(Atlanta 2013) 1. Truth in God's Word and Jesus — Zac Poonen

Hypocrisy as Lying Before God

Reality the opposite of truth is a lie and I want to show you a verse to illustrate that in Acts of the Apostles chapter 5 we read of the first sin that was judged in the early church and it was not adultery it was not murder it was not stealing.

It's not the type of sins that we normally would discipline people in the church. For the first person who was severely disciplined disciplined with death in the early church his sin was hypocrisy. And that hypocrisy was called a lie by Peter.

Acts chapter 5 we read about Ananias and Sapphira how they saw. You know this was a time when we read that everybody was selling their houses acts 434 and bringing the money laying it to the Apostles feet so that they could share with other believers who were in need in need around them.

Now God never commanded this and he hasn't asked anybody to do it today. He never asked anybody to do it at any time. But giving is voluntary. And where people felt like giving they did it and they were there were needy people there and they said okay I've got a house I can sell it and give it to these needy people now.

So when all this was happening when everybody around you is imagine in your local church if everybody around you selling their houses to show their zeal for God you don't want to feel left out. You don't want everybody to think that you're not so wholehearted.

We all like to give others the impression that I'm just as wholehearted as everybody else. I mean don't you find that desire in your heart. Particularly if everybody in your church is very zealous about something you like to.

Even if you're not so zealous you'd like everybody to at least have the impression that you are everybody around you is pursuing holiness and you're really not doing it. You still would like everybody to think that you are.

It's such a common trait. And among Christians. Well that's exactly how Ananias was and his wife. So they said hey we look left out out of this. They'll think we're backsliders if we don't sell our property.

So they decided to sell their property and and they only kept back some of the price we read in Acts 5 to imagine if they sold their property for $100 ,000 and they kept back $50 ,000 and they brought $50 ,000 to the church to give to God.

What would you call a person today who sold his property for $100 ,000 and gave $50 ,000 to God. Boy he'd be considered a wholehearted Christian. But not in the days when people were giving everything and he never said anything.

He just came in the line. That was there of people coming and laying their money at the Apostles feet. They were walking up laying the money and walking out putting the money there and walking out. And Ananias he didn't open his mouth.

He just came put his money there. And as he was walking out Peter said come back. Those Apostles had discernment. You couldn't fool them. And look what Peter says to Ananias in Acts 5 3. Ananias why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.

Ananias could say I didn't even open my mouth. What do you mean I have told a lie. I didn't say a word. I just came left this and went. What is a lie. Is the first time that the word like comes in the acts of the Apostle.

The first time you read of lying in the early church. And if you want to understand truth the truth that will set you free you have to understand the opposite of it. This lie to lie. You can lie without opening your mouth.

That's what I learned here. To lie is to give an impression to others about my wholeheartedness which is not true. To give people an impression that I'm more passionate about holiness and I really am in secret that I'm more passionate about evangelism than I really am.

That I'm more passionate about obeying God than I really am. That I'm passionate about building my local church than I really am. That's a lie. And if we don't cleanse ourselves from that we're liars.

Somebody asked me once why don't we have this type of thing happening today. Ananias is falling dead. I said there'll be hardly anybody left in the church if it happens today. Because there's so much of hypocrisy so much of lying.

It's not adultery. That's the big sin in the church. It doesn't matter if we don't have so many miracles. I told you in the beginning that people who experience miracles every day for 40 years God was not well pleased with them.

But here was a man who never did one miracle and God was well pleased with him. Jesus. What did he have complete freedom from lying. He said I am the truth. That type of life where there's zero hypocrisy zero pretense zero trying to impress men was not possible under the old covenant.

And if you want to see how much of it there is in us we have to be very honest. Truth as I said is found in God's Word and in Jesus Christ. If you want to understand truth you must know God's Word well and know the earthly life of Jesus clearly.

If you concentrate on these things you understand the truth and it will really liberate you from a hundred and one things that you are probably a slave to which you don't even realize truth as it's found in God's Word.

And as I see it I must be honest enough to face it. That is the truth that can set me free from pretense. Let me give you one example of how we can be in bondage without knowing it. See everything I say is from my own experience.

I've gone through failure mistakes defeat and discovered the hard way how to come into a life of overcoming as God wants whenever we those of you who if you ever prayed in public you know so you're in a gathering it could be a small group of five people or large church.

