The Holy Spirit Reveals Jesus — Zac Poonen

You know, somebody asked me once, how did Jesus speak to 5 ,000 people without a microphone? I mean, I find it difficult to speak to 100 people without a microphone. I said, because Jesus was a very strong man.

I replied, because Jesus was a very strong man. And Jesus used to work with not only wood, but also stones.

And they didn't get ready-made pieces of wood. They had to cut down trees. And carpenters had a tough time those days. He was a very muscular man with a very strong voice. And even the strongest among us are weaklings compared to him.

That's why he could walk so many times, you know, 70, 80 kilometers from Galilee to Jerusalem so frequently. And longer distances. Can you imagine walking from here to Pune every now and then? I'm just trying to show how soft we have become in our time.

Self-Denial and the Practicalities of Christian Fellowship

We need to learn more self-denial in our life. And because of the times in which we live with so much traffic and all, it's very difficult for us to travel long distances. So we try our best always to have gatherings closer to where people live.

That's one reason why we started a meeting here in Navi Bombay. Two years ago. So that people who are living in this area could meet together. So, in two weeks from now, December 6th onwards, we're going to start another meeting in Kandivali East.

In Kandivali East,.

Behind the Damanagar bus depot.

No, not Damanagar.

In Lokhandwale Township. So that those who are living in that area can come closer and don't have to travel such long distances on Sunday. That is, Sunday mornings at 10 .30 from December 6th onwards.

And that'll be in the house of George Wengal. Are you here, George? See that handsome man standing there? Yeah, that's him. So just go to Lokhandwale Township and ask for the most handsome man who lives around here.

The Trinity and the Security of God as Father

The children of God are all good looking in God's eyes. You know why? Because man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So, we were looking in our last study about the Trinity. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And we also saw that if you deny the Father and the Son, that's the spirit of the Antichrist.

Yes, if we deny the Father and the Holy Spirit, that means we have the spirit of the Antichrist within us. Lord Jesus Christ said, pray to the Father in my name.

And through the Holy Spirit. And we pray in the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus. To the Father. But we can also pray to Jesus himself. We can pray to Jesus. So, the Holy Spirit shows us first of all that God is our Father and cries out, Daddy.

And the Holy Spirit shows us first of all that the Father is our Father, the Heavenly Father. And the first step is to recognize our Father and feel secure in Him.

He even takes care of our hair. Why did Jesus take the example of hair on your head? That is the most, almost the most insignificant part of our body. You know, if you wake up in the morning and you find some hair on your pillow.

You don't get worried, oh dear, some hair fell off. Even I don't get worried if some hair falls off. Because it's so insignificant. I had a lot of hair when I was a young man. And God counted all of them.

And He knows exactly when each one of them fell off from my head.

And He knows when my hair fell off. I don't know.

That is the care my Father has for me. If you believe that, you will never be worried about anything on this earth. Think of it. Are you ever worried if you see one hair on your pillow? But God knows the exact time in the night when that fell off from your head.

Jesus taught that. You read in Matthew 10, He knows the hairs on your head. And if we believe these things, we find tremendous security in God as our Father. In the days to come, it's going to be more and more difficult to be a Christian in India.

It will be difficult in your office to stand up for the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that all nations will hate you for my name's sake. Matthew 24. Verse 9. The last part. You will be hated by every single nation on the face of the earth.

That means there will be no country that will not persecute Christians. There was a time when the western nations were called Christian nations. England and America and all. They are not Christians today.

They oppose Christians. They have gone against the word of God. The Supreme Court in America has now said that two men can become married. And when they went to a court to register their marriage, the Christian lady there said, I cannot certify two men getting married.

Because I am a Christian. You know what they did? They put her in prison. For standing up for Christian convictions. This is not in the ancient past, it just happened a few weeks ago. All nations, it will be difficult to be a Christian.

Persevering Through Persecution by Grace

So, you better believe that the hairs on your head are numbered. That nobody can touch you without God's permission. See, it says in the book of Zachariah. Zachariah chapter 2. And the Lord says, Verse 5.

