Zac Poonen - Giving Christ First Place In Everything

I want to continue on what we began this meeting with Colossians chapter 1 it's a very important verse Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18 we say Christ is the head of the church and we are the body of Christ it's easy to say that but we need to ask ourselves what is the implication if Christ is the head of the body it says in verse 18 he's the head of the body and he's the first one who rose from the dead and in verse 18 and the purpose of it he's not just that we have a good fellowship if you really want to function as his body all of us there is a part that every one of us has to play to make Christ the head of the body and that is that Jesus himself will have first place in everything in our lives and anybody here who determines that that in every area of my life Jesus Christ is going to have 1st place he will be a very effective member of the body of Christ the worldwide body of Christ and the local body of Christ that God places in you in but if you don't give Jesus Christ the first place in everything then in some way and you will let me say this kindly you'll be a hindrance to the body of Christ because something is coming in between which prevents you from giving Christ first place you know the first four words in the Bible are in the beginning god that's a law it's not just the way the Bible begins it's the way in which all of us must begin every day and in every area of our life and like I've often said that's why God made Adam and Eve separately he could have made two lumps of clay together and breathed on them and introduced them to each other and say here you are husband and wife but he didn't do that he made Adam alone so that when Adam opened his wives opened his eyes the first person he would see was God in the beginning God there was no evil nothing for Adam oh holy God and that's why God put Adam to sleep and took out a rebel and when Adam was fast asleep in some other corner of the garden he made heel another lump of clay and breathed on her and when her eyes were open she did not see Adam she did not even know the existence of Adam she saw God so what was the lesson God was teaching Adam and Eve you enjoy each other as husband and wife as the population increases you'll enjoy children you'll enjoy brothers and sisters but never forget that I must have first place in your life when you open your eyes you must see me first in everything in life then you have fulfilled the purpose with which God made you and when he was eyes were open in the Garden of Eden instead of seeing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil if she had seen God there would be no sin I mean different story for the human race and all the problems that have arisen in the world and arisen in churches hard because people open their eyes and they don't see Christ as having first place all the problems between husband and wife are because Christ does not have first place I remember when I was a very young man before I even left my job in the Navy and I was serving the Lord in the ships this is the verse the Lord spoke to me and said if you give Jesus Christ the first place in everything in your life my power will back you throughout your life wherever you go nothing will be able to overpower you not the devil not circumstances not people not enemies nothing if you will only determine that Christ will have first place in everything in your life and you're willing to offend family members you're willing to offend everybody on the earth and even property and possessions will have no place on you Christ will have first place my power will back you continuously and I have to say I've experienced that particularly in the last 43 years that we have built churches how the opposition of men has been able to accomplish nothing because it all depends my dear brothers sister on only one thing not even your knowledge of the Bible a lot of people in who know so much of the Bible will go through Bible School they don't give Christ the first place in everything I met a lot of these Bible scholars the Bible is first not Christ that knowledge in the Bible is first I know the Bible pretty well but that's not first for me I don't argue with people to prove some doctrine in the Bible I even tell people you can disagree with me on some minor doctrines of the Bible doesn't make a difference do you give Christ first place and everything in your life my goal in life is to preach and bring people to the place where Christ is first place and everything in their life if I haven't done that I failed in my ministry see Paul says in later on in the same chapter towards the end of the chapter he says there is a mystery verse 26 that's been hidden from past ages and this is what God wants to make known in verse 2 this mystery verse 27 which is Christ in you having first place the hope of glory and this is the one we proclaim has fall proclaim this and in order to bring Christ having to first place in every man we admonish every man that means we rebuke that punish means how do you admonish your children rebuke them correct them and the purpose of all rebuking correction in the church and when a man of God corrects you individually because he loves you so much I'll tell you this if he's a real man of God the purposes that you might give Christ the first place in some area of your life where you're not giving him first place right now and if you accept that admonishment and teaching every man with all wisdom so that one day we can present every one of these believers perfectly complete in Christ that was false burden and he says I can't do this on my own I labor working according to his power which mightily works within me so I'm sure the Lord said something like that to Paul as well you give Christ first place and everything my power will back you throughout your life and you can see how Paul's entire ministry it never sagged or went down it just went from glory to glory to glory to glory all the years that he served it was because Christ was number one to him nobody was more important to me he was ready even to rebuke Peter a senior apostle if he saw Peter doing something wrong he said Peter why are you sitting with the Jews now you were sitting with the Gentiles you know those days Jews and Gentiles was a big problem the Jewish kind of thing teaching was you don't go to the Gentiles and after they became Christians the Lord had already shown Peter with a vision