Jesus' Attitude to Man and Satan — Zac Poonen

Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters. I'm happy to share with you and the joy we have that the Lord has encouraged us through many varied circumstances through all the years since this church started.

And even if we don't accomplish great things in the eyes of the world or Christendom, there's something of value to God wherever there is a church or a person, and that applies to all of us, who consistently through the years, year after year after year, hold up the testimony of the Lord without compromise.

Jesus Came to Show Humanity How to Live

And that is the reason why God sent Jesus to earth, to show us how man was supposed to live. I believe one of the great revelations that has helped this church through the years, I mean, those who have taken the message seriously.

Not everybody may have taken it seriously, I don't know. I don't know your private lives. But those who have taken it seriously, if there's been a change in their lives, it's because they've seen one thing, that Christ came to earth not only to die for our sins, but also to demonstrate to this world how God wanted man to live.

See, not a lot of people believe that. Many people are just taken up with the fact that Christ died for our sins, He rose again, and He's coming back. We're waiting for Him to come back, and until then, we somehow make the best of whatever we can on this earth.

But once you see that Jesus not only died to remove the guilt of your past life, but also lived on earth to show you how you are supposed to live every single day of your life. That will radically change your life.

That's what changed my life about 35 years ago, when I understood this. So I think of this verse, which we have often looked at in Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2 and verse 5, you've often heard me say that with that one sentence, you can live all your life, even if you don't have a Bible.

I mean, if you've read the Gospels, and you've seen how Jesus lived there, and understood the way He lived, it says in Philippians 2 .5, have this attitude in yourself, which was in Christ Jesus. Just those few words can be the answer to any situation you can ever face.

You know, you face a problem. The answer is have the attitude that Jesus would have had to that problem you're facing right now. If somebody is treating you badly, have the attitude that Jesus had. Maybe you're running out of money, have the attitude Jesus had if you ran out of money.

You name it. Whatever situation you can ever face in the future, and things may be difficult in the future, have the attitude Jesus had. How would He have reacted in a situation like that? What about if a lot of people are getting sick and dying?

Well, the answer is have the attitude Jesus had. What attitude would He have if people around Him were dying like flies? It's the answer to every single thing we can ever face in the future. And it's a wonderful thing if you as a Christian have seen that.

Making Jesus Your Hero

And for that, you must make Jesus your hero. You know, the world is full of people who have heroes. Most of their heroes are film stars, and cricketers, and musicians. And they imitate them, copy them, and they become like them.

And if those heroes of theirs are going in evil ways, then as they destroy themselves, these followers will destroy themselves too. But think if you have Jesus Christ as your hero, exactly the same way some foolish young man makes a rock musician his hero.

The idiotic way in which that young man is going should be a challenge to you, to when Christ says, God has given you such a fantastic example to be your hero. And just like He ruins His life, you can make something glorious out of your life.

The choice is yours. The one thing God will not do is force a person to choose something. Because if He did that, nobody would go to hell. And the amazing thing is thousands and thousands of people die every day, and God doesn't force them.

You know, we can sit in church and think that, well, we come along, we come along, somehow we will become spiritual. You will not. Because God waits for you to make a choice, and that's so important to understand.

Hell, Repentance, and the Sufficiency of Scripture

And to me, the most terrifying thing is that God allows hundreds of thousands of millions of people to go to hell regularly, and He doesn't stop them. I mean, there was a story where Jesus said of a rich man who died, Luke 16, and went to heaven, sorry, went to hell, and the man sitting at his gate, Lazarus, went to heaven.

And when that rich man was in hell, that's a true story, he could speak. I mean, his body was still on the earth, but he could feel things as if he had a body. He didn't have a tongue, for example. His tongue was in the grave.

But there in hell, it was so hot and inconvenient that he thought if he got a little water, he'd be okay, because that's how he felt when he was on the earth. So he asked for water. Water is not going to solve anybody's problem.

But then he realized that he had five brothers who were on earth, who had not repented. So he asked Abraham to send a messenger to them, and Abraham gives an answer. I want you to see that answer in Luke 16.

