Men Who Manifest God's Nature — Zac Poonen

So we bow our heads in prayer. Our Father in heaven, it is your good pleasure to give us your kingdom. It is your good pleasure to bless every single person here, especially the poor and needy who are crying out to you for some need in their life, some guidance, some direction.

Lord Jesus, you said where two or three are gathered, I am in the midst. We want to be aware more than anything else of your presence here, in whose presence the angels cover their faces. Thank you Lord.

Let your spirit brood over us at this time. We only desire to glorify your name on earth. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven everybody else.

Let us not fall in temptation. Deliver us from all evil. For the kingdom is yours, the power and the glory, forever and ever. In Jesus name, Amen. So God has ordained that men should take the lead in every church.

Men Called to Lead Through Knowing God and His Word

And if a man does not take the lead, he is letting down God tremendously. And that's the tragedy in the world today, that many men who should be leaders are not leaders because they don't know God and they don't know his word.

Then if you don't know God and you don't know his word, how can you lead the church? I'm not saying that to condemn anyone. To encourage you, to say to you, God has limited himself to use men. Let me show you one example of that in Acts of the Apostles in chapter 10.

Acts of the Apostles chapter 10. There are a number of things we learn from this story. In Acts 10, there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius. A centurion means a captain of a hundred soldiers in the Roman army.

It was called the Italian cohort. But he was a very devout man, one who feared God. He didn't know anything about Jesus. I don't know, but he knew there was some God up there in heaven. He feared him and he gave money to the poor and he prayed to this unknown God.

He didn't pray in the name of Jesus and I don't think he worshiped the Roman idols. He probably saw through all that and he prayed to God where you are continually. Imagine a non-christian who doesn't know anything about the Bible, doesn't know anything about Christ, praying that the Holy Spirit can record that he prayed to God continually.

That doesn't mean he was 24 hours on his knees, but that means very frequently he prayed. And you know prayer is an expression of our helplessness. When we pray we are saying Lord I'm helpless. Maybe I need forgiveness of sins.

Maybe I need some solution in this particular problem I'm facing. It's a wonderful thing to be helpless. When Jesus said men ought to pray always and 1 Thessalonians 5 says, that's Luke 18 verse 1 and 1 Thessalonians 5 says pray without ceasing.

It doesn't mean we ought to be always praying verbally or on our knees. It means to be in that constant state of helplessness. Only helpless people pray. Strong confident men don't pray. And if you think you can handle situations you don't pray.

It's when you come to the end of yourselves that we pray. And there's a sense in which we should be at the end of ourselves all the time. That is the true Christian life. Jesus said in John 15 without me you can do zero.

You believe that? John 15 without me you can do zero. In other words anything you try to do without seeking God's help it'll ultimately you'll find it the day in eternity it was zero. I don't want a bunch of zeros as my labors on earth.

I'm not always on my knees. I don't want to boast I pray so many hours a day. I know I used to hear such testimonies in my younger days and I used to get discouraged. Somebody prayed two hours a day four hours a day.

I said Lord I don't I don't seem to be able to do that. I was working in the Navy and I had a lot of work to do. And even after I quit the Navy but I said Lord what does your word say? And I read in Luke 18 verse 1 I have to pray 24 hours a day.

And men should always pray. I read in 1 Thessalonians in chapter 5 pray without seizing 24 both places Jesus and the Holy Spirit says pray 24 hours. So then I realized prayer is not being on my knees.

There is a time for that. Jesus would go out early morning into the desert or remote places and pray. Before other people woke up he would go away. In other words what I see there is primarily that he wanted some place where he would not be disturbed.

And living in a city of 11 million people like Bangalore I say Lord I don't find any desert places nearby where there are no people. Everywhere there are people. So what should I do? And the Lord said you can have a quiet undisturbed place in your bed at different times of the night whenever you wake up.

I don't mean you put an alarm and wake up but you know how sometimes anyway I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and I want to talk to my father. And especially early morning when I get up I begin to say Dad I'm so thankful.