from heaven don't call anything unclean which God is made clean go to the house of Cornelius I've accepted him also to make Jews and Gentiles are one but in one meeting in Jerusalem Peter followed that and he sat with the Gentiles having his meals and the Jews were there and they were all same to him till the senior leader in Jerusalem James was a very strict man some of his colleagues came into that Hall and as soon as Peter saw them he got a little disturbed these fellows will report me to James saying that I'm sitting with the Gentiles and he quickly got up and went and sat with the Jews you can imagine Peter doing that don't despise him we've done that in different ways at different times and all got up there publicly and said to Peter you read about it in Galatians and chapter 2 he said Peter why are you doing this or why you be hypocrite you were sitting here till nany moved over there just because these people came from the leader in Jerusalem and you thought they would report him to James report you to James I'm just saying that that even a great man like Peter it's the fear of man and of the fear that what will somebody say about me they see me here can make us compromise so but if you determine in your life I don't want the honor of any human being I just want to please God and if I please God I know that God will stand by me through thick and thin and then one man with God is always a majority it doesn't matter the whole world is against him so please remember this brothers and sisters and there was not such a straight demand on this on all of Israel in the Old Testament that you must put me first in everything it was God's will for everybody but very few people reach that hmm you see just like you don't give a very tough examination to child who doesn't want to be more than a child but those who are willing to go on with God think of a man like Abraham how God tested him give up everything give up your relatives give up your home give up your retired life and come away to a land that I will show you and the interesting thing there is God never told his wife God never give a separate vision to his wife to make it easier for Abraham Sarah never saw anything one day Abraham says Sarah we are packing up and we are going and Sarah says where are you going I don't know God's told me and then you see the wonderful submission of Sarah that she went along with him and today she never regrets it you are Sarah in heaven do you regret that decision you made all no I'm glad I submitted to my husband and went because I knew he was a man of God fifty years later again God is testing Abraham now take your son and go and kill him on top of the mountain I'm going to show you you know it says in Hebrews 11 that he had faith that if he killed Isaac God would raise him up from the rear because God had said the promise is going to come through him so if I kill him God has to raise him from the dead amazing faith that man had a resurrection went up to his time there was no resurrection in the history of humanity and it says in Hebrews 11 Abraham had faith that if I kill this boy how will God fulfill his promise he raised him from the dead that's why he could tell Sara it's not written in Scripture but if Sara said where are you going he says something for a trip three-day trip with my son but don't worry I'll bring him back how could he say that he knew that my God will raise him up because the promise is through him but that was what did what was God less seen Abraham am i first in your life more important in the opinion of your wife more important than what Sara says more important than your son who is the most precious thing in your life am i first in your life and you read there in Genesis 22 when Abraham did that God's heart was so happy that he says to Abraham in Genesis 22 because you have done this I mean bless you so immensely that the entire population of the earth will be blessed through you can God make a man such a blessing sure it all depends on whether a man decides that God's gonna be first my life every man of God has been like that - whether it's Elijah or John the Baptist in the Old Testament or fall or anyone they determined one thing then Jesus Christ would have number one place in my life and nothing would take that place no person no position no job no nothing and I want to say it to you that those are the people who've accomplished the most for God on the earth whether they are full-time workers or secular workers it doesn't make a difference turn with me to James in chapter 4 James chapter 4 we read a verse which says speaking about those who have a little friendship with the world and friendship with God and it says here that it covers four James Hall four it's a very strong word it's one of the only places in scripture where the Lieber's where somebody writes to a believer and says you adulterous this is how we see Babylon is called the great adulteress the great harlot and Babylon is comprises of these small small adult races who claim to be Christians and he's not writing to unbelievers he's writing to believers he says you adulteresses don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity towards God you know earlier on he writes the letter he says my beloved brethren so that you know he's writing to believers in James 2 verse 1 my brethren my brethren that's he's writing to believers my brethren don't you know that if you are friendly with the world you are an adulteress if something in the world means more to you than Jesus Christ you're an adulteress it's like a married man who promised to love his wife or love a married woman let's say we are the bride who married woman who promised to love her husband and have nobody but him and then has his has her eyes on somebody else that man is richer or more handsome or kinder or something like that and has her eyes on somebody else even though she doesn't go and sleep with him she's an adulteress and then immediately she's an adulteress she's married to this man whom she said she'd be devoted to all her life and now she is looking at other men this is exactly how very many born-again believers are I've seen it they say they are devoted to Christ but look at the way they live there are lots of other things well which are more important we have to live in the world Jesus lived in the world he earned his living as a carpenter for at least 12 years up to the age of 30 and he had to have the struggles of it wasn't easy we lived in