Public Prayer and the Sin of Seeking Human Approval

And you pray in public as we often do. Have you ever examined yourself thereafter after you gone home Lord how much of that prayer was directed to you. And how much of that prayer was just to impress the people who are in that gathering.

Have you ever asked yourself. I used to ask myself and I discovered that almost zero was to God. I was more conscious of all the people around me and I was praying basically saying things that were all correct language and write the right request and all.

But it was not directed to God it was. I was far more conscious of the people who are listening to me than God Almighty. But I was saying oh God. And I say Lord I'm sorry I'd repent. I'd repent of my prayer.

Have you ever repented of your prayer. You prayed in public. Lord I'm sorry not one bit of that prayer was directed to you. I was just more conscious of the people around me the whole time. The thing is a lot of people don't even realize that's a sin.

And so I would repent. And then I would pray again. At some other time in some public meeting again I'd go back and I'd repent and say Lord. I still didn't make it. I got zero. I wasn't even bothered whether the prayer was answered.

It was just a nice nice pious thing to do. You know just like when we start a meeting or I mean what's the right pious thing to do when we start a meeting. The right religious thing is to pray right. It'd be terrible if you had a meeting without which you didn't open with prayer.

It's just a formality. I mean we don't even expect God to do anything about it. Whether we pray or not we're not dependent on him. That prayer is not a expression of helpless dependence. Oh God please help us.

Otherwise we're not going to go through this meeting with your power. No it's a formality. It's downright hypocrisy. And so what happened over a time. I'd keep on confessing confessing confessing. And gradually I became more and more free or more free from being conscious of people.

When I prayed my goal was to come to that place where whether I was praying with a thousand people there or one person there I would be praying to God. What I'm asking is do you have that passion to be completely free from lying now.

You wouldn't call that lying right. But that's what Peter called Ananias's pretense. What did Ananias want to do. Pretend that he was wholehearted. Just like we passionately pray so that people will see that we're wholehearted.

Are you trying to impress God or men. We may not think that's a serious thing. It's worse than cancer. I'll tell you that believe it or not if there's a lack of progress in your Christian life if you're not getting close to God if you don't find supernatural power in your life to fill your heart with joy 24 hours a day seven days a week.

The reason could be here. If you're finding problems in your family in your church that you're not able to solve the problem could be here. There's lying the complete opposite of Christ who said I'm the truth.

And God doesn't force us. He doesn't force us to give up anything. He healed. He lets you know for example of a believers driving his car to commit adultery with somebody he's not going to get a flat tire.

Why is that. Why doesn't God stop him. God's given man complete freedom. He's given a believer complete freedom. You want to go and commit adultery. Go right ahead. You want to be a hypocrite in the church to get some honor for yourself.

Go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you. The Holy Spirit will convict us if we are eager. If you've got a passionate desire to be completely truthful we all think we are pretty honest. I don't think anybody would sit here and think I'm a bit of a dishonest person.

But if you ask the Holy Spirit to show you you'll discover what a lot of dishonesty there is which the world doesn't consider dishonesty. I mean the world standard dishonesty is so low that we're all pretty honest people.

But when Jesus says I'm the truth then you realize there's a lot of dishonesty in all of us lying in the Old Testament. Let me show you a verse in the book of Exodus. In Exodus chapter 28 you know the Old Testament tabernacle and all its fittings and everything had a spiritual meaning.

Iniquity in Holy Things and the Need for Cleansing

And even Aaron's Aaron is a high priest who's a picture of Christ and even his clothes had a spiritual meaning. You know for example he carried the names of 12 tribes of Israel on his breastplate. And that's a picture of how the Lord carries our names on his heart.

But here's something else in Exodus 28 in Aaron's dress the clothes he wore his garments. It says here in Exodus 28 that he had to have a turban. And verse 36 Exodus 28 36 the Lord told Moses you must make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it holy to the Lord.

It means completely holy was to be written on his on a gold plate on his forehead and that had to be fastened on a blue cord and shall be on the turban at the front of the turban. Verse 37 and this shall be on Aaron's forehead and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things.