I'm your son and that you love me. That's the most important thing. Not what I do for you. You don't love me because I'm going to do something for you today. You love me because I'm your son. And I didn't do anything to be your son.

You just chose me. You sent Jesus to earth and made me your son and I don't deserve it I know. I just want to say you Dad I love you. In private I always call him Dad. It's the English equivalent of the Hebrew word Abba.

Romans 8 16 says the spirit within us cries out Abba. If it is translated Daddy. But in public Jesus always said Father. So in public I pray our Father who art in heaven. But in private Abba. In our Indian languages it is Abba.

That's the intimate word that children use to their father at home. What we use in English is Dad, Daddy. God wants us to be intimate with him. I want to ask you brothers first of all if you want to fulfill God's purpose for you with which he sent you to earth, get to know him as Dad.

Cornelius and the Testimony of Experienced Forgiveness

This guy Cornelius, he was a military man and no knowledge of God but he prayed continually to this unknown God he was praying. And does God hear such prayers? Listen, an angel came to him and said to him in verse 4, last part of verse 4, Acts 10 verse 4, your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Does God hear prayers that are not prayed in the name of Jesus? This guy knew nothing about Jesus. He knew nothing about a heavenly father or a God or anything. He just prayed oh God I don't know who you are but when I look at this universe I know somebody created it and I look at the wonders of my body I know somebody created me.

It's not accidental. You just got to look at the universe and your body to believe in a God. That's all. You got to just look at a little baby that comes out of a wee tiny seed in a mother's womb and if you can't believe in God you must be off your head.

You must be intellectually stupid to see a baby born and not believe in God. That that was accidental that from that little seed this beautiful baby came out with all those internal organs and miles of blood vessels inside that body.

Anyway, so he prayed and not only that it says he feared God verse 2. That means he had a reverence for this unknown God. That's another very important quality for men to have. A reverence for God. The word fear is not the fear of being afraid but a reverence for God or like someone said there are two types of fear of God.

One is the fear that God may hurt me. It's what most people have. I have the fear that I may hurt God. Which fear do you have? That God may hurt you or that you may hurt God. Many years ago I read that last verse of Psalm 139 which says search me O God and try me and see if there's any wicked way in me.

The better phrase of that in the living Bible is Lord point out anything in me that makes you sad and I remember years ago I printed it out on a little card and gave it to all the people in our church in Bangalore.

I said keep this on your table. Lord point out anything you find in me. Not that makes you angry. That makes you sad. Very good verse to remember. It's a living Bible paraphrase of those last verses of Psalm 139.

Lord point out anything you find in me that's making you sad. I don't want to make you sad. I'm not afraid of a God who's making me angry. I'm not afraid of a God who hurt me. I'm afraid I may hurt God.

I don't want to. After all that he's done for me. First of all I don't want to hurt him and second I want to respond in love to him. This man Cornelius did not know anything. He had God cared for him so much that he sent an angel to speak to him, to reach out to him.

This unknown person out there who was not one of the God's chosen people the Jews. And what I wanted to point out to you here is that angel who knew the gospel better than anybody else. He could have explained the gospel a hundred times better than anybody else to Cornelius.

Cornelius that angel could have said you know in the sight of a holy God you're a sinner. And Cornelius would have said yes. And then do you know that sin makes you guilty before God? He'd say yes sir.

And it can take you to hell. Cornelius says yes sir. But let me tell you the good news. God sent his son to earth. Really? His name was Jesus. Here in this land of Israel he was crucified. And probably Cornelius had heard about it.

Some false prophet called Jesus being crucified. So was that son of God? He says yes. And you know he rose up from the dead to prove that he was God three days later. And he went up to heaven. He's alive.

And he's the one who has sent me to you. You can pray to him. He will listen to you. And he says really yes you can be a child of God right now. Just ask Jesus to come into your heart. The angel never said that.

That's what I want to point out to you. He said please send for a man called Peter. I would love to give you the gospel Cornelius. But God has not permitted me to give you this gospel. For one reason.

I have not experienced the forgiveness of sins. Because I never sinned. Only someone who has sinned and experienced God's forgiveness can give you the gospel. So I'm sorry Cornelius if I were to expand his words that's it.

