won't fight them no weapon were seventeen formed against you will prosper every tongue that accuses human judgment you will condemn not the new user lob him up there vindication comes from me verse 17 says the Lord the Lord vindicates like Moses he judge miss Miriam with leprosy so God is very strict about those who try to assailant attack servants and his sermons will always be meek so pursue meekness my dear brother and sister Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth he said learn meekness from me but they called him Beelzebub what did he do in Matthew chapter 12 there's an example of that like when they accused Moses they accused Jesus to Matthew 12 when the Pharisees heard that this man cause they heard that their demon-possessed person was delivered matthew 12:24 they came and said this man casts out demons by Beelzebul the ruler of demons and jesus said further down have you spoken a word against me verse 32 you're forgiven in the old covenant that he spoke against Moses in got leprosy in the Old Covenant if you made fun of Elijah's bald head bears would come and eat eat them up but when people spoke against the Son of God himself no leprosy no bears eating them what did they get forgiveness that's the difference between Old Covenant and New Covenant earlier on in the same passage in Matthew 12 the Lord says concerning this very incident Matthew 12 Lord says in verse 18 behold my servant referring to Jesus behold my servant means look carefully at Jesus my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased do you have a longing that God should be well pleased with you then he says look carefully at my servant Jesus I put my spirit on him and he put the same spirit on you if you look carefully at Jesus and learn gentleness from him listen this listen to his gentleness well Matthew 12 19 he will not quarrel oh what a wonderful word I hope that can be said about him this man will never quarrel with his wife or his relatives or his office people this woman will never quarrel not with her mother-in-law or with her daughter-in-law or anybody look carefully at my servant he will not quarrel blessed are the meek learn from me for I am meek he will not cry out he will not be shouting in the streets he speaks softly gently and in him verse 21 the Gentiles will hope so this is the one we are supposed to look at one who was gentle of heart learned from me for I am gentle of heart what a wonderful example for us to follow blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth especially you see that in the time when Jesus was tried before the chief priests and even when hanging on the cross what else they said to make fun of him saying are you the Son of God come down persecutor from though he said he could call ten thousand angels but the neat person does not call ten thousand angels to defend them he just looks at these people who treat him badly and says Father forgive them she says Father forgive them because they don't know what they're doing please be merciful to them so we go on from there to the next to this matter of hunger and thirsting for righteousness in Matthew 5 in verse 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness now I don't have time to look in-depth into each of these good qualities you can spend an hour studying each of these good qualities I leave that to you to meditate on it further blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall be satisfied that means blessed are those who hunger and thirst for overcoming life the righteousness of Christ the life that he lived of overcoming Lord I want that I want that life which I which I just read off where I don't quarrel and I don't fight nor that's that's part of righteousness all these things are interlinked you can't take it by themselves they're all links in one chain so I want to be meek Lord I want to be gentle I don't want to quarrel I don't want to fight I hunger and thirst forgive me this life Lord because I'm the quantum sometime you say lord please give it to me you'll get it if you hunger and thirst first there are people who fast and pray when somebody is sick there are people who fast and praying and they lose their job waiting to fast and pray when they have a dirty thought say Lord I want to get rid of this bad habit I have of thinking dirty thoughts blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in every area they shall be satisfied so if a sub person is not coming into a life of victory over sin which is the righteousness of Christ he has to look at this words and saying well perhaps I'm not hungry and thirsty enough I'm asking for it now and there but I'm not hungry and thirsty you know maybe there's something on earth that I'm seeking to inherit link it up with verse 5 and I want that and that's why I'm not getting the righteousness of Christ you remember in the Old Testament how you read that in Genesis 13 how Abraham and lot were fighting on that servants were fighting over their sheep and lanced for the sheep the Grace and Abraham large-hearted just like Moses a meek man he said a lot I don't want to inherit this land you take it take whatever you want it's an amazing word you know it's very similar to what Moses experienced in numbers 12 very similar Genesis 13 when Abraham gave up his right and told lot he said to Genesis 13 yet let there be no strife between you and me you take whatever you want first if you go to the right I'll take the left if I am people on the left I'll go to the right and covetous lot looked at all that green land and Sodom and Gomorrah said I'll take it this foolish of uncle of mine has given me first choice I've grabbed it and he grabbed it the Arab gave up his right and chose the less fertile land land it's a little barren you know somebody else was listening to it like we read in numbers 12 the Lord heard it here also we can say the Lord heard it and as soon as Lord had separated listen to this verse 14 of Genesis 13 as soon as Lord had left Abraham and gone to grab that better land the Lord who heard it said Abraham I heard how I saw how you behaved right now in meekness and gentleness and righteousness now just lift up your eyes look not only toward Sodom and Gomorrah look north south east west all the land that you can see Genesis 13 and verse 15 I'll give to you and to your descendants forever the Lord hears do you want that type of righteousness where you don't grab anything you're willing to yield and you want purity in your heart you want to be absolutely upright you don't want to cheat on anything you want to never to be in debt for example the Bible says in Romans 13:8 oh no man anything I believe that as far as possible you must never be in debt now I'm not talking about a house mortgage are you taking and buy a car on a mortgage a bank gives it to you there's a lot of difference between taking a loan from a bank in the house and taking loans from individuals where you become obliged to that person the Bible says in Proverbs the borrower is servant to the lender so Romans 13:8 says oh no individual anything do you see a word like that and hunger and thirst for such a life Lord will you give me a life where I don't know anybody anything there's nothing wrong in receiving a gift that somebody gives you perfectly okay and there's nothing wrong as I said and taking a loan for your house or your car but when you're borrowing because you want to live at a higher standard