Gods Commands Are for Our Good — Zac Poonen

Okay, I want to read a verse first in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. It's very rarely that you find God using the word, Oh, oh that my people would do this. Whenever anybody uses that expression, it's like a longing.

You know, parents, Oh, I wish my children would listen to me because what I'm telling them is for their good. That's what we read in Deuteronomy 5 and verse 29. The Lord says, Oh, that my people had such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always so that it may be well with them and with their sons forever.

God's Commands Are for Our Good

Just read that slowly. God says, Oh, that my people had such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always. What benefit does God get out of it if we keep his commandments?

No, it's we, that we, it may go well with us and with our children. But very few Christians understand that. If he understood it, the proof of it would be that we would obey every single thing that Jesus has commanded and we would be eager to study the scriptures, not to share in the meetings, no, but to find out what God has commanded us to do.

A lot of people study the scriptures because they want to preach something or share something. It's for seeking honor. The right way to study the scriptures is to find out what is it God wants me to obey?

Now, if you look at our nature, we always seek what is good for us. If you look at the decisions you have made in your past life, whether it's finding a job or a house or moving anywhere, at the back of your mind is, what's good for me?

What's good for my children? I want to select something that will be, I want to make a choice that will be good for me and good for my children. And the Lord says, do you know what's really good for you and your children?

It's to obey my commandments in everything. If only we would understand that. God's not going to get anything out of our obedience. He's got millions of angels obeying Him instantly. What does He want some petty few human beings obeying Him?

He says it for our good. Why does He tell us to worship Him? Not because He wants worship. There are millions worshiping Him. It's for our good. Because when we worship God, we turn our attention away from ourselves to Him.

Turning from Self-Centeredness to God

We don't realize that the thing that's destroying us is our self-centeredness. And when we, it's a root of sin, when we seek ourselves, like I said yesterday, when we make ourselves like God, centered in ourselves.

And why does God tell us to be centered in Him? Because then, we come to real life. You know, for so many years, people thought that the sun was going around the earth. Thousands of years. But it looks like that.

If you look in the sky, it looks like the sun is going around the earth. People thought the stars were going around the earth every 24 hours. And it looks like that too. It looks as if the earth is a sort of a stationary center of the whole universe.

And the sun and the moon and the stars are all going around the earth. And people wondered why all their calculations in physics were all wrong. Till somebody discovered that the earth is not the center of the universe.

It's not even the center of the solar system. The sun is the center of the solar system. And the earth goes around it. And you know, when they discovered that, they found all their calculations coming out right.

Oh, that's why we got it all wrong. Because we hadn't found the proper center. And the reason why there are so many problems in the lives of Christians, in their life, in their family life, why their children go astray, why they are discouraged and gloomy.

Do you think God wants His children to be discouraged and gloomy and depressed? I'll ask you, do you want your children to be gloomy and depressed and discouraged? No. A million times more than that. God doesn't want His children to be gloomy and depressed and discouraged.

Why is it most Christians I have met in my life, believers, are full of anxiety, fears, depression, anger, sometimes an unforgiving spirit. Why is it? God doesn't want it like that. They haven't found the true center.

It's like those ancient days when people thought the earth was the center and all their calculations were wrong. As long as we think we are the center, we are going to get everything wrong. You know, when we are unconverted, we are the center of our lives.

We want everybody to serve us and we are happy with those who serve us and we are unhappy with those who do not respect us or do not serve us. And we are very friendly with those who respect us and give us gifts and are nice to us.

It just means that we are the center. And if somebody disrespects us and couldn't care for us, we get upset because he doesn't give us respect as the center of the universe. And when such a person becomes a Christian, he asks Jesus to come into his heart.

It just means that I've got one more person to revolve around me. That's Jesus Christ. And he is there at my beck and call to do whatever I ask him. I've got sickness, he will heal me. I don't have a job, he will come and….

I don't know whether you've read that children's story about Aladdin and this lamp. It's a story of a person who had this magic lamp. Every time you rub it, one genie will appear like a ghost and says, Yes master, what do you want?

I want money. I want a palace. And to many people, Jesus is like that. In the name of Jesus, Yeah, what do you want? I want prosperity. I want healing. They are the most miserable Christians in the whole world.