You got to send. I know it'll take time. I may take a few days. But you got to wait. If it's the facts of the gospel I can give it to you right now. But God does not permit us to speak information. The angel would say he wants us to speak from our experience.

And I have no experience of forgiveness. Because I've never sinned. You have to send for somebody who has sinned and was forgiven. Brothers do you qualify? Then you're the man whom God wants more than the angels to proclaim his truth wherever you are.

Maybe you're not skilled in speaking. Doesn't matter. Can you tell people that God loves you? Can you tell people that you are a wretched sinner and that Jesus had mercy on you? You don't have to tell them all the details of your sin.

Please don't ever do that. Why pollute other people's minds with your corruption? Your mind is corrupted enough with it. Don't add it to other people's minds. Bury it. But tell people that you were forgiven.

What were the sins Paul committed in his younger days? I don't know. David tells us many times that he sinned in his younger days. What? Can you tell me? No I won't tell you. It's between me and God. I don't tell people all the sins I committed in my younger days.

They're all blotted out. God says I will not remember them. And if I remember them I only remember them before God. Never before men. Before men I only know I was a sinner and Jesus saved me. So he sends for Peter and then Peter comes.

I don't know how many days it took. So on the next day it says the next day verse 9 Peter went up to pray and then while there God had a tough time trying to convince Peter to go and preach to Cornelius because no Jew would ever go to preach to a Gentile.

Peter even though he's filled with the Holy Spirit he had this idea that God loves the Jews only. It was a racist feeling that all the Jews had. Racism is not something only in this country or even in India you have upper caste and low caste.

It's a form of racism. In every country it is there. Some countries they talk more about it but it is there in every country. I presume in every community there's sort of one group looking down on the other.

One group of whites looking down another group of whites and one group of blacks looking down another group of blacks. One group of brownies looking down another brownies. It's all there in every country and I don't blame Peter because all his life he had been taught you know what the Jews were taught to pray.

Jewish men were taught to pray every morning. I've read this somewhere. Oh God I thank you that I'm not a Gentile. That means a non-Jew. I thank you that I'm not a slave and I thank you that I'm not a woman.

Imagine that's what the men used to pray to God. So I heard. It's a pretty conceited prayer. So imagine a man like Peter who had prayed that for years now being told to go to a Gentile and he said no I can't go and then the Lord gives him this vision and says you know of all types of animals which the Jewish law had forbidden him to eat and he said in verse 14 I've never eaten anything unholy and unclean.

The book of Leviticus says I shouldn't touch these things and the Lord is trying to teach you know that sheet contained verse 12 animals crawling creatures things Leviticus had said for clearly forbidden the Jews from eating.

Eat and the Lord says I've Peter says I've never eaten anything. He's trying to tell God the rules of holiness. I can't eat anything and the voice you know sometimes we can have that attitude too. There are people who try to be holier than Jesus.

Yeah I've come across people like that. Sometimes we ourselves try to make all type of rules that Jesus never made. Then we are like the Pharisees. The Pharisees tried to be holier than God. That's how they became Pharisees and Jesus said I don't desire all your sacrifices.

I want compassion. I desire mercy more than sacrifice. Now I want to tell you my dear brothers God desires mercy more than sacrifice. Of course sacrifice is important but I remember when we were building our first church building in Bangalore after six years of meeting in my home and in 1981 we had our first church building.

That was a miracle for us. We never expected we could have one but God wanted to reach more people. That's the only reason he moved us out of my house into a building and of course a house is much better.

I remember my boys said oh daddy why are they all going away? We love to have the meetings in our home even if it's inconvenient. Don't they like us? I said no we got to reach more people and then one of the brothers asked me what verse shall we put behind the pulpit and I said what is the biggest danger we who preach holiness face?

I said I'll tell you from my experience. It's being unmerciful to other people who are not holy. That is the biggest sin we face. So let's have a verse like that relates to that. So I said put up this verse.

