Two Really Big Principles: Utter Submission and All Glory to God — Sandeep Poonen

Father I pray that you'd Watch over us Lord. Jesus is a little flock of yours help us Lord. Jesus to Always be sensitive towards you Lord. Jesus. We want your Holy Spirit to guide this church. Protect this church prune this church.

Perfected Lord Jesus you're coming soon. We're gonna have to all stand before you Lord Jesus help us To present before you a heart of wisdom. Jesus name we pray. You know one of the things that We have as a church is the fact that we can be a family.

The Local Church as a Spiritual Family

It's one of the things that has really blessed me. Changed my life. About the church, which is it's a family. And if you think about the family table if you think about the family gathering. Most of you are people who have committed to this church.

This setting is like a family gathering. We're all sitting at a table and we're all children of God we're all Not only children of God, but we've decided to commit to this particular churches this particular Family, it's a very intimate beautiful setting that our church ought to really embrace.

The God is our father who welcomed us in and There are many families just like you all represent many families. Thanksgiving is an example where you Could go to your own family gathering sometimes with your brothers sometimes with your own cousins.

And could have lunch together dinner together. In that sense to other churches all over the area are little families of God we're not discounting their family. I Don't when I meet with my boy my kids and my wife.

That's my family, but that's not saying anything about your family. I'm not knocking your family in any way when I say you're not invited. This is my family gathering is my family dinner. Because we're gonna now have an intimate time as a family together.

The local church was meant to be like that I believe and it didn't mean it was never meant to be exclusive of everybody else, but people could choose. What is the family we want to be a part of and there are many different church families?

And then when we were meeting about seven years ago six years ago We came to the point where we realized that Those were meeting here the majority of them wanted to be part of This family together this was their spiritual family that is how we started looking at the church and One of the things that was very important to us is that everybody must have a voice.

Giving Every Member a Voice in the Church

It is a very dysfunctional family if we sit in the church in a family gathering and I tell my Two year old and my four year old no talking. You don't want to hear from you because you only babble. Just make a mess.

Half the thing you say don't make sense. You completely change the topic. We were having a wonderful conversation. No, I just don't talk. You don't want a sort of family that's an organization. Organizations where they leave the eloquent and all speak.

You really want to practice what it means to be a family and to be a family means we should allow we should have the Place where everybody can share any everybody is a matter of time. But everybody who's a part of the family who said we want to submit to these elders.

Should have the opportunity and the freedom to share. And they should be able to get up in their own stumbling ways. Some more eloquent than others. Some are 15 years old in the faith. Some are two years old in the faith.

But we should allow the two-year-old to speak. Should allow the 15 year old to speak. And we allow that Atmosphere of love to persist. It's extremely important. Those of you are members of this church.

All can't share here. We have a small minority of people who share here. We don't restrict it, but that's how it's worked out. Why because now we have a group that meets on Tuesday a group that meets two groups that meet on Friday different times.

We've got a women's group that meets on Sundays. Smaller groups where we do encourage people to share. So it's extremely important for us to be able to Have that place in the family of God, which is the macro church.

Which is the universal church which includes saints from 2 ,000 years Paul and Peter and James and John and many other saints for thousands of years. They're all part of that macro church. But then God has individual churches at particular times the church in Ephesus and now you've got many churches in the Bay Area.

But God didn't want us to float around. Just like he didn't want children to be in foster homes all the time. That was not his intention. Until sin came God's intention was that everybody should be a family there should be a family.

There should be a father and a mother and children. And that children should grow up in a family. That is our heart. With the church, that's why we say for visitors come take your time because it's like an adoption process.

You're being adopted into a family. You just don't get adopted into any old family. You got to check out the parents. See what kind of parents they're gonna be. They're gonna treat you right and they're gonna Feed you right and they're gonna train you, right?

That's what if I had to entrust my children to somebody else to parent them. I'm gonna have a very very straight Questionnaire and I'm gonna inspect very carefully. I Know families. I've been talking to some who are really researching which school that children should go to.

My goodness the amount of time we spend trying to figure out a way to send our children to school. Well, we give our children a million times more attention than we give our church. What church do you go to?

Have you researched carefully the church you're going to because it's like you're joining a family. But I mean this kind of truths about the practice you hop from church to church. Listen to this message listen to that message.

Never committing because the church is a family has not taken. The commitment that one has to a family one has spent much more research. What is much more interested in what the school our children go to then the church where on it's shows a sense of war priorities horribly more priorities that were given into the thinking of this world and Again I say that most of us don't even have children that old but You have to watch it as we see our children in the amount of time all of us in this particular part of the world.

