Preserving Ourselves In God's Paths - Part 5 — Zac Poonen

Recognizing Self-Deception and Spiritual Pride

You know, I believe that everybody in the world is deceiving himself, almost everybody anyway, 99 .9999 and almost all believers, because of one reason. I want to read that to you. In Galatians chapter 6, it says a mark of a man who has deceived himself.

It's on this basis that I'm saying it. Galatians 6 in verse 3 says, if anyone thinks he's a somebody, when he's a nobody, he deceives himself. That's what I mean. We're all nobodies. Does that surprise you?

Well, let me give you a revelation. You're a nobody. But you think you're a somebody. Don't you think you're a somebody? At least in relation to some people. Perhaps not in relation to some of the older, more mature, godly people, but in relation to some of the others, you are somebody, right?

That's your problem. You deceive yourself. It was a great day in my life when I discovered that I was a nobody. That my savior walked on earth saying, I'm an ordinary man. And I said, Lord, what right have I ever to take any other title to myself than that?

Rejecting Religious Titles and Embracing Ordinary Service

He spoke against people calling you rabbi, father, leader. If he were today here on earth, he would say, don't let anybody call you pastor, senior pastor, reverend, or any such thing. You are an ordinary man.

It's delivered me from so many temptations. Leave alone sins, I'm not even tempted. You're tempted when you begin to think you're somebody. You may have to battle it, battle it, and humble yourself and overcome it.

But you're not even tempted when you realize you're an ordinary man. Which is better? Not even to be tempted or to be tempted and overcome? And sometimes fail. Often fail. I'll tell you this. If you think you're somebody, you're going to have tremendous problems living in this world.

You're going to have problems living in the church. All those problems will disappear. People say all types of things against me. They've written articles against me. They've written books against me.

They've written things against me on the internet. It doesn't bother me. Because what am I? Nobody. Ordinary man. That is your salvation. Be an ordinary man, an ordinary woman. Think of yourself the way Jesus thought of himself.

Serving Others Without Expecting Privilege

He knew if I'm a human being, I must be a servant. Full stop. Many people haven't realized that. They're always waiting on other people to serve them. They're disappointed when those people don't serve them.

I'm not saying we shouldn't ask one another to help us. We help one another. But I'll tell you this. If there's any human being whom you ask to help you, whom you are not willing to serve, then something's wrong with you.

There are many brothers who serve me in many ways in this church. God is my witness. I will do exactly the same for them and even more. So then of course there's nothing wrong because we serve one another.

But if you expect people to serve you because you're somebody, you don't think you can serve them because you're somebody. You're deceiving yourself according to this verse. That's what I say. Most of the Christian leaders, I'd say 95 of them, are deceiving themselves according to this verse.

Paul’s Example of Giving God the Glory

They think they're somebody. The way they talk about themselves, the way they testify to what God has done for them, etc. We must give a testimony. Paul gave his testimony. But he never thought he was somebody.

Paul very often compared himself with other preachers. He said, I'm not like those other fellows. They all want your money. I don't. Wasn't he comparing himself? He said, I want to cut the ground from under the feet of these people who say they are serving the Lord like we are.

2 Corinthians 11. Very good translation of the Living Bible. But he didn't think he was somebody. He said, God, God, God did it. He's everything. You know, one of the things I frequently meditate on is heaven.

Heaven as a Corrective to Earthly Recognition

It's a good place to meditate on. Think of heaven. We used our imagination for all types of filthy things in our past years. Why not use our imagination for something good? And I picture myself in heaven.

Shut my eyes and I think of heaven. Jesus is there in the center. And millions and millions of people are praising him and saying, worthy is the Lamb. And I'm just in the middle of that crowd. And nobody knows who Zach Poonen is.

Nobody knows who Paul is. Nobody knows who Peter is. It's Jesus. I frequently meditate on that. It brings me down to earth. In a world where people appreciate me and say nice things to me, also, I say, Lord, I know what I am.

And I know what I'll be when I get into eternity. There won't be any special seat for me, I'll tell you that. We're going to be saints redeemed by the blood of Christ. That's all. I praise God for that.

I'm looking forward to it. Think of yourself the way Jesus thought in humility. He never thought that he deserved something or people should respect him. People should do this or that or anything for him.

Never. Never. He was not offended by what people said. He was not offended if people didn't say anything. He was not offended if somebody didn't appreciate him. And the people shouted, crucify him, crucify him, that crowd.

Responding to Rejection Without Offense

I'm sure, I'm absolutely sure among that crowd were some people whom he had healed. Imagine people whom he had healed, who are alive today, who are now shouting out, crucify him. I've had that experience, not crucifixion, but people whom we have helped tremendously, who are what they are today because of our help, some of whom are alive because of our praying for them.

Who have taken me to court and tried to harm me in so many ways. That's okay. I'm an ordinary man. I bless them. I pray God will forgive them. But Jesus experienced that and he didn't get offended with those fellows.

Hey you, don't you remember I healed you? You're shouting crucify me. Not a word. He never said that. I'm an ordinary man. God gave me the opportunity to serve you and heal you. I'm happy you're healthy.

If you want to shout crucify me, that's fine. I'm an ordinary man. What a restful life, when you think the way Jesus thought about himself. The second thing in Philippians 2 is, his love was manifested in total unselfishness.

Love as Total Unselfishness

When we talk about love, it can be a misty type of thing, which is not like vapor. You don't know what love is. I'll explain it to you. The opposite of love is selfishness. Then you understand what love is.

If I show you where South is, you know where North is. So the opposite of love is selfishness. When I act in selfishness, and if you look at your life, you may find 99 of the things you do are tainted by selfishness.

So you have a lot of scope to improve and becoming more loving. A lot of things that you say, the way you behave at home, if you really examine yourself in the light of Jesus, you'll find there's a selfishness there.

Peeling Away the Layers of Selfishness

There's a selfishness in perhaps you're coming to this church. I don't know. But if you examine your life, you'll find it. And if you're not free from it, it's a little bit of the devil that's clinging on to you.

Selfishness is like an onion. It's a huge onion. You can only peel off one layer at a time. We'll never be totally free from it, but we can make that onion as thin as possible before Christ comes again.

And the thinner it becomes, the greater a blessing you'll be to other people. Because you don't think of yourself only, what you can gain, what you can get, what you can experience. No, no, no, no, no.

You think of how can this bless other people? How can this glorify God? You don't think of self. In other words, self is not in the center. Self is not on the throne. Like they say, there's only one throne in your heart.

Christ or Self on the Throne

It's either Christ or you on that throne.