Be merciful to others just as God has been merciful to you and for the last what is it 42 years we've had that verse behind the pulpit to remind all who come in everyone who still stands in that pulpit to preach with mercy and not to preach like the pharisees.

You walk up to the pulpit and what you see there is be merciful to others as God's been merciful to you and then you stand in the pulpit and in the front of the pulpit we have for everybody who accuses us of being perfect we have a verse written in the front of our pulpit.

Hebrews 6 .1 let us press on to perfection telling everybody hey fellas we're not perfect we are pressing on to perfection we invite you to press on to perfection let us not let me let us we are all in the same boat we are imperfect.

It's wonderful to have that attitude when you stand in a pulpit that you're reminded that you've to be merciful to everyone because God has been so merciful to you and to remind everybody that we are not perfect.

I'm not perfect neither are you we are all at different stages in that climbing the mountain of perfection. Jesus is on the top perfect ball reach somewhere up there and we're following Paul and the other apostles and there are others behind us some ahead of us pressing on to perfection.

So I mentioned this to say just to point out one thing that God needs men. The angels could have done a million times better job than you and me. But he wants people who have experienced forgiveness who have experienced the mercy of God because the world is full of sinners who some people think God of a heart.

You know most of the idols of the heathen. I've seen a lot of those idols in the temples. The faces of their gods look so hideous and you got to see them. I've never seen an idol of a very loving smiling compassionate.

I'll tell you honestly I've not seen it. Every temple I go to I see a fierce where do I get you that type of face. And we proclaim a Jesus who is the friend of sinners. When you proclaim Jesus dear brothers to others is it the friend of sinners.

Especially those who have come to our cfc churches. And you have heard my messages on youtube. Yeah we had to preach holiness. All the apostles preach holiness but it must be preached from the heart of compassion.

And you know whether you have that. And it's very easy to have a heart of compassion if you just look back to see what you were like the pit from which you were dug. The Lord sometimes used to tell the Israelites look at the pit from which I dug you fellows out for them.

That pit was some heathen country called Uru the Chaldees where Abraham was a heathen worshiping heathen gods. He says that's a pit I dug you fellows out from. Don't ever forget that. And I I want to remember all my life the pit that God pulled me out of because then I can grow in holiness.

Knowing God as the Source of Grace and Godliness

Turn with me to 2nd Peter and chapter 1. 2nd Peter chapter 1. There are some fantastic verses in this first chapter. Some amazing verses which you almost don't find anywhere else. Let's begin with verse 2.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. You want more grace in your life according to this better get to know God better read the Bible. It's the only book in the world that will tell you what God is like.

Listening to Zac Poonen on YouTube will not help you to know what God is like if you don't read the Bible. I always seek to point people to the scripture grace and peace through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Jesus said in John 17 3 this is eternal life that they might know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom is thou sent. Eternal life is not living forever. No no that's not the meaning of eternal life.

Jesus defined it in John 17 3 as eternal life is not length of life. It is quality of life not quantity of life but quality of life. Many people think of eternal means quantity. No eternal means quality.

John 17 3 is crystal clear on that this is eternal life. The definition of eternal life that Jesus gave that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That's how we get eternal life.

And the more you know God and the more you know Jesus the more you have of eternal life. You say how can I have more of eternal life. Either I have it or I don't have it. That is the mathematical way of counting eternity.

That's because we are so mathematical we think we are cleverer than Jesus. He said it's not that way you're thinking in terms of quantity it's got nothing to do with quantity. The fact that you're going to live for eternity live forever.

People who go to hell live forever. Then they've got eternal life too. That's the clearest proof that that's not the meaning of eternal life. Eternity means having no beginning and no end. Who's got that life.

Holy God. God is the only eternal person because he had no beginning. And when he gives us his life through the Holy Spirit that is eternal life. It's the very life of God that comes to us through Christ.

And if I get to know him more and know Jesus Christ more and that's in this through the scriptures I will have more and more of this eternal life not quantity no quality. A life of perfect love a heart that does not love anyone other than God but through that love loves everybody else as Jesus loved me.

So then he goes on to say in verse 3 God's divine power has given us everything necessary not only for life but for godliness. Godliness is a word you find in the new testament which means becoming like God in character.