Especially in some given some of our cultures how much energy we give. Towards educating our children in the health of our children and the health of ourselves. Some of us may spend more time thinking about how to be healthy Physically than to be healthy spiritually.

We may be able to spout out somebody to ask you here, how do we healthy well? I tell you what to do with the oils until you want to do the butters. See what kind of butters are good about what kind of oils are good about what kind of carbs are good about kind of cholesterol.

Is gonna bet okay? Tell me how to be healthy spiritually or go go listen to a sermon. That's the best I can give you. All right, because I've researched. Health physical health and all these things because it's more important.

Spiritual health the new agreement. Verses in scripture. Listen to a sermon. I'm nobody. I'm humble. I'm a humble man. You know, I don't know much, you know I'm useless. I'm still falling into sin. Yeah, I go talk to somebody else.

We don't take our health that way our blood pressure goes up a little bit more scared stay off that sugar real quickly. We Have to understand that part of these things. Will get better if we become part of a church.

Shepherding the Family Through Love and Responsibility

Which is a family and you've got good Leaders who act like good older brothers. God is my witness. I never look at anybody in this church as my child child. God says we're shepherds. Bobby Jeremy and I are shepherds.

But never never for one second if I looked at any of you as you know, my children or anything. Somebody old enough to do that. But I do know that I've been given responsibility along with Bobby Jeremy to take care of this family.

The responsibility is God giving me just as an older brother has been given the keys. Make sure you're running younger brothers and sisters eat their food. Keep their rooms clean. Should they take a shower or take a bath?

Make sure they brush their teeth. These are the kind of things that God has given to us as leaders and we have to make sure that All of you have been committed to us that you grow in the faith. You don't stay stagnant, but you're not going backwards.

And but it has to be an environment of love. The father has to become soul. The Love of the father has to become so rich towards us as we know the love of the father then we as leaders must also Lead with love as we do that.

Submission and the Spiritual Meaning of Head Covering

But one of the requirements. One of the requirements that we need to have In this church and it's proclaimed even physically one of the Requirements that we need to have in this church and to realize it is the most important In the context of a family is submission.

You know, what's the one verse given to children. Okay submit. You know how many four-year-olds think that they know more than their parents, you know. How many fourteen-year-olds think that they know their parents?

I was four and I was 14. I speak from personal experience. What is the verse from God to me as a 14-year-old boy be? Does my 14 year old as I have 14 year old do I know that my parents? Possibly in some areas I could even be right.

What is the command from God? Obey the. The covering of the head that some of us investigated. We're here six years seven years ago Was a study of what we were trying to understand God. Why did you give you these things?

The new agreement is different from the old agreement gone as the Sabbath gone is eating pork or he shouldn't eat pork. Gone is the tithing principle of tithing. So all these symbols are gone. All these laws are gone, but what about head covering?

We had a study then see Lord is this relevant for us and there are two things. That the head covering represents that for us as a church Grabbed ahold of us in a rich way and the two principles. There is part of the reason why I believe that most Christendom has has gone in a different way.

And I honestly don't care about the physical act of it as much. We want to obey all of the commands even the least Of the commands and head covering is one of the least of the commands. There's no doubt in my mind about it.

The physical act but we won't obey everything. That's in the new agreement and as far as we can tell From all the light God's given us 1 Corinthians 11 which talks about the head covering is in the new agreement.

It's part of the new mind scheme. But as I said, it's the least of the commands but the two spiritual principles that are so important that the physical head covering is a small indication of is Submission and God must get over to it and There's a reason why I think personally I do is my just my opinion where the Christian Church Has found a way to excuse that out.

But to me, I see that the two spiritual principles have also been squandered by the Christian Church find that very few churches teach strongly on submission and teach Strongly on God must get all the glory that we and can even find Christian leaders Who can speak wonderful sermons?

But I can say this with all humility before God as the Lord has shown me the fiftiness of Seeking my own glory as I stand on the pulpit. Been able to notice that. And sometimes wonderfully eloquent eloquent people.

The desire to grow glory to themselves. And the only reason I'm able to pick it up is because God has shown me the great filthiness of it and the reason God showed me the great filthiness, but one of the Milestones and that was because of the principle of head covering that we had to study.

So I want to make sure that all of us in our church understand the trivial miss of the physical act of head covering. It's really trivial even though it's in God's Word. It's a small command the least of the commands.