If you haven't noticed it before, please remember this. Abraham said, I'm not going to send anybody to your five brothers, because, verse 29, they have the Bible. The phrase Moses and the prophets is an expression for the 39 books of the Old Testament.

And that was their Bible those days. There was no New Testament written. And Abraham's answer is, they've got the Bible. And if they've got the Bible, why do they need anybody to go and preach to them?

Now, if you are illiterate, anybody sitting here can't read, or you can't afford to have a Bible in your home, I can understand. But if you can read and you have a Bible, I want to say you've got no excuse.

God's not going to send any special angel from heaven or anybody from another part of the earth to tell you something. There's no need for that, because the answer is, you've got a Bible. But it's amazing how people don't believe that.

I remember some time ago, I saw somebody circulating an article about five young men from Colombia who had a vision of hell. And that was supposed to scare people and make people believe in hell. And you know what I said?

You believe the testimony of some unknown Colombian youth who you don't even know who they are, whether it's a fiction or true story or not. And you don't believe the true story of Jesus Christ written in the Bible.

That's amazing. So I went to the internet to see how many people talk about visions of heaven and hell. And you search for it. It's in millions. Everybody's talking about it. It means nothing. The truth about it is in the scriptures.

And the amazing thing is God allows so many people to go to hell because he will not force them. And if he doesn't force them to go to heaven, do you think he's going to force any of us to become spiritual?

No. I can remain carnal for 50 years sitting in this church. We can celebrate anniversary after anniversary. But it's good to ask ourselves, what difference has all the years that we've been in this church done to us?

Have we made decisions that have changed our life and changed our family life? So there's where this verse, have this attitude in yourself, which is in Christ, can be a tremendous help. In other words, if we want to do that, we've got to sort of study the life of Jesus and say, see how he lived.

How did he live on this earth? Lord, I want to have that attitude. The more the Lord sees a passion in our heart to study the earthly life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will show us more and more, you know, attitude that he had in different circumstances which are not specifically written in scripture.

Attitude Over Miraculous Imitation

Our life is not going to be changed by our actions, but more by our attitude. There are many actions that Jesus did, which we can never do. We're never told to imitate the actions of Jesus, like multiplying the loaves of bread or raising the dead or healing the sick.

There's no word that says do the same actions that Jesus did. It's attitude that matters. Actions are dependent on the ministry God has for each of us. But attitude, the principles by which Jesus lived.

See, so many Christians today think, oh, we must be able to do the same things that Jesus did. And that's how so many people are talking about healing and raising the dead and all that. Most of it is just fiction and fake, which they know that multitudes of dumb Christians will just believe wholeheartedly.

But that's not what the Bible says. Like Abraham said, they've got the Bible. If they don't read it, then they deserve to be deceived by all these fake preachers. I'll tell you one thing. If you read the New Testament carefully, you'll never be deceived by any fake preacher.

But if you don't, then you deserve to be deceived because you have despised and ignored the one book God gave for us to be guided by. So, if we consider attitude, then we will understand how we are supposed to live on this earth.

And that's the thing that will prepare us for the days to come. So, I want to mention three things. First of all, to see Jesus' attitude towards God, towards other people, and then towards the devil. Because that's the same attitude we must have towards God, the Father, and to other people and towards the devil.

Jesus’ Total Obedience to the Father

So, first of all, in his attitude towards God, I want you to see this verse, which again we've seen very often in John 6 and verse 38. Because I believe this is the secret of true holiness. John chapter 6 and verse 38.

I came from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. The attitude of Jesus towards his heavenly Father was one of total 100 obedience to every single thing, small or big, that his Father commanded.

That's the meaning of that verse. I mean, if you want to live the way Jesus lived, to be his hero, if you think that's the best life that any human being could ever live. I mean, a lot of Christians will say that.

The best life that anybody could ever live on this earth was the life of Jesus Christ, but I don't want to live like that. Well, that's another thing. Then what you say is not true. You don't believe that that was the best life that anybody lived.

If you think the way some rich businessman on earth who's made a lot of money, that's the one who's lived the best earthly life, and you wish you could be like him, etc., then you're telling a lie when you say Jesus Christ is your Lord and your hero.