Have you ever heard of the iniquity of the holy things. Now the sin and the sinful things we all understand. But sin in the holy things. Sin in prayer sin in preaching sin right inside the church in the singing as a lot of sin in the holy things.

For example we just sang that song all to Jesus. I surrender. We can sing it in such a moving way. And there could be whole areas in our life that are not surrendered. Take my life and let it be. That's a lovely song.

But it's a very difficult song to sing. Take my silver and my gold not a mite would I withhold. Wow you think the people saying there are the most wholehearted people in the world. Really have you ever sung it.

Take my voice and let me sing always only for my king. I don't know whether we take seriously the songs we sing. I often say Christians tell more lies to God on Sunday morning than on any other day of the week with all the songs they sing.

How do I know. I did it myself. That's how I know. There are times when I've been in a church service which I'm not leading. Somebody else are leading. And we're singing a song with a song usually in the olden days you know with a songbook and they're singing a particular song.

And because it's such a familiar song to me I've sung a hundreds of times. I don't even need to look at the book. I sing through it. I know the melody and other words and by the time I come to the end of the song they've okay.

They announced the next song. And I suddenly realized when they've announced the next song I say Lord. I didn't even mean those words I just sang. I didn't pay attention to the words I just saying I was so familiar with it.

So when they're singing the next song I turn back to the old one and I go through the words. I'm not singing the next song. I say Lord I want. I'm sorry for just singing this in such a casual meaningless way to you Almighty God without any reverence.

And I slowly go through the words of that song again and I say Lord I want to mean it. This is the battle I have had in my life with lying and I've determined with all my heart to be free from it. And then I'm just giving you a little examples of how I really sought to be free and it's made a world of difference in my life because as I've sought to be free from every form of lying and pretense in my life in these little little areas just dealing but it's just me and God.

I mean nobody around me in that church knew that I didn't mean what I sang or I was just singing along with everybody else. I think most of the people around me were not meaning it either because they're familiar songs.

You know when we sing a song that never heard before that really strikes us the words boy that's something in it. But the familiar ones we are in danger of lying and sometimes we don't even think what I'm what we're saying when we say not a not a mite will I withhold Oh God everything is yours.

Really take my voice and let me sing always only for my king. Many other words like that all to Jesus I surrender. And that is why my brothers and sisters why in many areas we are missing out on God's best.

There's iniquity in our holy things and Jesus like Aaron says had to take it away. Jesus has come to take it away. If we confess our sin he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But we have to confess it. But because we live in the midst of people who are living at the same low standard we are in we don't seem to be convicted of these things. You know a person who's got a very unhygienic dirty lifestyle can go and live in a slum and feel quite comfortable because everybody around him is like that.

And I personally think a lot of Christianity is a slum. There's a lot of lying there's a lot of dishonesty there's a lot of pride there's a lot of selfishness. And yet they've all got the right doctrines.

And that they think because we're evangelical in doctrine so much of argument among Christians is about doctrine. And we'll discover when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ that he's not going to give us a doctrinal questionnaire to see whether we got all our answers right.

He's gonna look at our life. And we may discover in that day that some people whom we looked down upon because their doctrines were not right. Perhaps among Roman Catholics we may discover that they're ahead of us in God's kingdom despite some of their errors in doctrine.

Because though their head was wrong their heart was right and ours our head was right. Now heart was wrong. Man looks in the outward appearance and God looks at the heart. And so this is so important to value truth in every area.

Loving the Truth to Avoid Delusion

We are in bondage because we don't know the truth. First of all about ourselves. Let me show you another verse which I often call one of the scariest verses in the New Testament. It's my perception the scariest verses in the new.

One of the scariest words in New Testament. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 11 we are told that God himself will deceive certain people. Is it possible that God himself will allow you to be deceived.

Listen to this. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false. Now we've always had the impression that God is always out to get people to believe what is true.

But here's what God's Word says that he will purposely make people believe what is false. That God is out to get some people to believe what is a lie really to believe. What is a lie to believe what is false.

Why does God do that. Why in the world would God allow somebody to believe something that's false. That means for example to believe he's born again when he's not born again to believe he's filled with the Holy Spirit just because he spoke in tongues.

To believe that and to live all his life in that delusion God will allow him to believe. To believe that a person has got it some supernatural gift which he doesn't have. He's got a counterfeit. God will allow people to believe that they are holy when they're not.