Even if they have money and health. You think all the people with money and health in non-Christian religions are happy? No. If you really want to fulfill the purpose with which God sent you to this earth, why God allowed your mother to conceive you in her womb?

Why he allowed you to be born? If you really want to understand that, you have to make God the center of your life. And you must seek to find out what has he commanded? And you must long with all your heart, whatever the cost, to obey that.

It will go well with you. He says, I wish, God says, my children would obey my commandments. That it may go well with them and their children. See, I am a husband and if I see that God's commands are for my good, I will long with all my heart to love my wife as Christ loved the church.

Not for her good, for my good. If I were a woman, I would long with all my heart to obey my husband as the church is obedient to Christ. Not for his good, for my good. Why is it Christians don't do these things?

Because they think they know better than God. If you buy a washing machine or an expensive gadget, you read those instructions and you follow it exactly. Why? Because you know that the manufacturer knows better than you about that product.

And when I read the Bible, I know that my manufacturer, God, knows better about this product than I. But most Christians don't think like that. They think I know better than God. And that's the reason for all the misery and unhappiness.

So, I am so thankful that I discovered this pretty early in my life. That God has given us His Word so that it might really go well with us. And if I honor Him and seek to do exactly like His Word says, it can only go well with me.

And it says here, not only well with me, with my children. Don't you want it to go well with your children? I remember when my wife and I had children. I longed with all my heart that they would be gripped with the truths that gripped me, that changed my life.

I never longed that they would become rich or famous or anything. I said, Lord, those things are all temporary. Any amount of money they make or fame they get, how long will it last? I have seen a lot of famous rich people who are some of the most miserable, unhappy people.

Lord, if they obey Your commandments, I know it will go well with them. And if only we can understand that. See, when God made Adam, you know, he had the same longing that those of you who are parents have when you have a little baby.

Can you imagine the joy that comes into the heart of parents when they have a little baby? They long that this child will grow up to really have a wonderful life. That's how God had a desire for Adam.

And can you imagine the disappointment he had, God had when Adam messed up his life within about a day after he was created? I have a feeling that Adam walked with God on the seventh day and on the eighth day he sinned.

I mean, he didn't even live one day. Immediately, he sinned and the disappointment that a parent has when you have tremendous hopes for your child and he grows up to do all types of things that mess up his life.

That's exactly how God felt. Because Adam and Eve were so stupid to think that if they listened to the devil, they'd be happier than if they listened to God. But there are Christians who are stupid like that.

Forgiveness, Humility, and the Happiness of Christ

I've seen Christians who won't forgive somebody. And if I retain a grudge against somebody, whom am I harming? Not that person. I'm harming myself. A person who doesn't forgive others. And Jesus says, forgive them.

It's for my good that he says, forgive them. If I don't forgive people, I can get sickness in my body. There are so many Christians who are sick because they haven't forgiven somebody. They've got a bitterness against somebody who did harm to them long ago.

I think of them like that demoniac in Gadara who used to take stones and cut himself. You think that's stupid, cutting himself? There are Christians who do that when they don't forgive somebody. When they got a bitterness.

They are exactly like that madman cutting themselves. They are not harming the other person. So, every command of God, it's for our good. When God says, humble yourself. You know it's for your good? It's the happiest people in the world are those who humble themselves.

And the humblest man who walked on this earth was Jesus. And he was the happiest. He had so much joy on the night before he was going to be crucified that he said, my joy is so full, I want to share some of it with you.

It's like a man who knows he's going to sit in the electric chair tomorrow. He's going to be hanged tomorrow. And he just wants to go around town encouraging everybody, say, fellas, I'm going to hang tomorrow.

I thought I'd just encourage you before I get killed tomorrow morning. It's so contrary to human nature. But when you're in the will of God there's such a happiness, even if people are against you, even if you're going to be killed tomorrow morning it makes no difference to Jesus.

And it's when God made Adam he had this wonderful plan to make Adam was supposed to live but he never lived that life. But then for so many years we never saw a man who lived the way God wanted man to live till Jesus came.