If we really say that Jesus Christ is your Lord, you must believe that the best life that any human being ever lived on this earth was the way Jesus lived. And ask yourself, do you really believe that deep down in your heart?

I'm convinced that most Christians don't believe it. Because if they did, they'll really try to discover what's the secret. You know, like these businessmen want to find out what's the secret of that guy making so much money?

How did that guy become a millionaire in 10 years of doing business? Those businessmen want to find out the secret. How did he do it? I wish Christians had that passion to find out how did Jesus live like that in a body like ours, tempted like us?

How did he live? The Bible speaks about the obedience of faith. It's a New Testament expression. You know, Romans, the great book describing the gospel. I don't know whether you've noticed it. In Romans, it begins and ends with a certain phrase.

It's in Romans chapter 1, first of all, and verse 5. Paul says that I've received an apostleship. He's received grace, the calling to be an apostle with one purpose, and that is to bring about the obedience of faith among all the people in the world.

That's why he was made an apostle. Now, the phrase the obedience of faith is not found in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, it was only obedience, obedience, obedience. You obey because, you know, when you go to, you work in a factory or an office, you don't have to be given an explanation why you are asked to do a certain job.

If you want your salary, you better do the job you're told to do, whether you understand why you have to do it, why should the company be doing all this. If you want to question all that, just quit. It's obedience.

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were under God exactly like you work in an office. God was their master, or as a slave would work in a house, like a maidservant would work in your house. She's not supposed to know all the reasons why you do certain things.

She's only supposed to do what she's told to do. Mind her own business, collect her salary, and go. That's how it was in the Old Testament. Life under the law was like that. God was a master. You obeyed, that's all.

All you had to do is obey. You didn't have to understand the reason. You didn't have to know anything. But in the New Testament, we're not servants. We're sons and daughters. And there's a lot of difference.

I mean, a father would explain to his sons and daughters what he'd never explain to a servant in the house. And so, in the New Testament, the phrase obedience becomes the obedience of faith. That means I believe that God has commanded everything for his glory and my good.

Now, Romans ends also like that. See, you saw how it began. Romans chapter 16. See the end of that book. The reason I mention this is, you know, a lot of people say Romans explains the gospel better than any other book in the Bible.

That's true. But they don't realize that the purpose of the gospel is to lead people everywhere in the world to the obedience of faith. Romans 16, verse 26. He said this secret, verse 25. Let's read from 25.

Now to the one who is able to establish you according to my gospel. The preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations of the world for what?

Just to take them to heaven? No. That's a false gospel. He says my gospel is to lead people to the obedience of faith. That's how he begins the letter. That's how he ends the letter. And if you try to understand the gospel in Romans without understanding this phrase, the obedience of faith, you're going to get it all wrong.

And that's why most Christians have got it all wrong. I've been urging people these days to read the Bible slowly. Don't be in a rush to get through the whole Bible. Make sure the Bible goes through you.

That's important. And then when you read slowly, you find phrases like this. And when you read a phrase like that, you must stop and say, what does that mean? And you ask yourself, what does obedience mean?

And what's the difference between obedience and the obedience of faith? And the obedience of faith is I don't just blindly obey. I obey with faith, believing that God has ordered every command for my good.

Faith, Praise, and Trusting God’s Word

You know, a little child, for example, we can say that the Old Testament, God treated people not only like servants but like little children. And you don't explain to a 2-year-old why you command him to drink his milk or don't play around with that knife.

Because if you're going to waste time explaining to a 2-year-old, you'll never get him to obey anything because he doesn't understand. So God treated people in the Old Testament like that. But you don't treat your 25-year-old son like that.

You expect him to understand. I want to tell you that God treats us like grown-up, mature sons and daughters. Don't behave like a little child. Don't behave like a little baby. We're supposed to be mature sons and daughters.

The obedience of faith, Lord, I know that this thing you commanded is the thing that's going to bring you the greatest glory and for my good as well. Now if you believe that, you'll find it very easy to obey a command like give thanks and everything.