a poor home the town in which he lived didn't have a good reputation in fact Nathanael says can anything good come out of Nazareth that's the type of reputation as its had Jesus wasn't God allowed Jesus to grow up in such a place in a poor home hmm and to earn his own living struggle perspire and earn his own living so that's okay but the father was first in his life always in the midst of his work his work was not primary never money was not primary for him his aim was not to become the richest carpenter in Nazareth rubbish he didn't have any such shame how could he do that when he would give some gifts of some things to widows and help the poor people you can never be the richest person in Nazareth did you go around doing such things no his aim was to please his father that was all his ambition was to please his father whatever the cost and would not allow anything of the spirit of the world to come into his heart and that's our example to follow and so he says his brethren if you are friendly with the world it's actually an enmity towards God in other words he's telling a woman listen if you're gonna be friendly with that man actually you're going to be betray your husband you shouldn't be interested in some other man you can talk to people but if you're interested in another person more than your husband you're an adulteress a first-grade adulteress we understand that in the world but so many Christians have not understood that spiritually and he says if you want to be a friend of the world not only you're an adulteress he uses an even stronger word you are an enemy of God that means you haven't given first place to Christ on everything you ask any any man any married man any married man do you want your wife to give you first place in her heart would you like a little corner of her heart to be given to somebody else no man will say Oh surely so long as I have 99% if your wife says listen will you allow me one week in a year to go and stay with somebody at some other man not 51 weeks I'll be with you will you agree or if she says only one day 364 days I'll be with you one day with another man we are so jealous that's a good type of jealousy I want my wife for myself every husband here will say that don't you think Jesus has the right to say that concerning his bride that's the thing we need to ask ourselves all the time am I really the Bride of Christ or just somebody who wants to go to heaven when I die like me saying my sins are all forgiven on my way to heaven that's not my gospel and I say I I remember years ago and I started preaching in India I said lord I don't want to go around this country inviting people to go to heaven I have no interest in that because I never met a man who doesn't want to go to heaven I'm going to go around this country inviting with people who want to take up the cross every day put Jesus Christ first in their life and follow him on earth before going to heaven and if that means very few will come that's fine and we started with very very few and we are more now but we haven't changed the standards some people may sit in our congregation not really living up the standards well I'm not responsible for them but they hear the standard very clearly every Sunday you're not Church they hear it clearly and I'm not offended if some of them get off I'm not bothered if some of them get offended and go huh god bless you brother we'll still love you but we're not gonna lower the standard to keep you happy and keep you in our church never never never I will never permit that because I'll be unfaithful to my calling as a servant of God if I ever do that and I don't care who he is he may be the most influential person in town the richest person in town great Bible scholar I said fine I'm sorry I'm not interested in your knowledge I'm not interested in your money I'm not interested in any of your influence in this church Jesus Christ is going to be first and you know like for example if you're in a building and the people don't you proclaiming that they kick you or that that happens also in some of our village churches you know because some places we don't have a Hall and almost everybody in the village is a non-christian so one of our brothers who's rented a home from a non-christian opens up his home to have the church meeting and a few people start meeting and very soon the neighbors come and tell the landlord you can't permit this guy to have meetings and kick him out and he loses his house because I'm loses that rented house because he can't have a Christian meeting there what he's just fine okay if you throw me out and throw me out but I'm not gonna give any other person than Christ first in my life you know we think of sufferings that we have is nothing compared to what a lot of other Christians face I personally know even just before I came from Bangalore there was this poor sister holy believer in a non-christian home young sister maybe in our 20s or something kicked out of her house by the father one day say you and I can't live in this house if Christ his head of your life forget it get out get out onto the street and because she happened to come to our church you could find someplace for her to stay with some other sisters you know some people pay a tremendous price I want to tell you just because they put Jesus Christ first I mean that girl could have compromised a little and say okay dad what do you want me to do you want me to compromise something she may have stayed but she said no Christ is gonna be first in my life and some of us little little areas we compromise because we gain something in the world or get something for ourselves I tell you one day when you if you ever get to heaven and you see such people over there and she gives her testimony and ask you what is your testimony and you tell about all the compromises you made how do you feel that day I don't want to be ashamed in heaven when somebody asked me to give my testimony and he tells me how some of those martyrs how they laid down their life because they refused to even bow down to Caesar or any such thing so it's quite something to give first place to Christ and everything and I often think of the time when I will meet the martyrs of Christ in heaven and I believe a lot of time we will spend in eternity is giving our testimony to each other how the Lord led us through the earth I'll be excited to hear the testimonies of numerous believers I know that a major part of my eternity will be spent listening