You have to see it. At last after 4 ,000 years of millions of human beings born in the world none of whom lived, not even Elijah or Moses, lived the way God wanted man to live. At last when God sent his son as a man he lived on earth to demonstrate this is how God wanted Adam to live.

This is how God created man to live. And if you are gripped by that you will long with all of your heart to study the life of Jesus to say, Lord that's exactly how I want to live. I've tried to think what are the type of thoughts that went through Jesus' mind doing anything.

You know, there are times when maybe we are lying down in bed at night or we are sitting on a sofa at home and we are not particularly doing anything. What are the type of thoughts that went through Jesus' mind?

And I say what are the type of thoughts that go through most people's mind when they are sitting doing nothing? Either they are thinking how to make a little more money or do you think Jesus was sitting and thinking how to make a little more money?

Or they are thinking this enemy of mine if I see him tomorrow what will I tell him? Those are the type of thoughts people are thinking. Do you think Jesus was thinking like that? It's a wonderful thing to try and the Holy Spirit will show us how Jesus lived and how I think of different situations that I face, you know, because Jesus was tempted like me.

If somebody comes to my house, some little child comes to my house and breaks something which I think is very valuable. Why do I get upset? My problem is not with my anger. My problem is I love material things.

That's why. Anger is because I love material things. If I didn't love material things I wouldn't be angry. So I used to think now, supposing Jesus had just made something in his carpenter shop and some little child came and broke it.

What do you think he would say? I think he would pick up that child and kiss him and say that's okay my boy. I can make it again. And I say Lord make me like that. Make me like you. If I see Jesus first I can be like him.

But if I never meditate on how he lived on this earth, if I don't allow the Holy Spirit to show me how he faced something I'll never be like him. And I feel that Christians don't meditate enough on the life of Jesus.

The Bible says that we've got to run the race looking unto Jesus. What does it mean? Every step of that race I have to look at Jesus and say how did he do it? If I'm sitting watching a television I say can I imagine Jesus sitting with me and enjoying that program?

If I can't I say I want to close that channel down immediately. I don't want to see something that Jesus cannot sit and enjoy. I don't want to be reading something that Jesus can't sit and enjoy reading with me.

If I make my accounts, my financial accounts I want Jesus to approve of it. More than any auditor whom I can dupe, I want Jesus to look at those accounts and say OK. You know if we live our life like this I guarantee you'll be the happiest person on the face of the earth.

Discernment Without Judging Others

And then you won't be wasting your time judging other people. Jesus said I judge nobody. Have you read that verse? John chapter 8 He said I don't judge anyone. You guys, that is after they tried to kill that woman caught in adultery.

He said you judge according to the flesh. John 8 15. I judge nobody. I say Lord I want to live like that. I don't want to judge anyone. I want to have discernment. Sure. If I didn't have discernment I may be a Hindu or a Muslim or an Atheist.

Or I may follow after all these foolish prosperity gospel preachers. So I have discernment. This is wrong. This Christian preacher is wrong. But I don't judge. I mean you need to distinguish between discernment and judgment.

I'm not a judge. God is the judge. He's the one to condemn people or say this guy is going to hell. It's not my business. But I want to discern because I say I don't want to go that path. This is the path I want to go.

Following Jesus in Faithful Work

So when you look at the life of Jesus you see that for example when Jesus said on the cross it is finished. That was a principle that applied throughout his life. I see that. As a carpenter he wouldn't make a shaky table with one leg even half a millimeter shorter than the other.

The table rocks on the one leg. He wouldn't make a chair like that. Even if it took more time, more pains, even if he was making it for some poor widow he would make a good chair and a good table so that the principle would be it is finished.

It's a perfect job. If his mother told him as a little boy to go and bring a bucket of water from the well he would not bring a half a bucket or three quarter bucket of water. He would, the principle of it is finished.

He'd fill that bucket and bring it. Even though it's more laborious, takes more time, more effort. And I see something there. That there was a principle in Jesus' life that he would never do a half job.

He would complete it. I, and I say, Lord, I want to be like that. I want to have that spirit of of a sense of responsibility that if I'm given a task I do it. Not to please men but to please God. In our boss, in our place of work I remember when I was in the Navy my senior officer was writing my annual report and he said I can't find anything wrong with your work but you're a very unsociable character.