Or let's continually offer praise to the Lord. Because praise is an expression of faith. We can go through what we went through this morning. Expressions of praise in our singing can either be meaningless words, just like a lot of Christians do on Sunday morning, or they can be living expressions of faith saying, God, you're on the throne of this universe.

And even though a lot of things appear to be going wrong and a lot of problems in the world and perhaps in your life and in the country and everywhere else, you're on the throne. We acknowledge that. And we know that you're in control.

We express our faith and our confidence in the fact that you are there. And that's why we come together once a week at least. Those who are strong in the Lord don't need to come together at all. They're just doing it all the time.

But we have babies growing up, just like in a family. There are babies who need to grow up. And coming together helps to strengthen our faith. We realize that God is on the throne. And around us we see examples of men and women who have consistently lived this life for many, many years.

Putting God first. And seeing the result of their lives. And seeing how it's gone with them and gone with their families. And that strengthens our faith. Faith comes not only by listening to the Word of God.

That's one major way by which faith comes. But the Word of God, the Bible, also gives us examples of a number of people who live by faith and we look at their example and that helps us too. See, there are two verses I want to show you in this connection concerning faith.

In Romans 10, verse 17, it says, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. So that's the first and most fundamental way by which we get faith in our hearts. As we hear God's Word. You know, and for those who are intellectual and questioning, they can say, well, how do you know this book which you call the Bible is the Word of God?

Many people have asked me that question. And I say, personally, the only reason why, the main reason anyway, and God never told me from heaven there are 66 books written by different people which are my Word.

No. Then people can say, well, you know, some guy or a few people in years ago decided these books are the Bible and everybody blindly accepts it. You ask yourself, is it possible that you have blindly accepted this is the Bible?

How do you know this is God's Word? I say my answer to that is, I have read it for 50 years. And I have claimed different promises and seen it works. I've tried to obey its commands and seen that the result it produced in my life.

I mean, it's like you're asking a farmer, well, how do you know this bag of seed is really good? You may not know, but the farmer says, listen, I've been sowing the seed for 50 years and I know the crop it produces and that's how I know it's good.

So that's the answer. That's my answer anyway. I've been sowing the seed in different areas of my life, different aspects of my life, following its principles. And I've seen the harvest it has produced and the harvest is excellent.

That's how I know it's God's Word. So if you don't try it out, you'll never know. And if a farmer, for example, has been having a bad crop through various types of seed that he's tested out and he sees another farmer who always seems to get a tremendously good harvest in his field.

If this guy is sensible, he'll go and ask him, hey, what seed are you using? But you seem to get such a good crop, even though we get the same rain, same land, but you seem to get a much better harvest than me.

That's why we need to look at the examples of men and women around us whose lives through many years have borne witness to the truth of God's Word. So that's the other verse I want to show you, Hebrews 13 and verse 7.

Two words on faith. One is the written Word of God, which we trust and believe and claim. So I tell people, you don't have to come to this Bible believing blindly it's God's Word. Okay, you don't believe it, never mind.

Go to it and ask God to show you whether it's His Word and say, Lord, let me take a verse of this and see if it works in my life. That's what I did and I found it did for 50 years. The other example is Hebrews 13, 7, where it says, remember those who led you or appreciate those who are your leaders and who gave you the Word of God and take a good look at the way they live.

And so the message of the Bible says, take a good look at the way they live and let their faithfulness instruct you as well as their truthfulness. Imitate their faith. Why did they live like that? Because they had a certain faith.

Why did that farmer get a good crop? Because he used a certain seed. It doesn't say you must imitate everybody. Look at your leaders and take a good look at the way they live. I tell you, if Christians would have only obeyed that one command, which is take a good look at the way they live, they would not be deceived by all these fake preachers and hoaxes there are in the world today.

You shouldn't just believe a man just because he stands up in the pulpit and gives a good message. I don't. I'm very careful whom I follow because I don't want to just believe a farmer who says, I got a good crop.

I say, let me see it. Let me come to your field and show me the crop. Let me watch you not just for two days. Let me watch you for a few years. Then I'll see whether I want to use your seed or not. That's what I do and that's how I protected myself.

I say, I want to know, brother, how you've lived. I want to know how you brought up your children. I want to know how you relate to your wife and what sort of church you built. I want to know your attitude to money.