to the testimony exciting testimonies of different people and there are so many millions of people there it'll take a long time people ask what are you gonna do in heaven I say I'm gonna have a very interesting time in heaven talking to all these people and then they'll ask me for my testimony what do yours me that in some situation where you could make a little more money you compromised or some you went and married a person because she was good-looking and not not finding out whether she was a wholehearted disciple of Jesus all these type of things okay we made mistakes in the past are you gonna make more mistakes in the future are you gonna say Lord I made blunders and mistakes in the past but at least from now on I'm gonna give Jesus Christ the first place in everything it goes on here in James chapter 4 to say in relation to adulteresses and enemies of God I mean I hope you know the answer to this question who is an enemy of God well the standard answer is Satan yes another enemy of God a believer who's a friend of the world have you ever thought of that answer is here James 4 verse 4 a believer who's a friend of the world is an enemy of God just like the devil or who's an adulteress one who's friendly with the world we got to take these verses seriously I've gotta take scripture seriously I don't just hold up the Bible and says is the Word of God in the ignore what's written inside to me one of the clearest evidences in my life that I took the Bible as the Word of God is that time I was converted I started studying it because I believe with all my heart that Almighty God who the creator of this universe who sent Jesus Christ to die for my sins wrote only one vote for man these 66 books called the Bible a lot of people believe in it but if they believed it did study it I believe in it and I started studying and then it changed my life and I've never regretted it all these 59 years that I've known in being a Christian when I was born again 59 years ago I had not read the Bible at all I mean I knew the stories which I went which I heard in Sunday school but I hadn't read the Bible but I decided if this is the book that God is given I'm gonna spend my life studying it and boy change my life it changed my family life it changed everything around me so I know it's God's book if you not reading it my brother sister ask yourself whether you give on Christ first place in your life ask yourself no wonder the power of God is not being manifest as many people pray and pray and pray and pray Oh Lord fill me with this fear for me it's for 100 years they won't be filled with the spirit because they're not willing to give Christ first place in everything God will fill immediately with the Holy Spirit anyone who decides to examine every area of his life and make sure that Christ has first place in every area I searched my life like that and that's how God filled me with always fear and changed my life completely and gave me gifts to serve Him he'll give you tremendous gifts to serve them you stand by you through thick and thin nobody will be able to stand against you if you have God on your side and God will be on your side if you give Christ first place and everything that's what the Lord said to me you determined to give Jesus Christ the first place and everything and you might part back you all through your life he goes on to say in James 4 5 in the same context do you think the scripture speaks to no purpose he jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us I want to explain something to you here in the Greek language in which the Bible was originally written or the Hebrew there's no capitals and capital letter and small letter everything is capital letter so the translators when they translate it into English where there are capital letters and small letters have to decide when they read the word spirit it should this be capital S or small s capital s refers to the Holy Spirit smallest refers to our spirit I believe this is one of those places where the translators made a mistake not the original writer is referring to our spirit God is not jealous about the holy spirit it's ridiculous to think that but God jealously desires my spirit you understand that just like I told you a husband jealously desires that his wife will have no interest in any man other than him it's in the same context of Christ being first in our life and not being an adulteress in that connection he says the divine husband jealously desires you your spirit that it'll be entirely his then your spirit which is the deepest part of you well-meaning devoted to Jesus Christ there's a jealousy in God for that it's a jealousy because He loves you you know a husband who loves his wife only will be jealous that she should belong only to me a husband who couldn't care less about his wife and say okay if you want to go around fool around with other men it's okay such a husband is not a good husband he's probably fooling around with other men and women here himself but a really faithful husband will be very jealous that I even teach in India you know one of the problems in India I suppose is a problem the Western countries too is in most Indian couples when they get married they love one another over a period of time but once the children come the children become more important than the wife or husband everywhere I've seen it they begin to love their children more than they love each other I say that's against the Word of God you're supposed to love your wife and husband first they came before the children children came later then second children and that's why you find so many of these people once they've grown old and that children are married the husband ever wife are bored with each other they don't know what to do because children are not at home now you've probably seen that in many Indian homes the love for each other is it was never there to disappear over the period of years it's all focused on the children now that all they want to see is the children that's not the way it should be mmm even if you live up to a hundred years of age your wife your husband must be number one in your affections children I'm not preaching what I haven't practiced I believe I followed Scripture in every area that I've got light on and this is one of those areas I see that God himself the divine husband is very jealous for me and I say Lord I want to be yours I want to be a faithful wife a faithful bride in every area I don't ever to look at something