I will be a wall of fire around about her. Then how can somebody come through? Because God permits that person. God permitted people to crucify Jesus. Many times they tried to kill him, but they could not kill him.

Because his time had not come. They killed James. He was an apostle. They killed Stephen. They killed Peter. They killed Paul. They killed Andrew. Thomas came to India, they killed him here. They killed Andrew.

They killed Matthew. They went to different countries and they were all killed. These were the greatest men of God in the first century. Could God have protected them from being killed?

Sure. But he did not do it.

When Daniel was thrown to the lions, God shut the lion's mouth. Not only shut the lion's mouth, he restrained those lions. They could not touch Daniel even with their paws. But in the second, third century, when the Roman emperors threw the Christians to be eaten by the lions in a big stadium,.

The Roman emperors caught the Christians and put them in the lion's cage.

God did not shut the lions' mouths. They would kneel there and sing the praises of God while the lions pounced on them and ate them up. I have a picture of that in my sitting room to remind me that these are my brothers and sisters who stood true to the Lord 1800 years ago.

I am going to meet them in heaven. The people who sang praises while the lions jumped on them.

And I want to be faithful. But I want to remain faithful. And when I meet them, I want to say that I was also faithful. And I never want to deny the Lord. If I am punished, I need the grace of the Lord.

Some of us may think, will we stand for the Lord in a time of persecution? Yes. If you are humble, nobody can stand without grace from God. Without grace from God, like Peter, we will deny the Lord again and again and again.

Like Jesus denied the Lord three times, we will also deny the Lord.

Do you know why Peter denied the Lord? He did not get grace from God. Why didn't he get grace from God? Because God gives grace only to the humble. And Peter was not humble. He said, I am the boldest of all the disciples here.

If everybody denies you, I will not deny you. Is there somebody here who thinks you are the most spiritual and the boldest here? I tell you in Jesus' name, you will deny the Lord first. You cannot stand for the Lord without grace.

Remain humble. Learn humility in these days of peace. More than anything else. Study the Bible, but learn humility. There is only one way to learn humility. Walk with humble people. There is an old writing that was written in 2nd or 3rd century BC Before Christ.

It says, if you mingle with proud people, like your hand gets spoilt if you touch tar, you will become proud also. Have you seen the tar they use on the road? If you touch it, it is very difficult to get it off from your hand.

It says, if you mingle with proud people, you will get that and it will be very difficult to get it off from your hand.

Seek fellowship with humble people. It is not easy to find. I have been a believer for 56 years. But I have seen very few humble preachers in my life. Most of them are humble when they begin. But after God uses them for some years, they become big and important people.

Most preachers are like that. I never waste my time fellowshipping with them. Don't waste your time listening to them also. Mingle with ordinary people who love Jesus. How do we become humble? By walking with the humblest man that walked on the earth, Jesus Christ.

We absorb things from people we associate with. If you sit in a room with 20 women full of perfume, you will get perfume on your clothes.

If you sit in a room with 20 women full of perfume, you will get perfume on your clothes. After some time, you will feel that your clothes also have the same smell. If you sit in a room where 20 people smoke, your clothes will also smell like that.

Even bad and good things will be absorbed by our clothes.

Imagine if you spend a lot of time talking to Jesus, what will happen? A lot of people don't do that. Even when they read the Bible, they are not listening to Jesus. They are studying like a chemistry book.

When you read the Bible, you must say, Lord Jesus, speak to me. Sometimes when I read the Bible in the morning, I read only one verse. Because my aim is not to go through the Bible 50 times. I want the whole Bible to go through me once.

If the whole Bible goes through me once, that's enough. Sometimes I read a verse and the Lord says, stop, listen to me. It's like a red light. I stop my vehicle and wait. Next morning, I open the Bible, I am at the same verse.

There is a red light there, I can't move. Have you had that experience? Or you just want to quickly finish? I have done that also in my younger days. Because I wanted to know the whole Bible. I used to have two ways of studying the Bible.