I want to know all these things. And then I can imitate your faith. I'm not going to just blindly follow. So God has given us examples like that. And the purpose is that ultimately that we see that the way we are supposed to live is by putting in our attitude to God is he must be first in our life in everything.

Putting God First in Finances and Family

And to put God first is also something misunderstood. Many people think putting God first means I read the Bible first thing in the morning. Well, that's good if you have the time for it. Of course, you should read the Bible.

There's no command which says you must read it first thing in the morning. Putting God first means much more than reading the Bible the first thing in the morning. Maybe there's some days when you can't read the Bible first thing in the morning.

I think a lot of mothers with small children can't do it in any case first thing in the morning. They don't have to feel condemned. Oh, I didn't put God first because I didn't read the Bible first thing in the morning.

They hardly get time to pray when they have small little children at home first thing in the morning. Putting God first means, and let's get this very clearly, saying that in everything I do this day in my life and every day, God is going to be the number one factor and person I'm going to consider in what I do.

I mean, if in office, if in the office everybody's signing false statements to make a lot of money, extra money which they're not supposed to get, and then you also attempted to sign, to put God first means no.

I put God first in my life. I don't want that extra money by signing a false statement. That extra money will you get with that false statement will be a curse upon you and it'll be a curse upon your children.

And I do not want to bring a curse upon me or my children by having money with me that does not righteously belong to me. I want to say to all of you, you better get rid of all any money that you have in your bank account that does not righteously belong to you.

If it belongs to somebody else, please return it to that person. And if it is something that you don't know who it belongs to, put it in the offering box or give it to the poor. That's what Zacchaeus did.

He returned all the money that he had taken wrongfully from others and the whole lot of money which he had, which he didn't even know where he got it from. He said, I can't keep that. I'm going to give it to the poor.

And then when Jesus saw that, he said, boy, salvation has come to this house. And Jesus will say the same about you when you set your financial matters right. Do you know there was only one time in the entire Gospels where Jesus looked at a man and said, salvation has come to your house.

That's in Luke 19, first ten verses. And that's because that man set his money matters right. That's very important. There are only two gods in the world, Christ and money. You have to make your choice which you want to obey.

And when you set all money matters right, that means you pay back your debts. People, you have cheated, you give it back. These are ways in which we put God first. Not just reading the Bible in the morning.

You can read the Bible in the morning and be in debt to so many people. You can read the Bible in the morning and cheat so many people. That's not putting God first. Putting God first, you say, but that guy gave me a loan years ago and he's completely forgotten about it.

Well, maybe 50 years ago he gave you that loan, but God hasn't forgotten about it. We should not have any money with us unless you want to bring a curse upon yourself and your children which doesn't righteously belong to us.

Jesus should be able to say to you and me, salvation has come to this house. And if you find it difficult to do those things, you can ask the Lord for help. You know, there was a rich young ruler. The reason I say this is because when we're putting God first, for many of us, for many people in the world, means having a right attitude to money.

There was this rich young ruler who came to Jesus. Everything was right about him. Such an upright, God-fearing man. Everything was right except his attitude to money. That's all. And Jesus said, you got so many good things, but there's one thing you're lacking.

I wonder if Jesus has to say that to some of us sitting here. You're so upright, so God-fearing. You do so many good things, but there's one thing you lack in your life. You love money too much. But Lord, this is one small weakness.

Does that disqualify you? Does it disqualify me? And the Lord says, totally. Totally. How many holes in a vessel do you need to make the vessel useless? Forty-five or one? Like that. Jesus said, well, in your case, the cancer is so deep-rooted, you've got to do radical surgery and remove the whole thing.

Go and give away all your money. Then come to me. I don't need your money. You give your money and you come to me. That's what the Lord says to us. And he went away sad because he had so many possessions.

You can have so many possessions. And they only help to drive you away from the Lord like that man. What should he have done? You know what he should have done? He should have come to Jesus and said, Lord, I have to say I love money so much.