You don't come for the drinking parties and play cards. I said, Sir, I don't do those things. And I don't do my work to please you. I, whether you're watching or not, I do my work to please God. I'm not bothered about what report you write about me.

I want to please God. And you know when you're a witness like that your bosses will never forget you. I remember one of my bosses, he was dying in a hospital once and somebody went to visit him and he said that guy was remembering you, Zach.

Because I was the only one who reminded him of eternity. And when you get to die you think of somebody who reminded you of eternity. So you never know the impact you have on someone if they find that you live for certain other values.

You're not here to butter them to get a promotion. You're not disturbed if they don't give you a hike in your salary. You live for something much higher than that. Because you see that the best life you can ever live is where you live to please God alone.

Christ's Example Under Rejection and Opposition

So in Jesus' life it was like that. He wanted to see what is it that pleased the Father. However much sacrifice it involves he would please the Father. You think it was easy for Jesus to obey his parents?

His earthly parents, I mean. No, it was difficult. But he did it because it would please the Father. Jesus' life was not an easy life. He was ridiculed and mocked. You know, everybody in Nazareth knew.

You know how it is in a little village. Even in the villages in India we know that. It's not like a town. Here if you do something in one corner of Brisbane nobody knows it. Even the next door neighbor may not know the sin being committed in one house.

But in a village everybody knows everything about everybody in a small village. If a woman gets pregnant without getting married the whole village knows about it. You can be pretty sure the whole village of Nazareth knew that Mary was not married and she was pregnant.

And till today the story goes around among the Jews that some Roman soldier made her pregnant. How much more 2 ,000 years ago? An absolute lie. And when Jesus was born he faced a stigma. That's the child of some unknown Roman soldier.

And I can imagine him walking with other boys to school and people pointing him, that boy, you know the boy standing in the middle. We don't know who his father is. Mother is Mary. He faced that from childhood.

Can you imagine you have a little child who goes to school and faces a stigma? All the time. And you know how many children are not able to face such things easily? We don't know what Jesus went through.

But he accepted it. He said, if my father has allowed me to face the stigma of being a illegitimate child, that's fine. Because I have to be an example to all the illegitimate children that are born in the universe, in the world, in the years to come.

Think of the number of illegitimate children who are born in the world. The stigma they face. Jesus is an example for them. I found it so wonderful in different experiences I go through which are sometimes painful and not easy.

I say, Lord, there must be a purpose in this. You're taking me through something because I have to be an example to somebody else in the days to come. And that's what brings me comfort. I say, okay, that's alright.

If my father has allowed it. So, we see that we're never discouraged. We never have a complaint. We say, everything is planned by my father for my good. That it may go well with me and that it may go well with my children.

Because if my children can grow up in my home and see that in trying circumstances I don't complain. I say, let's trust God. He'll take us through this. That's the greatest inheritance we can give our children.

It's not money. Money will not solve all their problems. Even if you leave them a million dollars, it will not solve all their problems. Because there are lots of problems that a million dollars cannot solve.

But if you can give them a faith in God, which they've seen in you, in the trying circumstances they've seen you face in your home, that's worth more than a billion dollars. Because that can take them through anything.

They can lead them to a really good life and make them a blessing to other people. So, then, we look at the life of Jesus. And I say, there was the most perfect life that anybody ever lived on this earth.

And the most perfect life that somebody lived on this earth was a man without much money and a man who was misunderstood and rejected and despised and falsely accused. And the secret of it all was that he only cared for his father's opinion.

You know, if somebody calls you a bad name, a really bad name, if you get offended with that or you get upset with that person for calling you a devil or calling you an illegitimate child, the fact that you get upset proves that you care for man's opinion.

That's one of the clearest proofs that you care for people's opinion. If you didn't care for people's opinion, you only cared for God's opinion, you wouldn't be not at all disturbed by what somebody said.

You'd smile at them and say, okay, you're forgiven, brother. I've got nothing against you. I want to ask you, do you have something in your heart today against somebody? Anybody? Do you have a grudge against your parents because they didn't do something they should have done for you because you're a big king or a queen who's supposed to be treated properly and your parents didn't treat you properly or some relative didn't treat you properly?