just like you I mean a woman who's looking at another man and bearing him something like that that's something wrong in that and I don't want to be like that so the Spirit he jealously desires the spirit within us and if I I'll tell you this you see the Holy Spirit comes and fills our spirit please remember this he doesn't primarily fill our body or our mind or our emotions I personally believe the main problem with Pentecostalism is they emphasize the emotions emotions and the main problem with ninety Pentecostal people is they emphasize the mind intellect into letting to life hi Jaime intellect and emotions are not the primary thing that's all soul it makes you a soulish Christian you it's a baptism of the soul God desires that deepest part of us which is our spirit or heart they're the Holy Spirit if I make sure that my heart is devoted to Jesus Christ and that nobody and nothing will take any part of that attention away from him everything is secondary to my job secondary to Christ my children secondary to Christ even my wife secondary to Christ I never wanted to marry a woman who in whose life I would be first I wanted marry a woman in whose life Christ would be first the day we got married until the end of our life and a woman who do Michael say listen you'll never be first in my life you'll always be second Jesus Christ will be first in my life that is the secret of a happy marriage is a secret of being able to bring up your children properly where Christ is first in your life because God jealously desires our spirit for himself and watching you know you see your husband can't watch you all the time but if he were watching you all the time and he saw you once in a while glancing at a good-looking man and admiring him what would your husband think and God is watching us all the time and I say Lord is there any time my Allah in any time in my life where you see me wishing I had something of the world which you didn't want which you didn't please to give me wishing I had that with somebody else had are wishing where I had this or that why didn't you make me this like that some people concern for something earthly for example something that that you should be better looking or richer or anything but to be perfectly content with the way God made us no complaints absolutely not because I say Lord you determine what I should be you determined you determined even the number of hairs on my head it says the number of hairs in your head a number you know complaint about anything in life because I know you jealous ly watch over me I want to tell you from the little experience I've had through these years it's a wonderful thing to walk with God like that it's a wonderful thing you'll have the most satisfying Christian life and your life will be like the Abraham God told Abraham I will bless you so much that you'll be a blessing to every family you meet think of that if you put God first in your life you Christ first and everything I'll tell you in Jesus name every single family you meet in your life you'll be a blessing to them I'm not saying that all get converted even Jesus could not convert everybody well if you were converted through Jesus ministry because his standard was so high everybody could say those who receive tragedy was a blessing to them and you'll be a blessing you know like it says in some 23 what is it saying sound rarity my cup overflows and goodness you know the rest of that verse and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life in other words I go into a home and I go away and what do I leave behind there goodness and mercy is behind me following me all the days of my life I go into home and I go away and I left some goodness and mercy there you go into some other home and you leave it you left some goodness and mercy there you meet with the person for five minutes somewhere and you're left some goodness and mercy with him what are we to live can you live a better way than that and you come to the end of your life and what a lot you've accomplished even if you are not a preacher you just left goodness and mercy with a few words that you said that's the way you every one of us can live brothers and sisters God does not call everyone to have a preaching ministry that's reserved for some in his sovereignty he makes somebody an apostle somebody a prophet somebody a teacher somebody has Shepherd somebody an evangelist I think I cannot covet that that's God's sovereign desire who he wants to give that gift for example I I prayed many times that God would give me the gift of healing and not for any fame I promised I would never never make any money on it I would never take any money from people I prayed for and I say and I would go to the poor people first who were sick who couldn't afford to go to hospitals I say Lord I promise I will not go to the rich I'll go to the poor people among your people who are suffering but it did not pleased the Lord to give it to me and he gave me the reason also for it he said that people were so attracted to you that you won't be able to make disciples I don't want to fill beer heaven with people or a heel of their sicknesses I want to fill heaven with people who become disciples of Jesus and such crowds will come you when they know you've got a genuine gift of healing that you won't be able to make disciples I said Lord fine I want to make disciples I don't want to go around healing the sick because that's only temporary they get healed and they get well and they go to hell I'm not interested in that I want to work for eternity our life on Earth is let's say five seconds are you willing to be sick for five seconds if the rest of eternity is going to be wonderful sure all our sufferings of a five seconds if you look into eternity you'll find you and I even if you live to a hundred years it's five seconds or less than five seconds I say Lord sure the Eternity is more important so what does it mean in practical terms I want to come to something very practical of putting Christ first and everything you know Jesus when he said to the disciples as he left the earth there are two things he said to them number 1 mark 16 and verse 15 Mark's Gospel chapter 16 verse 15 he said going to all the world that's not for every single individual no individual can go into all the world it's a command given to the whole church I have a small part in it but there are millions of other Christians who also join with me in going into all parts of the world for