One was to read the whole chapter, chapter, chapter. In addition to that, to have a second study of one verse or two verses. You must have both these ways of Bible study. Because if you just read one verse at a time, you won't even finish the Bible in your whole lifetime.

You must read the Bible in big sections every day. Some people have the very good habit of finishing the whole Bible in one year. Very good. There are about 31 ,000 verses in the Bible. 31 ,000 So if you want to finish the Bible in one year, You know, it's very easy, you can work it out.

31 ,000 divided by 365. That's what, about 80 -90 verses in one year. 80 or 90 verses a day. You know, different. There are people who read like that and it's good. Very good. But in addition to that, You must spend at least 5 or 10 minutes meditating on one verse.

Say, Lord, speak to me. And let those verses sink into you. That is the balanced way of studying the Bible. You must do both. People ask me how I've studied the Bible. That's how I've studied the Bible.

Then you get a knowledge of the whole Bible. At the same time, you hear God speaking to you through individual verses. And after some time, You'll find even without opening the Bible, God may speak to you some verse in your mind.

And it's wonderful when you come to that type of life, you can be walking on the road, Or you can be having a shower and God can speak to you through a verse in your mind. It's wonderful to gradually come to the place where God is speaking to you all the time.

That can't happen in one or two years.

But make it a goal in your life. Even if it takes 20 years. Or 10 years. I want to come to the place where I can hear God speaking to me morning, noon and night. If I wake up at 2 o 'clock in the morning, I want to hear what God is saying to me.

Living by Every Word From God

I'll tell you why this is important. Why this is important. Because the first word that Jesus spoke in his ministry was this. Jesus, You know, You know what is the first word Jesus spoke in his ministry?

Man shall not live by food alone. But by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. We eat food three times a day. I must value God's word more than that. So, I must get God's word at least three times a day.

Not read the Bible. But get a word in my mind at least two, three times a day. I get it much more than that now. It won't happen in one or two years. But if you work hard, Work at it, work at it, work at it.

It will become true in your life. Then, Then you will understand what it is to walk with Jesus all along life's way. That in the midst of all your work, you can listen to Jesus. Today, you don't have to be just like a Mary sitting at Jesus' feet.

Or like a Martha serving the Lord.

You don't have to be like that.

No, you can do both. While like Martha serving the kitchen, you can also be sitting at Jesus' feet and listening. That is the wonderful thing. While you are sitting in a bus. While you are driving a car.

You are sitting in the office. Or you are in the bathroom. Anywhere. I can sit at Jesus' feet and listen. This is very important. The Lord spoke that word to me more than 50 years ago. Sit at my feet and listen.

How many things are needful in the Christian life?

And what are the things we need in a Christian life?

What is the most essential thing in our life? Not food.

The most important thing is not food. For our physical life. It is breathing. More than food, we need more than breathing.

And that is a picture of living in the Holy Spirit. Air and wind is a picture of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is called the breath of God. And I need to breathe all the time. And then He will speak to me.

The Holy Spirit speaks God's word. And Jesus said in Luke 10 .42 Only one thing is necessary. That is what the Lord spoke to me 50 years ago. One thing is necessary in your life. Like Mary, sit at my feet and listen to my word.

A few years ago on my birthday. I said Lord can you give me a word? What do you think He told me? One thing is needful. Listen to my word everyday. The next year. On my birthday. He said Lord give me a word today.

Lord said one thing is needful. Imagine getting the same words every time. Then I realized how important it is. One thing is needful.

I don't know whether all of you believe it. If you really believe it.

You would long to hear what God says to you. Every single day. When was the last time you went without food for one day? For a whole day. Some of you probably never in your whole life. What about God's word?

Have you received that everyday? Do you really believe what Jesus said? Receiving God's word is more important than your daily food. If you develop this simple habit of allowing the Holy Spirit to give you His word everyday.