All this is because we have such high thoughts about ourselves and that's why we're so gloomy. That's why we have bad moods. One of the things that I was gripped by years ago was the fact that Jesus never had a bad mood.

He was never in a bad mood. He never woke up one morning in a bad mood. There was never anything that happened which put him in a bad mood. And I said, Lord, your word says that I must walk as Jesus walked and I decided I don't care what it costs.

I'm going to come to a life where I'll never be in a bad mood at any time. And you know, you seek that life, you come to it by the grace of God. There's nothing impossible for the grace of God. He can make you walk like Jesus walked.

Becoming Like Jesus, Not Merely Admiring Him

If you believe that the Holy Spirit who lived in Jesus enabled him as a man, you know, this is why it's so important to understand that Jesus lived on earth as a man. It's the secret of a godly life. As long as you imagine like most Christians imagine, oh, he was God, he could do so many things, I'll tell you you'll never be able to follow him.

It's like looking at the birds and say, boy, I wish I could fly like that but I can't. That's exactly how a lot of people look at Jesus. Oh, what a wonderful life he lived. But of course, I can never live like that.

You know, I tell people if that is your, in other words, you don't look at Jesus as someone you can follow but you can look at Jesus as someone you can admire. Most Christians admire Jesus. Everybody admires Jesus.

But the true disciple is one who follows him. And I say, if you admire Jesus, then when we have the communion and you pass the bread around, you know what you should do? Boy, what beautiful bread and pass it on.

Don't take part in it. Because when you take part in it, you're saying, I'm going to follow that life. No, no, no. Oh, beautiful brother. Just look at this and admire it. And everybody admire it and pass it around and bring it back untouched.

You pass the cup around, boy, what lovely. That's honesty. I cannot follow Jesus. I can only admire him. And I say, Christians are the biggest hypocrites when they take part in that bread and cup and then admire Jesus instead of following him.

They're liars. I know. God opened my eyes to see that. If you take part in that bread and cup, you're saying, I want to die like he died, to my own will. I want to live like he lived. That's the meaning of taking part in it.

I want to take part in that life. I want to live the way he lived at home. I want to be free from being irritated and upset with people in the home like he lived without being irritated and upset in his home.

I want to live like that every single day, morning till night, no matter what happens or what doesn't happen. Because I see in Jesus, God demonstrating to us, this is the way I wanted Adam to live. That's why at the end of 30 years, you know, a lot of Christians think the great thing is ministry.

I'm sorry to say, this is the, to me, this is the mark of a carnal Christian. He looks at somebody's ministry and says, boy, I wish I could preach like him. It's the mark of a carnal Christian. I wish I could heal the sick like him.

I wish I could be a famous Christian like him. It's a mark of a carnal Christian. That's not what pleases God. By the time Jesus reached the age of 30, how famous was he? Nobody knew him outside Nazareth.

And even in Nazareth, they knew him as an illegitimate child. And he had never done a miracle, never healed a sick person, never preached a sermon. And the father says, this is my beloved son. I'm well pleased in him.

Can God be well pleased with a person who never preaches, never heals a sick person? Maybe some of you are like that. No gift. But I'll tell you, the Bible says that Jesus went around doing good. That's something that all of us can do.

To do good to others. And I'm sure he did a lot of good in Nazareth. I can imagine that if he made a table or something for some widow and took it and delivered it as a carpenter and the widow says, how much does that cost?

He says, oh, it's okay. We give it to you as a gift. Do you think a man like that will become the richest carpenter in Nazareth? It wasn't his goal. His goal was to do good and he knew his father would make up for it in some other way.

It's not that you can keep on doing your business like that and earn nothing. That's not what I mean. But I've seen in my life that when you do good to others, God makes up for it in some other way. That you never lack anything in your life.

I've seen that for years in my life. And that's how Jesus trusted the father. That if I do good to the poor and the needy and the widows and the orphans, God will make up for it in some way for me. But he never preached.

He never did what we call ministry and the father was very happy with him. And that teaches me something that it's not ministry that makes God happy with me. I remember years ago the Lord saying, don't evaluate yourself by how much you preach or what you've written.

These things mean nothing. Have you lived with a clear conscience before me? That's the thing that has value finally. Have you always humbled yourself in every situation? These are the things that make us all equal.