And it says here that God's divine power has given us everything to enable us to partake of his godliness. And that also comes again back to the same thing knowledge of God. Knowing God. Knowing God knowing God.

This is the thing this is eternal life. They might know the verse 2 in the knowledge of God verse 3 through the true knowledge of him. So the Christian life is a growth in knowing Jesus better and better and better and better knowing our heavenly father better and better and better.

That is how we overcome sin. And you can know the bible like the pharisees and not know God at all. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. That's why when you come to the bible you must say open my eyes Lord.

I can't understand this with my human cleverness. You know that verse in Matthew 11 where Jesus said I think it was 18 to 20 or 25 or something. Father I thank you that you've hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent people of the earth and revealed them to to who babies.

What does a baby know about the bible about God. So I read that and I said Lord I want to come to the bible like a little baby knowing nothing. You know when a baby is grown up and is beginning to speak and pronounces the words wrong.

And his mother says oh my darling. That's not the way to say that word. This is the correct pronunciation. Thank you mama. Okay I'll pronounce it like that. Imagine going to scriptures like that. And the Lord says that's not the meaning of that verse.

You're depending too much on your cleverness. With your cleverness you try to understand that verse. You'll get it all wrong. You'll pronounce that word wrong. I'll teach you. I say Lord what do babies have that I don't have.

And Jesus said humility. He took up a baby once. And he said to his disciples in Matthew 18 if you humble yourself like this baby you can enter God's kingdom. So I see the primary characteristic that Jesus emphasized in a baby is humility.

And I have meditated much on the humility of a baby. Of course I meditated on the humility of Jesus Christ. There are only two examples for me of humility. One is Jesus himself. Learn from me. For I am humble of heart he said in Matthew 11 verse 29.

So I want to look at Jesus life and see his humility in different different circumstances. I see oh why did he do it like that. Because he was humble. Why did he heal somebody. And tell people. Don't tell anyone so different from today's preachers who say get the get the video camera here.

I'm going to pray for this man. Jesus was so different when you go don't tell anybody that I healed. You go quietly and give thanks to God. That's humility. We live in a world where people want to advertise themselves.

The Christian world Christendom is full of preachers who want to advertise themselves what they're doing. And I'm doing a little better than that guy. And so many million people came to my meeting. And you know how many people came to Jesus meetings.

Jesus’ Humility and the Cost of Discipleship

John chapter 6 is a great chapter. It starts with 5 ,000 men whom he fed plus women and children probably 10 ,000 people. It's a great chapter. It begins with 10 ,000 and ends with 11. You know why. Because Jesus preached the cross.

How do you reduce 10 ,000 people to 11. While the world is preachers are thinking how to increase my congregation of 11 to 10 ,000. Jesus is teaching us how to reduce 10 ,000 to 11. Read John chapter 6.

You got to eat my flesh and drink my blood. And you really I don't have time to show you all these verses. You look at it. We're on time. John 6 and people got offended and went away. They were saying this man's telling us to be cannibals eat his flesh.

I mean we were told not even to eat the flesh of some animals which are unclean. And he's telling us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. We were told never to drink the blood of animals. This can't be a prophet of God.

And he says great crowds left him. There were 10 ,000 to start with and Jesus did not stop them. Hey don't go away. I'll explain to you what I didn't mean really my flesh and my blood. He did not give a word of explanation.

Why didn't he do that. Because he knew these people don't have a heart to take up the cross. What's he was explaining to them. That'll be intellect to intellect whereas Jesus always spoke heart to heart.

And he was not going to explain to their intellects. What I meant is not cannibalism. Folks I'm not a cannibal. I'm not asking you to be to that. I'm asking you to die to yourself life which is the worst part of thing hinders you from following the Lord.

But he knew that they didn't have a heart to hear that. And so when he went away and he says this is the part I like the best. At the end of John 6 there were 12 left his disciples and the average preacher would have said hey.

I hope you folks won't leave me. I like these others. No you know what Jesus said to them. Do you also want to welcome. And one man gets up and says you know who that man was Peter. Jesus had just called him Satan.