That scares me. I tell you it scares me. It to me. That's one of the scariest verses in the Bible. I say Lord is it possible. I'm fooling myself that I'm born again. That I'm fooling myself that I'm filled with the Holy Spirit.

That I'm fooling myself that I'm holy when I'm not. That I'm fooling myself that I'm building the church Jesus is building when I may be building my own Empire. Lord open my eyes. Who are the people Lord you deceive like that.

That's the category I don't want to be in now. Listen to this. God will send upon them. Who are the them. That's what I want to know. I don't want to be in that group. Verse 10. It speaks about the activity of Satan in verse 9 in the last day Satan is going to come with powers and signs and false wonders.

Please remember that we're living in that time false miracles with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish. Why. This is a very important statement here. Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Just listen to that expression the love of the truth so as to be saved. If I don't receive the love of the truth to be saved the Bible says God will send upon me a strong delusion so that I will believe what is false.

There's no partiality with God. It doesn't say well if you're a believer you'll sort of escape that. It's like the law of gravity if you jump off the roof of a building. The law of gravity is not going to first check up whether you're a believer or not.

It doesn't matter it just it's exactly the same way it will operate on you. Whether you're spirit-filled or born-again or unbeliever or atheist. The law of gravity is universal. It's like that God's laws.

He will deceive those who don't love the truth. But you say I'm a believer but you don't love the truth. When God trying to show you something about yourself maybe in a in a service like this God speaks something to your heart and you you're not willing to face up to it because you think you're so spiritual and you're giving everybody else the impression that you're so spiritual.

You're not willing to face up to the fact that you're a hypocrite of the first order. You don't love the truth. I tell you brother you're a candidate for deception not by the devil but by God himself.

The Bible says the devil's a deceiver he's against me. The Bible says in Ephesians 4 my lusts are deceitful. My lusts are out to deceive me. The devil's out to deceive me. The world is full of people are out to deceive me.

My only hope is if Almighty God my father will protect me from deception. But if God himself turns around also joins all these other people to deceive me. I'm doomed I'm finished. There's no hope for me.

And I can be as deceived and think I'm right. Like the way thousands of years man thought that the Sun goes around the earth and man was absolutely convinced they could say I believe what I see the Sun goes around the earth.

And they were wrong. That is how easily we can be fooled. What's the solution. How shall we escape that very simple love the truth and seek to be saved. Love the truth first of all about yourself. When the Holy Spirit shows you something be honest and face up to it.

Diligently Seeking God and Examining the Self

I told you how I kept on repenting of praying to seek the honor of men. I go before God and say Lord that's the truth. I sought honor there. I'm sorry as it happened again and again and again for years.

But I said Lord I'm determined to be free from it. And when God sees that you're really determined to be free he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The Lord says you shall seek me and find me.

Not when you seek me whole half-heartedly but when you seek me with all your heart you will find me. Jeremiah 29 13. And it's like that if you're willing to say Lord I want to know all the truth about myself.

How many of you would seriously say that Lord. I want to know all the truth about myself. I've said that many times to God. I said Lord I don't want any surprises at the judgment seat of Christ. I want zero surprises.

I don't want you to tell me at the judgment seat of Christ there's something in me which I did not know when I was on the earth. Why didn't you tell me when I was on the earth. Because I was unwilling to listen.

Because I did not love the truth about myself may never be. I am determined that when I stand at the judgment seat of Christ there will be nothing that God has to show me which I did not discover when I was on the earth of selfishness pride love of money subtle things with which I can imagine I'm free from just because I happen to be better than others.

You see if everybody in a class is getting 2 and 3 and 4 in mathematics and I get 10 I'm pretty good. That's how a lot of Christians are. They think they're spiritual because they're better than most other people in their church.

So what Jesus said I am the truth. How do we compare when we line up with him. Is it possible that there could be so many things in our life where about which it has to say God is not well pleased. We congratulate ourselves because God's using us and giving us a word.

And we know this. And we're getting revelation on this verse and that verse. But we are not free from lying the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. I've often felt that if Ananias and Sapphira if Ananias was in the church in Corinth he'd have been an elder right.

Because he's pretty good compared to the others in Corinth. The problem was he was in the wrong church. He was in that fiery church in Jerusalem. And you know that you can go to some third-rate church and you can be an elder there.