It's out there I'm comfortable saying that but the spiritual principle behind it is Massive and as I look at young people as I look at myself. When I look at the spirit of submission, it is one of the primary Characteristics and I want to look at myself and see what is the quality of my spiritual life?

Giving God All the Glory

It is a radical desire to submit and Who must get all the glory in my life? I must be Radically desiring that God must get all the glory as we heard. Well Lord, but I've come to present my heart of wisdom on that final day.

Did it convict you like that like it convicted me. Lord, I want you to be proud of me When you see this heart of wisdom. That was in my heart, but I was convicted as I heard today. And it's still about me.

It is still a little bit about me. Then I want you to be proud of me Lord you are proud of me. I will wave past that. But I really want to major giving you all the glory. I Am an ant. I'm a worm. I'm a piece of dust.

You must get all the glory. But as we immerse ourselves in these truths of submission and God you must get all the glory. Then we make progress and Dear brothers and sisters. This is one of the things that we in this church will underline and triple underline quarterly underline.

Please don't miss this. People who are coming to this church who are committed to this church. You're gonna be sitting at this dining table. We're gonna tell you you can have the mic you can speak. You're a two-year-old.

You're a two-month-old. You can battle. You're a 22 year old. You're an 82 year old in the faith doesn't make a difference. Everybody gets the mic. It's a family. We love you. I Want to give everybody an opportunity to have a voice.

But let's not lose. The most important things that the Lord has entrusted to us as the leaders in this church. Don't miss out on submission. Don't miss out on Giving God all the glory if we miss out on these things.

It's useless all the Bible knowledge we get all the expertise we have in communicating the new covenant church if we don't Radically desire to give God all the glory and we don't radically say Lord. I want to be thoroughly a man under submission.

The Centurion's Faith and Being Under Authority

Let me show you that verse in John chapter Matthew chapter 8. Where it talks about the centurion. We know the centurion story Matthew chapter 8 where the centurion comes and says look my servant is suffering paralyzed at home verse 6 and Jesus says in verse 7 Matthew chapter 8 verse 7.

I will come and heal him, but the centurion says look Lord. I'm not worthy because. But you can see the word you can get you because here's the reason Lord. I know you can see the word you don't need to come to my home.

Verse 9 because I Too I also I am a centurion and I too am a man under authority. He as a centurion noticed that Jesus Was a man under and because of that he also had authority. God needs to see of every single person here in New Covenant Christian fellowship that you are men and women under authority.

And we're not telling you to be under our authority in a vacuum. You know this we do as elders are men under authority and we practice it. You don't see it, but we practice it. We seek to practice it.

To not do as we think we should at New Covenant Christian fellowship not because we don't Know that the scriptures we're studying we study the scriptures. We have points of view that we study. But we are so gripped to be people under authority.

That we'd rather do the thing that we're uncomfortable with. If the authority tells us to do. This is how Jesus lived and Jesus had such unrestricted access to the father that he heard the voice of the father so crystal clear.

We are not we've been so clouded with sin that God in the family of God gives us. Other people he says here's a person submit to this person. Here's you don't you don't like what they believe you don't think that's right.

Okay. There's another godly man. There's some other person here that seek with all of your heart to submit to somebody. Move. Leave town go to another town if you find a godly man in Colorado find a godly man man in Seattle.

I highly encourage you to submit to this person not because we're trying to Build a cult or anything. But it is because of our protection. And your brothers and sisters, it's a lost virtue. Show me show me a man who stands in the pulpit and you can tell somebody by point this man out to this man.

Gives God all the glory. He doesn't seek the opinions of man at all. I struggle to find people. People send me YouTube videos all over the place all over the world. I struggle. I Look at myself and I judge myself.

I look at some of the things I've spoken years ago. And I say I hope nobody ever listens to it because I can see I'm seeking the honor of man here and there. Maybe you don't spot it. I can't and I'm disgusted by it.

I want to tear it up. I want to burn it up. I want to somehow undelete that delete that YouTube link. I wish nobody would listen to it because it smells bad to me my own sermons. And I thank God that he's giving me a greater distaste for it.

To seek any of humans glory, it's it's the idols that come up in our lives and God is my witness. I long to submit. I've no desire to have anybody on the submission to me. I Long to submit what a happy place to be it is.

It is such a beautiful peaceful place to be under radical submission to somebody. Who do you radically submit? You're a member of this church. What you're saying is we ask you this when you're joining the church.