Matthew 16 is about the same time as John 6. Get behind me Satan. You who tell me not to go to the cross that was to Peter. He never called Judas Iscariot. Satan. You know what he called Judas Iscariot in the garden of Gethsemane.

Friend friend. He came as a friend of sinners. But this is her most wholehearted loyal disciple who had given up his fishing nets and everything to follow him. He calls him Satan. You know God can rebuke you very strongly when you go astray if he knows that you can bear it.

Judas couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear rebuke even a small thing. Have you noticed the time when he went to betray Jesus is very interesting. I don't have time to show you all these verses. But read Matthew 26 John 12 these chapters where somebody came to anoint the feet of Jesus.

And Judas Iscariot says oh this could have been sold for 300 pence and given to the poor. Why waste it on the feet of Jesus this expensive ointment. And Jesus he doesn't rebuke him. He says in a very gentle way.

The poor you always have with you. You can give it any time to them. But me you don't have always. This woman has done a wonderful thing. She has anointed me in advance for my burial. You know the Jewish people anointed with perfume the bodies that were of dead people who were buried.

And she said he she has anointed me in advance for the burial. And she's the only one who could do it. The people who went to anoint Jesus on the Sunday to anoint his body they couldn't get it. They couldn't get a chance because he had risen.

One woman got a chance to anoint the body of Jesus for his burial. That was Mary. She did it before. He's telling us brothers take the opportunity to do something. When you get it an opportunity to do something for the Lord take it.

When you get it tomorrow. You may not get it. That's what I learned from that. But that's all he said. And Judas got so offended with. What sort of rebuke was that. He got offended that his correction was not accepted.

Jesus didn't say yeah. Yeah. That's right. You know actually you could have given this to the poor Mary. Why waste it on me. He never said that he appreciated her. And you know the next verse it says he went out and sought to betray him.

You see the connection. This chap was offended me publicly. I'm going to get my back get my own back on him. How do you feel when somebody has insulted you publicly. Can you think back to instances where it was not even insult from small word that somebody said.

And you got so offended. Maybe a preacher spoke in a way that was directly to you. And people in the church knew it. And you got offended. Why don't take it. Don't be like Judas. You know in the psalm.

Psalm 119 is a great psalm. Blessed are those who love thy law. Nothing shall offend them. I like that verse. I want to live in that verse. That's how I prove I love God's word. You say you love God's word.

But tell me honestly can anybody offend you. Can you honestly say nothing offends me. Nothing that people say. Nothing that people do. People let me down. People publicly humiliate me. I will not be offended.

Blessed are they who love the law of God. Nothing will offend them. If you get offended it proves you don't love God's word. Take these verses seriously. You know I feel that we read so quickly and so fast that we miss meditating.

Meditate on God's word. Dear brothers be a man of God. Get to know God through his word by meditating on his word. God's riches are given to those who meditate. It says in the Proverbs that is the glory of God to conceal a matter.

I don't know 21 or 27 or something like that one of those chapters Proverbs is very difficult for me to remember. It's the glory of God to conceal a matter. But it's the glory of kings to search it out.

Do you find it sometimes. I don't know. It's 21 one or 27 one. Any one of those anyway don't waste your time now looking for it. You can find it later. It's the I believe me. It's in scripture. It's the it is the glory of God to conceal a matter and it's the glory of kings to search it out.

So I've taken it like that there are things concealed in the Bible and that's the glory of God. He's decided to hide it. It's not open for clever people to understand. But it's the glory of a king. And I'm a king in Christ to search it out and I'll find it out if I have the spirit of a child because revelation is given to those who come with the spirit of a child.

I've really sought not only in my studying scripture but also in my preaching. I say Lord I want to speak in such a way that a 10 year old sitting there will understand me. Not with big huge words that they can't understand and not even with great thoughts which they can't grasp.

And I want to be simple so that if any. But I remember once a brother said to me brother Zack is from some other country. He said brother Zack we listen to you on YouTube. And the one who's most eager to hear you is my 10 year old son.