God’s Sovereign Power Over All People — Zac Poonen

Well, brothers and sisters, I'm so happy to meet you all. I was supposed to come here three years ago, but there was this pandemic. Everything is in God's control. There's absolutely nothing that happens on this earth which God does not control.

God's Sovereignty Revealed in Nebuchadnezzar's Fall

Some years ago, I saw a very lovely verse which I've never forgotten. It's the most powerful verse in the entire Bible. The most powerful verse in the entire Bible that tells us about the absolute power of God.

And I don't think most of you know it, so I'm going to show it to you. It's been in your Bible all your life, but I don't know whether you've seen it. Turn with me to the book of Daniel and chapter 4.

In Daniel chapter 4, we read of one of the proudest kings that lived in Old Testament times. He was a very powerful man. He ruled the most powerful empire in the whole world. America is a very powerful nation, but as you read in the papers, there are many other nations becoming powerful.

But in Nebuchadnezzar's time, there was only one powerful nation and the name of that nation was Babylon. And Babylon had a huge palace and hanging gardens and a wall that went right around it. It was a wall.

On top of the wall, a chariot could drive around the whole city and Nebuchadnezzar built it. And one day we read in Daniel chapter 4. If you read in your Bible, Daniel chapter 4, it says in verse 28, Daniel 4, 28, all this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.

12 months later, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. See what a proud man he was. He was the one who built this fantastic palace in the city. I mean, making a whole lot of slaves work.

When he said in verse 30, the king looked at what he had built and he reflected, he thought about it and said, is this not Babylon the great, which I have built myself by my power and for my glory. This is the characteristic of man.

Three things. If you read carefully in verse 30, I built it according to my own plan. I built it by my power and I built it for my glory. Can you remember that? My plan, my power, my glory. This is the characteristic of man.

We do things according to our own will. We do it according to our own strength and we do it for our own glory. Babylon is a picture of a false church in the New Testament. And the characteristic of Christians who belong to Babylon is they do their own will.

They don't seek God's will. They use their own power. They don't seek God's power. They believe more in the power of music and cleverness than the power of the Holy Spirit and they do it for their own glory.

Examine your own life. Ask yourself in these three areas, how many areas of your life do you seek the will of God? And how many areas do you do exactly what you want to do? That's Babylon, my will. You remember Jesus taught us to pray, Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will father be done on earth in my life exactly as it is done in heaven.

Do you know there are millions and millions of angels in heaven? You know the reason why heaven is such a wonderful place? And I hope all of you will go there. But I'll tell you, heaven is a place where nobody does his own will.

No angel does his own will. One characteristic of heaven is they all do the will of God. That's why he taught us to pray. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth in my life exactly as it is done in heaven.

When I was a little boy, my father and mother taught me to pray that prayer. They were Christians. They were born again. So every morning when I got up in my bed when I was eight, nine years old, I would kneel on my bed and pray, our father who are in heaven, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

I prayed that for many years, but I did my own will. It was an empty prayer, which I just memorized and repeated. Just like a lot of Christians say empty things to God, because they're not really talking to God.

A lot of Christians when they pray, they're like children who pick up a phone, they don't know how to dial, they're not talking to anybody, and just say hello, hello, and begin to talk. And they're not connected to anybody.

But they imagine, they see their parents talking like that, and they talk like little two, three-year-old children. That is exactly how many people pray. They pray so many things. Has God heard you?

Don't know. It's no difference between your prayer and a children praying. My dear brother, I'm not saying that to condemn you. I'm just saying that it can be different, if you will listen carefully. So Nebuchadnezzar built this according to his will, by his power, and for his glory.

Jesus Christ's Life of Doing the Father's Will

But the way God wants things to be done, the way the New Testament teaches, Jesus Christ never did his own will. So he never used his own power. If you read the Gospels, you see how the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus.

When he was baptized, why did he need it? He was a son of God. But he came on earth to show us, listen carefully, Jesus came to earth not only to die for our sins, that he did at the end of his life. That was just six hours, six hours of his life.

He died on the cross. But what did he do for 33 and a half years before that? He showed us how we are supposed to live, never doing our own will. Let me show you a verse in John's Gospel, chapter 6. John's chapter 6 and verse 38.

If you were to ask Jesus, Lord, what did you come on earth to do? Many people would say, well, he came to die for our sins. That is a small part of the truth. But that's the first thing we probably learn.

It's the first thing I learned, Christ came to die for my sins. But if you want to know the full story, what he did for 33 and a half years, here it is in one sentence. John chapter 6 and verse 38. I came from heaven.

And you say, Lord, why did you come from heaven? I came from heaven never to do what I want to do. My will means what I want to do. He never did his own will, not even for one second in his entire life.

But what did you do, Lord? The will of him who sent me. You know, it requires tremendous humility, tremendous humility to do what somebody else tells us to do. Haven't you found that with your children, how difficult it is to make your children do what you know is good for them?

You tell them to do something and they won't do it. You tell them to eat something which you have know is good for their health. They won't eat it. They want to eat what they like to eat. That's human nature.

We do what we want to do. We nominally pray, of course, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth in my life exactly as it's done in heaven. Absolute lie.

Sincere Worship Instead of Empty Religious Words

Do you know the number of lies people tell God? Can you tell me which day of the week Christians tell the most lies Sunday to God? God. Some of the songs we sing all to Jesus I surrender. Really? Take my life Lord and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.