You come to a church where the fire of God is burning like anything you you'd be considered the most carnal backslidden believer. It depends on which company you are in. Dear brothers and sisters let's learn to love the truth with all of our hearts.

Standing on Scripture Rather Than Tradition

God's Word is the truth and Christ is the truth. So I think of these two when I look at my life in comparison to Jesus Christ. And I seek to do that every day of my life to compare my life with Christ's.

And I see areas in my life where I'm not 100 truth in the same way God's Word is the truth. When I read something in God's Word which is not what I have always believed in all of us have got a doctrinal mold in which you have grown up the particular church we grew up in or the particular teacher whom we admire listening to a doctrinal mold.

And one day I read the scripture and I find some of those things I believe are not exactly like it says in scripture. Am I willing to change my mind and view and say I was wrong all these years. I was wrong for 35 years.

But now I see this is what God's Word says that is loving the truth. But I find very few people who have the moral courage to take that stand and say I was wrong there. I've now discovered through careful study of the word that that is not what God's Word teaches even though ninety-nine percent of people in my church believe it and practice it.

That's not what God's Word teaches. And I'm willing to stand different. I remember when God began to open my eyes to the new covenant and many of the glorious truths that changed my life 37 years ago.

One of the things God asked me was this I was in India and are you willing to stand for this truth even if everybody every Christian in this country that is India says you're wrong and will consider you a heretic.

I said yes. I said Lord I've seen it. I've studied your word carefully and have given me revelation and it's changed my life. I will stand for it. And it came pretty much to that in the early days. Are you willing to stand.

I want to ask you that direct question. Are you willing to stand for something which you have carefully studied God's Word and seem to be the truth even though most of the Christians you know don't believe it.

Or do you find your comfort in saying well there are a number of people who believe this so I suppose I must be right. That is a mistake the people in the wilderness made they thought 10 out of the 12 spies must be right and that's how they missed God's will.

God was not well pleased with them very often. God will bring you and me to the place where he sees whether we are willing to trust him and stand true to him even when most of our other fellow believers disagree with us because they don't love the truth like you do.

May God help you to take the right decision at that time. Perhaps that time may come to you this weekend. Let's pray Heavenly Father as we bow before you we pray that you'll help us to see what a tremendous price you paid to purchase us to make us what you want us to be completely conformed to the image of Christ our Lord.

Please help us Lord that the light of God shine from heaven brightly in our midst. In these days we humbly ask in Jesus name. We are going to take a break of five to.

Ten minutes and when you hear the songs here that's the time for everyone to come back. And before we take that break I want to explain. We have three DVDs actually two DVDs and one mp3 CD out there for sale.

So the mp3 CD is it's actually through the Bible it's 70 hours. This is an mp3 CD you can just put it in your mp3 player. You can play it or you can copy to your computer and then play it from there. And the the other the two DVDs this is the verse by verse or what.

By the way I'm brother Benoit from a Ravens ministry and I know several of you contacted me for books and CDs and it's great to see you if you just come and say hi to me. If you we've talked in the email or phone we never talked on in face.

So please come and say hi to me. So the verse by verse DVD this is not a DVD you can play in a DVD player. This is a data DVD that means you can copy to your computer. You have all those files in your computer then you can use it on your iPod or I touch or whatever music device that you use.

So this is a data DVD. Same thing with this is the last days you have 300 messages by Zach compiled and several messages and you have everything in one place. So this is also a data DVD. This is not a DVD that you can play on your DVD player.

Please note that this is all these two are ten dollars and through the Bible it's five dollars. And also if you find any CDs that you buy today and just any kind of problems please contact me all the contact information here.

Sometimes when we make CDs it you know CDs could be or go wrong with something. I won't be able to test everything. So please let me know. And one more announcement is if you are here today and if you wanted to be if you are from a place and if you wanted other people who in your locality to contact you for fellowship and for getting together and please when you go back there is a list there say put your name and your town you are from and the state and your email and phone number so we can facilitate if other people from your area if they wanted to meet or just wanted to encourage one another great opportunity this is a time for us to for you know you can find out other people from your locality.

So there is when you back there please ask for the list. So we'll take a 10 minutes break and when you hear the music here please come back thank you.