I want to do what you say. I believe the obedience of faith. I believe that what you have commanded me is for my good. If he believed that, do you think he would have done it? Of course. Why do you take the pills the doctor prescribes for you when you've got a serious sickness?

Because you believe it's for your good. Otherwise, you wouldn't take it. Particularly if you trust this doctor. And so if this man had trusted Jesus, Jesus is giving me a prescription for my good. He didn't believe that.

He thought it was some type of poison. He went away. Sorry, I'm not going to take that prescription. What an idiot he was. I don't know whether he's in hell today, but if he is, go and ask him. And you ask him, do you think you made a right decision that day?

He'd say, boy, that was the most stupid mistake I ever made in my life. And even if he repented on his deathbed, wasting his whole life, go and ask him in heaven. Do you think you made a right decision that day?

He'd say, fool that I was. Wasted my whole earthly life. Obedience of faith means you believe that what Jesus has commanded is for your good. What he should have done is gone to the Lord and said, Lord, please help me.

Help me to be free from this attachment so that I can be your disciple. What do you think Jesus would have told him? Do you think Jesus would have told him, I'm sorry, go and do that yourself? Not at all.

He'd have been so delighted that he said, come. Come with me. Here are some others who also I'm training. Be with us and your life will change. And his life would have changed. In Luke 19, without Jesus saying anything, Zacchaeus said everything right.

And when he said everything right in the financial area, Jesus said, verse 9, Luke 19, 9, Today, salvation has come to this house. Meaning? It's all a question of what you mean by salvation. See, this word salvation is one of the most misunderstood verses in the New Testament.

The only salvation anybody can think of is salvation from hell. Jesus was not talking about salvation from hell. What was Zacchaeus saved from at that particular time? He was saved from the love of money.

Not from hell. He said, Ah, at last, this guy has been saved from the love of money. Salvation has come. And then he said, because, verse 10, the Son of Man has come to save, word salvation again, to save those who are lost.

Lost in what? Not hell. Lost in the love of money. Read a verse in its context. Here's a man who's been saved from the love of money. The Son of Man has come to save people who are lost in the love of money.

I remember when I saw that years ago, and I said, Lord, I'm a child of Adam. And I'll tell you, Lord, I love money. I'll tell you honestly, I'm lost in it. Now, I've never been in debt all my 70 years.

Not even one day. As far as I know, I never cheated anybody. When I did years ago, I returned it immediately. In my unconverted days, I did it, and I returned it. So as far as I know, I never owed anybody anything, but I still found love of money was there.

And love of money is like a huge onion. You can take off layer after layer after layer after layer, and still it's there. And those who acknowledge it, will be saved from it. I have found in my life very few Christians who will honestly acknowledge, Lord, I am lost in the love of money.

That's why they never get saved from it. They live with it all their life. Why do you think the Pharisees never got saved? Because they wouldn't acknowledge they are lost. You see, we're okay. How is it the thief on the cross got saved?

How is it the woman caught in adultery got saved? How is it the Samaritan woman got saved? Because they say, we're lost. We're not holy. We're lost. Jesus saved them. Because he said, the sick people need a doctor, not the healthy.

So if you come to Jesus, and you pretend that you're okay, he will leave you like the Pharisees in that unsaved condition. I decided I don't want to be like that. So I said, Lord, I'm lost in the love of money.

You came to seek and to save the lost. Save me. And the Lord saved me. Not completely. I don't believe I'm saved completely. To be saved completely, do you know what it means? To have the same attitude to material things that Jesus had.

I haven't got there yet. That's a mountain peak. And I want to be honest. Because I'm honest, the Lord saves me more and more and more and more every day. Those who are dishonest and think that they've arrived will never reach the top of the mountain peak.

So my advice to you is be honest and go to God and say, Lord, I'm lost in the love of money. You think only rich people are lost in the love of money? Show me a beggar in Bangalore who doesn't love money.

Have you found one? It's got nothing to do with how much money you get. You love money when you are poor. You love money when you are rich. It's all the same. Jesus can save us. That's the good news of the Gospel.

To put God first means nothing else takes priority in my life. God is first. Not my job, not money, not my wife, not my children. I'm not going to do things to please my children to displease God. There are parents like that.