You will be encouraged yourself. And you will be able to encourage others. And needy people around you. You will be able to bless them. Another word the Lord spoke to me from Isaiah chapter 50. Beautiful verse.

It's actually referring to Jesus. A prophetic reference to Jesus. Isaiah 50 verse 4. Verse 4 middle. He wakens me morning by morning. And wakens my ear to listen as a disciple. How did Jesus live? When he woke up in the morning.

He said the father has woken me up this morning. And he says my father has woken me up to listen to him this morning as a disciple. And whatever he said to me verse 5. I was not disobedient. I didn't turn away from it.

Even if people struck me or spat on me verse 6. I accepted it. If that was God's will. I didn't turn back. If that was God's will I accepted even that. But every morning. He woke me up to listen. That doesn't mean he had a half an hour quiet time.

The Lord woke him up in the morning. And his heart's ear was open. And it was open the whole day. He was listening the whole day. And because he was listening all the time. The ear of a disciple. Verse 4 first part.

He had the tongue of a disciple also. And with that tongue. It says in verse 4. He could give a word that encouraged or sustained some weary person who came to him. You know all around you are weary discouraged people whom the devil has got a hold of.

They won't come to a meeting like this. I will never meet them in my whole life. Listen to this. There are some people. Who only you will meet and nobody else in this room will ever meet. There are people you meet even your wife will never meet in her whole life.

I can say to every person here even children. There are some people you meet nobody else in this room will ever meet in their whole life. We can say that is the little world of people whom you know. Nobody else knows them except you.

And listen to this. God so loved the world. That little world of 20 -30 people whom you know. God so loved that world. That he sent his son or his daughter. Into that world. So that those people may not perish but have eternal life.

Have you ever seen it like that? That little world of people God sent you there. So that they might hear the word of God. Not by standing up and preaching and shouting and giving out tracts. No. It says that he might sustain that one weary person.

Encouraging the One Person God Places in Your Path

You know Jesus did not help everybody in Israel. Have you read that place where in John chapter 5 he went to the pool of Bethesda. There were hundreds of sick people lying there. He went in. Healed one person.

And went away. Jesus ministry was often like that. Because only one person was ready there to be healed. What about all the other hundreds of sick people? They needed healing but they were not ready for it.

Don't condemn yourself that I have to witness to everybody in my office and everybody in my school. No. Like it says in John 5. In Bethesda there was a multitude of sick people. In your school, in your office there are multitude of defeated, discouraged people.

The Lord may send you like Jesus to one of them. That one weary person to whom God wants to give a word through you. You may not be able to preach like me but they won't listen to me. Because they will never meet me.

Nobody in this room will meet them except you. How can you have a word to help them? If you listen to God from every morning from now onwards. To encourage people who are discouraged. Isn't that an easy ministry to do?

Maybe you can't preach a sermon. You can preach one sentence. Learn to listen to God's word. The Holy Spirit shows us Jesus. See John chapter 16. We saw that the Holy Spirit's ministry is to show us the Father.

But that's not all. John 16 .14. John 16 .14. He is talking about the Holy Spirit in verse 13. When the spirit of truth comes. What will he do? Verse 14. Jesus says he will glorify me. He will take of mine and show it to you.

So the Holy Spirit not only shows us the Father. He shows us Jesus. How do we know we are filled with the Holy Spirit? It's not by speaking in tongues. I am not against speaking in tongues. I have spoken in tongues for many years.

That is not the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because the most perfect spirit filled man never spoke in tongues. That was Jesus. He was the most spirit filled person. He never spoke in tongues.

It is a gift God gives to some people. He doesn't give it to everybody.

He gives when there is a need for it.

Some people God sees there is a need for it. He gives it to them. Some people he sees they have a need for it. I need to clarify that because some people will teach you. You must speak in tongues. You must speak in tongues.

Get your understanding from the word of God. Not from people. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians 12. This will set you free permanently. Verse 28. God has appointed in the church certain gifts. First, apostles.

There are apostles today, those who plant churches. Second, prophets. There are prophets today who speak an anointed word from God. Third, teachers. There are teachers today who explain the word of God.

