Preserving God's Standards - Part 3 — Zac Poonen

And Paul says, these people, they do it to get a gold medal, but we are going to get something that's going to last for all eternity. I mean, what's the use of that gold medal? Okay, you got it for a moment, you get the glory and stand there and it's over.

Eternal Rewards Outlast Earthly Recognition

And the next Olympics is somebody else who wins. And they forget about you. They don't even know your name. But think of this. God's not asking us to be steadfast and true to Him just to give us a gold medal.

It's something that's going to be eternal. Imperishable means for all eternity I'm going to have a glory because I chose a certain way on earth. I chose to deny certain things which other Christians perhaps said it's okay.

Choosing Spiritual Discipline Over Worldly Pressure

Go ahead. And I chose to do certain difficult things like studying the scriptures, which others just neglected. Do you do that? When your friends want to watch a movie, you say, I want to study the scriptures.

You won't regret it, I'll tell you that. You just won't regret it. But you've got to be disciplined because the pressure around us from worldly-minded Christians is to be indisciplined. The pressure around us from worldly-minded Christians is to pursue after money as if that's the only thing that's important in the world.

We need money, we certainly do. Even Jesus needed money to live on this earth. But He didn't run after it. There's a lot of difference between earning money and running after it. That's not the track we've got to run on.

We've got to run on the track of being more and more like Christ. And so Paul says, I'm talking about myself. He says, I've told you what you fellows should do, but I'm not here to judge you. I run, verse 26.

He says, I don't know about you. That's Message Bible. I don't know about you. But I'm running hard for the finishing line. And I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me. Oh no. I'm staying alert and in top condition spiritually.

Persevering Through Self-Discipline

And that is, he says, I discipline my body, verse 27, and make it my slave because there is a danger that after I have preached to others, I can be disqualified at the finishing line. I've heard of people who came first and they were disqualified when they reached the finishing line.

They thought they came first. But some rule they broke along the way and they were disqualified. The prize went to the fellow who they thought came second. And Paul has recognized that. He says, I can cheat along the way.

I can do some things wrong. Nobody knows it. We think nobody knows it. God knows it. And everybody thinks I'm running a wonderful race. And when I reach the finishing line and I stand before the Lord, Lord says, disqualify.

How terrible it will be in that day when everybody in your church thought you were a wonderful wholehearted Christian and the Lord says, disqualify because you didn't follow the rules. I'll tell you something.

Judging Yourself Instead of Others

If you judge others, you don't follow the rules. If you judge yourself, you follow the rules. Please listen to this simple two-line advice I've given for 30 years. Don't judge others. Judge yourself.

I prophesy it'll go well with you. Don't be a busybody in other people's matters. Don't worry about how other people bring up their children. That's none of your business. Bring up your own children right.

And don't judge others if their children go astray. Pray for them. Be merciful. Worry about yourself. Your family. In other words, stick to your track. Don't worry about whether that fellow is following the rules in that track.

There's an empire, a referee who'll take care of all that. You worry about your own track. Follow the rules and don't cheat and don't do anything wrong because the empire is watching you. He's not going to ask you your opinion about other people who are running in the race.

No empire asks one runner, how do you think he ran? Did he follow the rules? He'll say, I don't know whether he followed the rules. I was concentrating on getting to the finishing line. Can we say that in the Christian life?

Can you honestly say, all of you sitting here, I'm not here to find out if other people are running on the track or following the rules. It's none of my business. I want to see whether I'm going to get to the finishing line.

Persevering in Family Responsibilities

And if you have a family, as long as that family is at home, you've got a responsibility to make sure your children get to the finishing line too. Once they leave home, all you can do is pray for them.

But as long as they're in your home, you've got to stir them on to reach the finishing line. And if your wife is not interested, pray for her. Don't judge her. You run. Till one day she also feels, hey, challenged to follow you.

Don't get behind her and push her. Just go ahead and lead. Paul says, I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finishing line. A wonderful word for us to say, I don't know about you. I don't know about others, but I'm running hard for the finishing line.

I'm not going to be one of those good starters who started out well and didn't end up. You know, I've seen so many wonderful fiery young people in my life. And I've seen them backsliders when they get married and have one or two children.

That nowadays I tell young people, well, I don't know whether you're wholehearted. I'll wait till you get married and have a couple of children. Then I'll tell you whether you're wholehearted or not. I could be wrong today.

I could be fooled. I've been fooled many times. Well, let me see whether you have the same devotion to God and to the church and His kingdom and His work when you have two children and the struggles of bringing them up.

And then I'll know whether you're wholehearted. Yeah, I know that was a test for me. Not just when I was single, but when we have children. Stick to the race. And I believe each of us has a responsibility, if you're a part of this church, to make sure that as long as possible we preserve this church in the direction God originally intended it to go.

The path of Christlikeness, discipleship. You know, years ago, the Lord showed me two sides of the Great Commission that He had given. And I want to show you that. In Mark chapter 16, first of all, the Great Commission is a phrase used to express what Jesus told His disciples to do before He went up to heaven.

The Great Commission and Its Evangelistic Mandate

It's called the Great Commission. Now, most Christians, please listen to me, when I say most Christians, I mean 95 of believers. 95 of born-again believers think of the Great Commission only in terms of what you read in Mark 16, verse 15 onwards.

Which is, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who has believed and is baptized will be saved. He who does not believe will be condemned. And when you go out with this type of evangelistic ministry, many signs will accompany you.

That is, you will cast out demons wherever you go. You will speak in new tongues. Serpents and poison will not harm you. And you will lay hands on the sick and they will be healed. Then Jesus went up to heaven.

That is a very important part of the Commission and I praise God for all the millions of Christians through the centuries, including the Apostle Thomas who came to India in 55 AD. I thank God that he took those words of Jesus seriously.

And though India was a difficult country to go to, good old Thomas got into one of those Arab dhows that had trade with the Kerala coast and came down and preached the gospel. One man. As far as we know, nobody came with him.

Filled with the Holy Spirit. And he planted the church in India, Christianity. Thank God for that. That's why there's been Christianity in our country for 2000 years. Don't you believe all these lies that people say that Christianity is a Western religion.

We had Christianity in India long before America and England had it. It's true. This is a very important part of the Great Commission.