example I don't have to go to Russia and Tibetan all I have to go where God sends me you have to go where God sends you go into all the world and preach the gospel share the good news with everyone the basic message the gospel and if anyone is believed and his baptized he'd be saved saved from eternal damnation and saved from the wrath of God but if he this believes he'll be condemned and in this ministry those who particularly those who go into pioneer evangelism pioneer evangelism means going to places where the gospel has never been preached there are many places in India like this where and you know what happens in these places where the gospel has never been preached there are more signs and wonders in such places because jesus promised that again and again and again I've seen there's healing casting out demons all these things wherever pioneer evangelism is preached where the gospel is preached and that happens even today these signs will accompany those who believe many people ask why aren't these signs accompanying my ministry brother are you involved in pioneer evangelism are you going and preaching the gospel in some area of the world where the gospel has never been preached no well then that's not promise is not for you this is for those who go into those places where the gospel has never been preached all of us have not done that but I've seen in some places in the villages where there was no Christian we got two churches in India where there were no Christians for 2,000 years you go to such places like that then God has to manifest his power in in amazing ways in miraculous ways otherwise how will they believe you know you go into some remote village of India where they've never even heard about Jesus and you go and talk to the world Jesus Christ you won't preach the gospel to them and you want to tell them you know 2,000 years ago in the Land of Israel they don't even know where Israel is they haven't read the Bible they don't there's no Bible in their language you go and tell them there was a little baby born and he was born without a human father they're sure you're gone off your head when a moment you begin with that and you know he grew up and he did a lot of miracles and then finally they killed him that was for your sins how would the world is that guy gonna believe that if you think you're crazy you mean 2,000 years ago somebody died for my sins which I'm comedy today and you tell me these stories that he was born without a father go and tell somebody else don't tell me these fairytales and then he rose up from the dead and then he's convinced here of your head and he ascended up to heaven and then you say okay he's coming back now bring your sick people here bring your demon-possessed people who nobody could set free and you'll see that jesus is alive I'll prove it to you right now then they believe that is the need for this these type of signs accompanying where the gospel goes for the first time because the Lord knows how will they know that this person you're talking about is a living Savior but there's another part of the gospel that you know that's why he says about eating drinking deadly poison and all that in verse 18 I tell you you go into these remote villages where there's no hygiene you better believe that the Lord will protect you from what you eat and drink otherwise you can get sick no but then that's why you need a promise like that over there we who live with bottled water and all that we don't need these promises but those are going to pioneer areas for values we don't need it this Bible is absolutely true for today and I've seen it happen but the second part of the Commission is in Matthew 28 the second part of the Commission is in Matthew 28 where it says these two are together as two sides of a coin you can't have one without the other now I believe in both the other side of the coin is Jesus said in Matthew 28 verse 18 all authority in heaven and earth is given to me go and make disciples don't just make them converse don't just tell tell them to believe that their sins are forgiven they've got to have more than that me them after that into disciples that means after they're born again make them disciples disciple is a follower he's got a master and the master says you got to follow me and make them disciples of Jesus and baptize them you know people who think baptism is unimportant Jesus mentioned it is the last words almost in both places mark 16 and Matthew 20 baptize them don't think of it as just a simple unimportant ritual it is not very important but only after you mark told them we want to be a disciple of Jesus I'll baptize you in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit Jesus mentions the Trinity there are people today who ignore the Trinity but Jesus mentioned it even the last words that he's for God is Father Son and Holy Spirit you may not understand that but accept it and then once you have made them disciples then you got to teach them verse 20 every single thing I commanded you that's why I made a series of our Bible studies saying all that Jesus taught that's from here because Jesus said you must teach them all that I taught you everything and then I'll be with you always till the end of the age now many people like to take that last part of the promise Lord you be with me always to whom is that promised if you go around wanting to make disciples in your life and you want to teach other people everything Jesus taught you brothers sister I assure you Jesus will be with you till the end of your life always with you I've experienced that because I see I'm not interested in making converts I'm interested making disciples I'm gonna make a disciple I'm gonna tell them every single thing that Jesus start I'm going to teach them how to overcome hunger I'm going to teach them how to overcome sexual lust I'm gonna teach them how to be free from anxiety and the love of money and stop complaining and grumbling and murmuring every single thing that Jesus taught people say that's too high a standard okay that's why God has allowed 1,000 other churches to exist you can go and sit there and waste your life but if you're a serious Christian and you want to put Christ first in your life this is the way teach them every single thing I have taught so these two things make disciples and teach them everything I thought if you really put Christ first in your life that would be these two things will be very important now I'm going to tell you when we