Do you are you happy to you happy? Joyfully to submit to the three of us. It's not much to look at. We don't have any Bible school degrees all that stuff. Please there plenty of other much more credential people in the bay area.

Do you really want to submit to us? We try to make it as plain as possible. We don't want to compromise. Please don't come here and don't submit us go to another church, but submit to them. When people are saying we're leaving this area or we're leaving the church won't go somewhere else we said fine go.

Oh, please don't go sit at home. Don't go just to become a puma. We're going radically submit to somebody. We hope that the spirit of submission and the spirit of giving God glory will really Be some of the trophies that we carry.

I hope it'll be something that all of us Will be able to demonstrate and I want to say something personally prior. I mean very specifically. We have instructed folks who speak here. To take four minutes.

It's an email. We send every week and we instruct people. This is what it means to prophesy pay attention to it. We don't ask you to submit many things, but it's for our good. That we're asked to submit.

We asked the women to put a cloth on their heads if they're a member of this church if they want to come up and speak. To cover their heads and we asked you to do certain things submit. You don't ask big things.

You know that we don't ask you for your money. Have you ever asked if I ever asked you to come and do something in my house? And I haven't paid you for it. I come back to my house to eat my food. Any of your elders asked you to do anything.

Not compensated people. The things we asked you to submit is in small areas, but God is looking at these things to your brothers. I'm speaking specifically because I care for What the Lord thinks of NTCF and we cannot get flabby in the long hair in the wrong areas.

It'll ruin us. We can get very very good at understanding God's Word. We can become experts in many things, but we don't. Become a church that radically submits and people are watching this live stream.

People are watching this on YouTube. There are hundreds of Hits that we get every week. What are they gonna see? Are they gonna see NCCF becoming a church that's increasing in knowledge. I hope they'll see these people.

Are people under these children, what do you want from my what do I want from my children? Well, I want my children to be like these people are children under authority. I'm working on it. You know that.

Definitely a lot my wife and I. And I'm trying to run the company. They're not trying to run the house. My children are not allowed to run the house. Children must know that they must admit. And the family of God all of us including me including the elders must demonstrate as we stand here and speak.

Through the videos. We are men under authority. We are women under authority. Ask the Lord to Open your eyes. Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes to this. And let us also ask the Lord to say Lord there are two things.

I want to demonstrate. I want to demonstrate that you get all the glory. I was gonna speak about the love of God as a father. But that's why I took a few minutes to pray before I pray because I said Lord Jesus.

What should I speak on and I always want to follow the Lord's leading? One of the things I was gonna speak about the father's love is the father's love is he welcomes you weeps. Sings over you with songs of joy.

Rebuke as an Expression of the Father's Love

But the other thing he also does is he repukes. Whom the father loves. And this is one of the unique things about our church, we will be a church that loves like the father loves so we will love like the father loves and sing over you and Embrace what you've got to say and allow anybody to come and share, but we also want to be a church like the father.

We've encouraged many people. Everybody for years to seek to prophesy. We'll continue to prophesy. It's been years. I'm still saying silent. Who's hurting you or us? Hiding behind fears. What other pieces of dust think of you?

I'm afraid to get up and say a few words. Let's learn dear brothers and sisters. We're gonna stand for the judgment seat of Christ. We're gonna have to present a heart of wisdom. I'll end with this. I have many friends who I've known over the years of Christendom.

I was following a very different path. In my early years as a Christian, there were people who came from non-christian families. Hindu families, atheistic families here in America who had such a love and a devotion for the Lord.

Had such a fire in the Lord compared to me. I grew up in a Christian family. So all of this was all news. But God in his mercy. Has me here and some of my friends. I say this without any pride but with sadness.

They've fallen by the wayside. Their zeal is gone. And I know what saved me it was. I had a loving father. Not only God, but I had a physical father and loving elders. They loved me they always loved me but what they also did was they faithfully.

And I would have been gone by the wayside if I wasn't rebuked. Dear brothers and sisters, when was the last time you got a rebuke from a man of God. Embrace it. I'm not Pointing fingers at anybody, but I do desire that this church will grow from strength to strength.

I'll become a disciplined church will shine as people all over the world. While watching these videos you'll see this is a church that takes the God glory of God seriously. Man your church are disciplined.

God may call you a few years to go somewhere else. You want to drive the spirit of submission Into us. You want to drive the spirit of God. You must get God all the glory into us. Let's bow our heads.

And ask the Lord to speak to us body and pray for us as we close.