Miracles. There are very, very few people who have a gift of miracles.

And then some with a gift of healing. Some who have a gift of helps. You know, they arrange the chairs.

They arrange the chairs. Does anybody seek for that gift? It's one of the gifts of the spirit. They will send some food for some sick sister who is sick at home. These are helps. And administrations, those who can organize things in a church.

And another gift is speaking in tongues. Then it says, all are not apostles, are they? Have you ever heard anybody say, if you are filled with the spirit, you must be an apostle? All are not prophets, are they?

All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have the gifts of healing, do they? And all do not speak with tongues, do they? I hope that liberates you forever.

But what will the Holy Spirit do for everyone? What did we read in John 16? He will take a mind and show it to you.

He will show you what Jesus was like.

Listening to the Father Throughout the Day

Like I showed you just now. Jesus would wake up in the morning. And he would say, the father has woken me up to listen in my heart. Isn't it a good way to wake up like that? You don't have to spend one hour.

As soon as you wake up. My father has woken me up this morning. To hear.

To hear what he has to say to me. Lord, I want to keep my ear open the whole day. Whole day. To listen. That's the best way to get out of bed. Spend one minute. In bed, before you get up.

Say, my father woke me up. To listen. Many times. When I wake up in the middle of the night. I say, dad, what have you got to say to me? Like Samuel, speak Lord, your servant is listening. Just like Samuel said.

Say that, speak Lord, your servant is listening. You know why very often we don't hear? Why is it we don't hear many times? Why doesn't God speak to you? Supposing I want to speak to this brother. And he is looking somewhere else and listening to something else.

I will be a fool if I try to speak to him. So God sees we are interested in so many other things. Why should I talk to them? But if he looks at me. And I say, bless him. And he listens. Then I am happy to speak to him.

You know how God said, Abraham. Abraham said, yes Lord, what is it? God is just the same today. Do you really believe that God loved Abraham more than he loves you? He knew nothing about Jesus. I know about Jesus.

Why won't God speak to you like he spoke to Abraham? In a better way. To Abraham he had to speak from outside. But now he has come inside through the Holy Spirit and speaks from within. Listen, that is how Jesus lived.

Overcoming Temptation by Listening to Scripture

And he listened, listened till it became a habit. Then he got a temptation. Turned the stones to bread. But Jesus was listening. Man's heart is a stone. And shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.

Then he gets another temptation. Jump from the temple, the angels will protect you.

But Jesus woke up that morning listening. So he heard another word, don't tempt the Lord your God. Then another temptation. I will give you the whole world if you fall down and worship me. He heard the right answer.

The right answer he gave.

You shall worship only the Lord your God. Even when people tempted him. Moses says throw, kill this adulterous with stones. Moses, in the God's law it's written.

Moses said that this adulterous woman has to be thrown with stones. So you throw stones. And who gave this law to Moses?

Jesus. The same Jesus who was sitting there from heaven gave a law to Moses. Stoned the adulteress. And now they are telling him. They didn't know he was God but he knew that he gave that law to Moses.

But Jesus was listening.

He didn't have to give a big sermon. A big sermon on how you must be compassionate for sinners. No, no, no. Not even that.

One sentence. Yeah, Moses said that. Whoever is without sin, throw the first stone. End of discussion.

They all go away. Another time. Should we give tax, pay tax to Caesar? To catch him. If he says something we will report him to pilot. People try to trap you. Listen. Don't be quick to answer. Just listen.

Show me a coin. He didn't have a coin in his pocket. He was so poor. Give me a coin. Whose image is this? It's Caesar's. Okay, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. I read these things.

I said, Lord, can you give me wisdom like this?

For all the situations of life. And I found a verse. Luke 21.

This may help you also. Luke 21, 15. I will give you such a word and such wisdom that all your enemies will not be able to resist or refute. Many years ago, I claimed that verse. You know, a promise is like a check.