started church we planted in Bangalore 43 years ago we started with these two statements make disciples and teach them everything I taught so to make disciples we went to look 14 because that's you know when the desire early apostles go and make disciples they didn't have to ask the Lord Jesus Lord what do you mean by make disciples he had already told them and Luke 14 there were three conditions of discipleship and Luke 14 26 27 and 33 and in a nutshell the three conditions of disciples of discipleship are make Jesus Christ first in everything number 1 marled Luke 14:26 put Christ first above your relatives and friends and others in your church and every human being your family members and wife and children everybody Christ must be first in all your relationships if you love me anyone who comes in uses a strong word hate and if you compare it with Luke Matthew chapter 10 similar passage what he means is in comparison to your love for me your love for them must be pretty close to zero I mean you love them but it's almost like darkness you hate your father mother wife children brothers sisters and you can't be my disciple now you know there are other passages which says you must love your wife like Christ loved the church honor your father and mother there is no contradiction and the picture I like to think of many verses in the Bible with an illustration because Jesus used illustrations all the time and the illustration that has come to me most frequently in this verse is this your love for your wife father mother children brothers and sisters in the church must all be like the light of the stars through the Stars have light at night yes but when the Sun rises in the daytime that light of the stars is still there it's not it's not gone away but the light of the Sun is so bright that you can't even see the stars it's almost as though they disappear in the darkness so that's the picture I get my love for my father mother wife children brothers sisters and others in the church it must be there but in comparison to the love of Jesus it must be like the light of a star compared to the light of the Sun they just I don't see them I don't hate them in that sense that's how I see hatred then I'll tell you another thing that I've discovered through my life you love your wife a hundred times better if you love Jesus Christ supremely you love and honor your father and mother much better if you love Jesus Christ supremely you love your children much better if you love Christ more than you love them if you treat the love for your children like a star light compared to the sunlight love of Jesus you'll do a much better job as a parent I decided in my life I'll never love my children now or even when they were born more than Christ because the Lord told me you put me first in your life my part will back you in everything in your home relationship with your children and whatever your need is your financially need don't worry about it put me first and everything I want to say to you my dear brothers and sisters the problems that so many Christians have you go down to the root of it they don't put Christ first and everything well then you're bound to have problems because God runs this universe according to certain principles and for a Christian the number-one principle is price once we first and everything more than father mother brother sister wife children examine your life and see if Christ is first in this area being ruthless in self-examination it's like a MRI scan get into that little thing they put you inside scan your whole brain and see if whether there's any little bit of cancer there somewhere some love for something else more than for Jesus Christ some person the second condition of discipleship verse 27 is carrying a cross if you don't carry across you cannot be my disciple the cross is that which puts myself capital SEL F to death so that Christ is first more than myself first Christ must be first in relation to all others and secondly Christ must be first in always in relation to myself in practical terms what that means is somebody shouts at me and gets angry and myself says talk to him in the same way and Jesus says die put me first this is practical and there could be many situations like this where you want something badly the Lord says put it to death put me first I'll give you exactly what you need at the right time you don't have to covet anything you don't have to grab anything you don't have to wish that you had so what somebody else has you'll be completely free from what from covetousness greed wanting what other people have wishing that you could be like that or you could have that or you could have something which that person has no self is put to death I will not allow self to have a say you know this is how Jesus lived all his life he had no sin in him but he had a will of his own if he didn't have a will of his own he is not a he it's not a sin to have a will of your own by the way Adam had a will of his own even before he sinned it's not a sin Jesus had a will of his own but the danger is when you have a will of your own you can do it see the planets don't have a will of their own and that's why for thousands of years they've obeyed God without disobey even a fraction of a second that's why we can keep just our watch by the Stars they've never disobeyed but they don't have a will of their own so they can't be sons of God they gotta be sinners but the moment you have a will of your own you can be a sinner or one obedient to God Jesus had a will of his own and he constantly said no to it and the Garden of Gethsemane was the last time he said no father not my will but thine be done but that's what he said from day one I think for example and we ever thought of Jesus life at home for 30 years perfect young boy 12 years old living under imperfect authority of Joseph and Mary do you think Jesus the perfect young boy could see certain decisions of Joseph and Mary were wrong absolutely do you think he could see that the way they spoke to each other was not a godly way I'm sure he's silent you think the way he they wanted to punish some of the other children that Mary had was not who's not right or some of the demands they made were not right absolutely but he never judged them that was His Holiness he'd say that is not my business to judge Joseph and Mary they are not under my authority they are under God's eye God my Heavenly Father has placed me here as a son I'm not saying he wouldn't make