of life and you remain in debt to somebody it's like a weight around your neck avoid it as far as possible see the bible does not say don't borrow because there are situations when poor people have to borrow in an emergency but if you do borrow don't remain in debt that's the point oh no man anything avoid debt as far as possible here many people in rich countries live with such tremendous credit card debt because they don't save any money when they have plenty they spread it all they don't save anything then what happens in a time like this of crisis when there's maybe some people not yet earning their salary or me salary gets cut and they have to borrow which they would not have had to do if they have been careful in the time of plenty to say you know just like Joseph told Pharaoh there's gonna be seven years of plenty in those years saying save save don't heat it all up because when the famine comes then you'll be having enough that he won't have to starve the same principle here when you're earning hurting plenty of money same same same something for the future I've taught that all my life and CFC churches and I've seen that the people have listened to me and saved they go through crises without getting into debt and there are others who say no no no I can take care of myself they had to beg and borrow become servants to the lenders the other way is when you cop it want something more than you can afford I'm a sober estimate of what standard of living you and your family can live at and don't look at somebody else and commit to want to be like that hunger and thirst for righteousness and money are in the area of money lord I want to be upright I don't want to be in debt I want to be I want to pay my taxes properly I want to be righteous in every area of my life I want to ride asked to speak something I'll speak the truth I can keep silent if needed if I feel there's something I don't want to reveal I can keep quiet but I must not tell a lie why yes must me yes and my normos me no that doesn't mean I have to reveal everything that's in my mind no I believe there are many things we should never reveal to other people don't if I say something it must be the truth so I must be righteous in all areas especially in my speech and in my handling of money there are two things I remember years ago the Lord said to me that if I wanted his word in my mouth there are two areas where I had to be very very careful one is with money and one is it my speech because jesus said and Luke 4:16 if you're not faithful with money how will you get the true riches and the anointing of its spirit and revelation on God's Word to preach it be faithful with money and the others from Jeremiah 15 19 when says if you're careful to remove worthless words from your mouth you'll be like my mom but if you keep on speaking worthless words in your private conversation when you get up to speak the word God doesn't put his word into your mouth seek righteousness in your speech speak righteousness in the area of money hunger and thirst for it when you slip up say Lord I'm sorry I slipped up blessed are such people blessed are those who who are not living their life of the standard that other people are living other people are satisfied with law huge credit card debts they've got a credit card and keep on buying things with their credit card and don't bother about will I be able to pay this off will I be able to will I be unnecessarily paying interest on this I often tell people yeah I realize in some the credit card for something on the other but if you cannot pay your credit card debt every month when you don't separate every month you don't be any interest on it if you don't pay it one month you pay interest on it and if you have not been careful to clear your credit card debt before it gets into interest every month discipline yourself and say next month I will not use my credit card at all that'll teach you a lesson and in future you'll be careful and you'd save yourself and your children from debt dear brothers and sisters this is an area we have to be extremely careful righteousness in money matters God watches it and believe that many many people are not receiving the blessing of God because they are not righteous in money matters let me show you that verse in case you don't know where it is in Luke 16 and verse 11 if you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon who we gift you the true riches I remember years ago the Lord spoke to me through that we're saying if you want the true riches which is the anointing of the Holy Spirit likeness to Christ and revelation on the word of God those are three things I see is true riches likeness to Christ the fullness of the Holy Spirit and revelation on God's Word if you want the true riches be faithful with whatever money you earn even if it's little live with that even from that little save a little and I've done that all my life and the result is in all my 80 years I've never been in debt in all our 51 years of married life we have never given that even though in our early years of night we had very very little to live on we lived within that if he could not afford something we didn't buy it if he could not afford a washing machine we watched with our hands for years that's how my wine did it but okay other people could borrow and live a more comfortable life but where are they today where are those people today do you think they've become men and women of God now this is drifting along as Christians you want to be one of those useless people who sort of spray your way into God's kingdom I never want to be one of those was create my way into God's kingdom I want to have like second Peter one says an abundant entrance into God's King thats what you should zone for so that when you come into God's kingdom the Lord says well done good and faithful servant instead of looking and saying oh you managed to get him did you get only you only hear that type of welcome when you get into God's kingdom oh I never thought you'd make it but you did know well done good and faithful servant if you want to be that type of welcome from the Lord in the final day hunger and thirst for righteousness today in the areas where nobody can see you especially in your seat speech and money matters your private life like you know this gentleness I spoke about you you say Lord I never want to ever raise my voice with my wife at home I've always wanted I never want to get angry we'll come to that later but here are areas where we need to hunger and thirst for righteousness and I believe God's promise will be fulfilled that you will be it says you're satisfied I'll be completely satisfied with victory in the areas where I'm defeated today seek for that your brother sister that's pray Heavenly Father as we bow before you we want to enter into the fullness of all that you have promised in this wonderful passage of Scripture he promised to do more than we ask or think do it for us Lord for all who hear I pray that you'll put a spark in their heart a challenge to rise to your highest not to be just one who wants to go to heaven but one wants to your disciple to glorify you on earth in every day of their earthly life before they enter into your presence I pray in Jesus name

Channel: CFC India

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

Id: NjubZzEpOZw

Length: 54min 16sec (3256 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 09 2020