When it comes to ministry and gift, maybe I can do more than you. But when it comes to humbling yourself and keeping a good conscience, we are all equal. That's the thing that finally matters with God.

And when you realize that, you will not be envying somebody who's got ministry. I remember, even as a young Christian, I never wanted to preach like others. But whenever I saw a really Godly, humble man, I said, boy, I want to live like that.

You know, I remember once, I'll never forget it. I think I was about 30 years old. I met a brother. I met him only once in my life. I don't even remember his name. But he happened to be visiting the town where I was staying and he somehow had some common friends and he came to meet me.

And I think he spent just about half an hour with me. But there was such a radiance of Christ about that man. Today, after 40 years, I haven't forgotten it. There was something of Jesus in that man. And I said, Lord, that's what I want.

He wasn't a preacher. He was just like a, he was a Christ-like Christian. And I've forgotten the thousands of sermons I've heard and books I've read, but I don't forget the influence of that one man.

His humility and his graciousness. I say, I saw something of Christ. And if that's what we long for, God will give it to us. And we'll have such an impact on people that they'll never forget us. And we have influenced them for eternity.

I'm sure, that man is probably dead now. He was older than me. But he probably never knew the influence he had on me just by spending half an hour with me. He probably never knew that I would remember him 40 years later.

But I thought of that. The man who impressed me was not so much by his gift. It was the aroma of Christ that came forth from him. And if you are gripped by that, and that comes by looking at Jesus and really seeking to follow him and saying, Lord, I want to be like that.

Testing Character Through Reactions

And when we look at his life, let me show you one example about his reactions. You know, we can assess ourselves more by our reactions than by our actions. Actions, sometimes we plan and, you know, you plan ahead of time to go and do something to somebody and even something good, that's fine.

Maybe you visit prisons and hospitals and all, excellent. But the test of our life is our reactions. When unexpectedly somebody treats you in a certain way and you react, that shows what you really are.

Not your planned actions to visit the sick or visit the prisons or do something. You see, that all we carefully plan, but reactions are unplanned. There was a godly person who said that if you have a cup full of sweet water, no matter how heavily somebody shakes you, it will always be sweet water that spills out.

Is that difficult to understand? No. So, if your heart is full of sweetness, even if somebody really irritates you, what will come out of your mouth? Sweetness. But if what came out of your mouth was anger and bitterness, that shows that that was what was in your heart, but you never knew it till now.

You have to be deeply thankful to this guy who irritated you because he showed you what was inside. I mean, if somebody came to your house and in anger pushed down one cupboard that was in your house and underneath that you saw a snake, are you thankful?

Yes. That snake was living under there and you never discovered it till this guy came and pushed that cupboard down. Brother, thank you so much for your anger that pushed that cupboard down. I saw that snake there.

And have you seen something like that that come out of your life because somebody irritated you, disturbed you? Be thankful for them. Like I say, our enemies always tell us more truths about ourselves than our friends.

Our friends are hesitant to tell us when they see something wrong in us. Oh, he may get offended. I want to keep that friendship. But enemies have no such qualms about them. They say, this is what I think about you.

It's probably speaking the truth. Let me show you one example. Matthew chapter 12. Now here is an amazing healing. Matthew 12 and verse 22. They brought to Jesus a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb.

Now that's very rare. I've almost never in my life seen a man who was both blind and dumb. I've seen blind people and I've seen dumb people. I've never seen a man who was both blind and dumb and demon-possessed.

Blind, dumb and demon-possessed. Can you imagine? And they brought it to Jesus and Jesus healed him. So the demon left him and he began to speak and he could also begin to see. Now you would think that people are excited.

This is amazing. And it says all the multitudes were so amazed and said, this must be the son of David. But the Pharisees who were jealous, they said, this is not the son of David. This guy is the ruler of demons.

Where did they get that idea from? From their own jealous mind. They could not do anything for this man. And I'll tell you this. This is how human nature is. When you can't do something for somebody and somebody else can do it.

Instead of being happy, you get upset. You get upset because you were not the ministry to do it. Somebody else did it. And the Pharisees said, this is the ruler of demons. And you know what Jesus said?