any suggestions you're welcome to make suggestions to your parents of course but he would not judge them so a lot of difference with making a suggestion to your parents and judging them to judge is to sin he wouldn't do that if he had sinned he could not be a sacrifice and he lived like that for 30 years in perfect obedience to an imperfect Authority do you know the number of believers with my heart complaining saying oh my elders have got this mistake in that mistake boy you should have lived under Joseph and Mary and discovered how many mistakes they had you see you want to follow Jesus well start following him here many people want to follow Jesus and walking on the water and turning water into wine and healing the sick forget that he started with a very simple thing like obedience to imperfect Authority now you know most people who complain about their parents they have no now our wives who complain that my husband is an imperfect Authority they never complain when it comes to working in a job under an imperfect boss maybe a boss who is sexually evil or cheats and tells lies why don't they complain there because money they lose money if they complain there why do they complain at home because there's no money to be earned by being obedient to your parents are respecting them there's such a lot of hypocrisy and people who call themselves Christians they appear to be very righteous but they're not but when self is crucified the will of self is put to death is your proving that Christ is first in my life and the third condition of discipleship is Christ above possessions Christ above all my loved ones Christ above myself life and verse 33 Christ is first in relation to my possessions that means nothing that I possess house land car property money will ever be more to me than Jesus Christ they are all given to me as a gift to use God has given more to some people and less to some people that's his business there were poor godly people like Paul and Peter they were extremely wealthy billionaires who oddly people like job and Abraham they were pretty wealthy they were also godly and they were righteous in fact in Ezekiel 14 14 God says the three most righteous people he named were no they have seen that verse Noah Daniel and Joel yeah some people think job's is a fairytale it's not more than once is mentioned in Ezekiel 14 verse 14 downwards the three most righteous people know are Daniel and Joe yeah and James also writes about Joe but he was an extremely wealthy man in fact it says he was the wealthiest man on earth if I understand that word right in Joe one but he was the most godly man on earth too so you can be extremely poor like Paul or Peter and be godly or extremely wealthy and we like joven by the main thing that made them godly was that when job lost everything he worshiped God the devil said no no he worships his possessions and the card said rubbish he does not he worships his sons no Satan young you don't know take away his sons take away his property he'll still worship Me and Jo proved it and then the devil was defeated in those areas I'll tell you art he loves his health you take away his health and let me see if he worships you and he gets the terrible sickness I believe it was leprosy because it says he had to sit outside the camp and scratch himself leprosy imagine getting leprosy and he bowed his head said god I worship you and that man had no Bible knew nothing about Jesus Christ did not have the holy spirit did not have fellowship I tell you he puts us to shame if he had a few up-and-down experiences in the book of Job that's because he didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within we don't have that we don't have to have that we can be like Paul Luke insane I'm content in all circumstances but the principle with all these men was God was first not that children whether it was Jove or Abraham not that children not that property not even their wife or anyone not even their health it's fine and what a life they lived these are the examples given to us in the Bible I always believe that the book of Job is the first book because there are many evidences of that in the book itself that was written long before Moses wrote Genesis Moses wrote Genesis 500 years after Joe and so I look at it like this when God wanted to write a book for man he did not begin after the creation of heaven and earth he said that can wait I want to write a book about a man who loved me more than his children who loved me more than his property who loved me more than his health for whom I was number one that's the first book God wanted to write that's what God wants us to hear number one I want to tell human-beings about a man who was number one who would not even listen to his wife if she tried to drag him away from God know and whom I could hold up to the devil as an example saying have you seen a man like this my dear brothers and sisters will you take that challenge today Lord I want you to hold me up and as an example to the devil not as a clever man not even as a man who knows so much of the Bible not as a gifted preacher or any such thing but as a man with all my limitations for whom Christ is first more than my job more than my family members more than myself life more than my possessions whether you give me or take away makes no difference Christ is first i prophesy and guarantee you will have the most satisfying life that you can ever live on this earth and I have 59 years behind me to prove it for myself you can never choose a better way of life you young people if you can start it early and decide this is the way you want to go I guarantee if the Lord doesn't come and you come to my age you'll really be grateful that you heard this message and stuck to it god bless you all let's bow our heads in prayer Heavenly Father is bow before you we want to honor you and everything we do in our life we want you to be number one first in every area and we want to listen to all that you have taught and see those seek for the part of the Holy Spirit to deliver by that light please help us we pray everyone here Lord I believe there are a number of sincere people sitting here otherwise they wouldn't be here this afternoon please remind them of what they have heard we pray in Jesus name

Channel: NCCF Church

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Keywords: NCCF, CHRISTIAN, Zac Poonen

Id: onSEYUQ1uqk

Length: 58min 39sec (3519 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2018