Supposing somebody, you tomorrow, you find in the mailbox, a registered letter for a check for you.

You got such a letter in which a check is written. It is written, 10 lakhs.

What will you do? You will frame it up and hang it on the wall. You will take leave and rush to the bank and credit it. That's what you should do with God's word. In the name of Jesus, I claim it for myself.

That is, depositing it in the bank of heaven and say, put it in my account. Whenever you read a promise in the Bible, remember, it's a check. If you encash it, it will be yours. If you just frame it and put it on the wall, you will get it.

You will get nothing. We frame the verses to remind us to claim it.

That's why we put it on our wall.

Imagine taking this promise and encashing it. I will give you wisdom to answer people who ask you difficult questions.

So many times I have experienced it.

Even when I have to preach the word to people, I say, Lord, give me wisdom. I don't know what to say to these people. If God has called you to preach, the most important thing you have to develop is the habit of listening.

I will tell you a very interesting story to wake everybody up. I was once visiting a special type of church in America where all the men, 100 believed they should grow a beard. If you are a man, you must have a beard.

Mustache, beard, everything.

But many of them were not born again. They had beard, but they were not born again. They were all a particular type of Christian church.

Amazingly, I got an invitation to speak there and many of them were born again. And some of them were born again. But some of them did not like what I preached. It was a whole day conference like yesterday.

So in between, we had to sit for lunch. So the men sit separately, women sit separately. So I was sitting in this long table where all the men were sitting.

Everybody with a beard. I am the only one without a beard.

This side, that side, all men with beards. Then one of them wanted to taunt me. Brother Zach, did God make a mistake by giving you hair on your face? Or did you make a mistake by cutting it all off? I said, Lord, I got to listen now.

So God gave me a word. So I said, brother, did God make a mistake in giving you nails? Or did you make a mistake in cutting it off? He didn't know what to say. He was very embarrassed. Because he was humiliated and not me.

So I don't like to humiliate people. So I didn't say anything more. I changed the subject and went to something else. Because I wanted to save him. I didn't want to humiliate him. I've seen situations like this where God gives me a word exactly according to the need.

I want to say to you, have the habit of listening. This is where we need to see how Jesus was.

And we need to make a habit of listening to God. Like Jesus used to do.

Running Away From Sexual Temptation

We'll see Hebrews 4, verse 15.

Here is the biggest truth that the Holy Spirit wants to show you. How Jesus was. And here we see that the Lord Jesus Christ even if our own nails were cut off it turned out to be sinless. The way we are cut off the same way the Lord Jesus Christ was cut off.

But why didn't he sin? The way you sin. But he didn't sin. You know in the wilderness when he was tempted?

He listened. And he said but God's word says man shall not live by bread alone. That's how he overcame every temptation. It is written again it is written and even when people tried to taunt him he'd say isn't it written like this in the scriptures?

They asked him once why are you allowing all these children to sing Hallelujah and all in the temple? Isn't it written in Psalm 8 that out of the mouth of infants I will perfect praise? He always he listened and listened and listened.

That's how he overcame temptation. And so it says if Jesus overcame like that.

Let us also verse 16 go to the throne of grace.

First of all to receive mercy for forgiveness for our past sins. And then to find grace to help us in our time of temptation.

And that grace will come through a word the word of his grace. That will help you to overcome temptation. See for example when you are sitting in the computer and you are tempted to go to some.

Site which is not clean. Lord I am being tempted now. Listen to a word it says in 1 Corinthians 6 run away from immorality.

Not stand there and fight it. You sit there to try and fight it you will fall. So when you are tempted.

When you are sitting in the computer and there is nobody around and you are alone the word of God is 1 Corinthians 6 18. Run away from immorality when you are in a situation alone with an attractive woman in your office or somewhere and you are alone there run.

Let me ask you an answer from the bible from the life of Samson. Who is stronger a lion or a woman. It's a tough question. Samson was the strongest man on earth at that time. He could kill 300 philistines.

He could kill 300 philistines very easily.

He could catch a lion.