That's why I say most Christians tell lies on Sundays to God, but I never realized it for so many years of my life. Now when I sing a song I ask myself, what did I sing just now? I want you to answer a question honestly, not to me, but to yourself.

Can you remember what you sang just now a little while ago? Do you remember what you told God? You know when we're singing we're telling God something. Do you remember what you told? Now if it was a new song you probably remember.

But if it's a familiar song, I almost guarantee that you don't remember what you sang today. Because we have got so used to singing. Singing is like a little exercise we go through. We don't even think what we're saying.

This is an evidence of the lack of reverence we have for Jesus Christ and God. I was like that for years till God showed me I was telling lies to him. You would think it is serious if your children told you one lie.

Do you know the number of lies we have told God by our singing? If you don't even think of what we're singing. I'm not blaming you. I did that myself for years. I told a whole lot of lies to God when I sang songs.

I never took it seriously. It's like these people go to rock music musicians and all. They're not worried about what they're singing. It's just a nice tune and they move around and jump around and sing.

They enjoy the singing. That's not how we are supposed to sing in the church. You know what Jesus said, where two or three and we are more than that here are gathered in my name. I'm in the midst of them.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is here? You can't see him, but he's here. I believe that with all my heart. That's why I'm very careful about what I say. Many preachers want to impress their audience.

If I try to impress you, God will judge me. If I want to impress people, I must go and do some other job. But I am a servant of God and I've been a servant of God for 56 years. And if I try to impress you with what I say or my sermon, God will judge me severely.

I mean you may not realize that, but I know it. Because he's listening to me right now as I speak. Christ is here and he's listening to me. And that's why I seek to be aware of his presence as I speak.

And Jesus said when he was down on earth, I never did my own will. I did my father's will. Nebuchadnezzar was not like that. He said, I, by my own plan, I built this. The reason I say that is that is the reason why we have a lot of problems in our life.

We do what we feel like doing. But people say it's so difficult to find God's will. It's not really difficult. If you want to do, you will know. The problem is not that we can't find God's will. The problem is we don't want to do it because sometimes that can go contrary to our will.

From God, Through God, and for God's Glory

So let me show you another verse in Romans in chapter 11. Keep in mind what I showed you in Daniel 4, that Nebuchadnezzar said, I did things by my plan through my power and for my glory. But how should it be?

It says in the Romans chapter 11, an eternal work. If you want your work to last for eternity, and not just for your earthly life. I want everything I do to last for eternity. Even a sermon I preach. I want it to have an effect on people that will last for eternity.

And that is my prayer. And that's why I seek God for the power of his Holy Spirit. Because I don't know the needs of people, but I want to so affect people's lives by what I say. That their lives will be changed, not only on this earth, but for all eternity.

And I want every bit of my life and my work to last for eternity. That's like if somebody's building a house, he doesn't want a house to be built that'll last just one week. I mean people build houses that can last for a hundred years.

So if you want your life to do something that will last for all eternity, that when you're dead, and you've gone out of this world, and your work will last long beyond your grave, beyond your going to the grave, listen to these words.

Romans 11 and verse 30. This is how everything in our life should be. From God, through God, and to God, are all things of an eternal nature. What did Nebuchadnezzar say? From me, from my mind, through my power, and for my glory.

That is Babylon. That's the false church. But a truly Christian life, a wholehearted Christian, lives the way Jesus lived. Everything in his life, he wants to hear what God wants him to do from him. And in order to do it, he seeks for God's power through him.

And when it is done, he says, Lord, I don't want to take any credit for it. It's for your glory. This is true Christianity. Unfortunately, it's seen very little. Most people's understanding of Christianity is, ask Jesus to come into your heart, and one day you'll go to heaven.

Well, I also believed that third-rate, good-for-nothing, useless Christianity for many years. And I was a miserable person. Till God showed me, if you want to live a satisfying life, a life where your life can be a blessing to many, many people, seek that everything in your life will be from God, through God's power, and for God's glory alone.

Please remember that verse in Romans chapter 11, which I just showed you. Never forget it. It's one of the most powerful verses, Romans 11, verse 36. And compare that with, turn back to Daniel chapter 4.

Nebuchadnezzar is an expression of the strong human will that wants to do its own will, with its own power and for its own glory. Now you see here Romans, sorry, Daniel 4 and verse 30. The verse we just saw, Daniel 4 38.

Isn't this Babylon the great which I built? A royal residence. I built it by my plan. I built it with my power. And I built it for my glory. So contrast this, my plan, my power, my glory, with God's will, God's power, God's glory.

And I want to say, this is true Christianity, and this is what the way man lives. Jesus lived totally. I showed you that verse. I came from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. Everything Jesus did was in the power of his Holy Spirit.

That's why he prayed so much. He prayed because he wanted power from God. We don't pray so much because we've got a lot of power of our own. Why do we need power from God? I'll tell you this, my brother, sister.

There are a lot of things you can do with your power. They won't last very long. Your work will be wasted. I don't want to do a work that remains for a very short time. I want to, I've got only one life, and a lot of that life is already over.

But I thank God that many, many years ago, I discovered, Romans 11, 36, that if you want to live a life which will have fruit for eternity, long after you're dead and gone, determine at least from today to say, Lord, I want to seek your will in my life in every area.

I want to do your, I want to do it in your power. I want to do it only for your glory. I don't want any credit for myself. You will come to the end of your life with great satisfaction. In everything, you young people, decide that you want to do God's will.

Seeking God's Will in Marriage, Work, and Life

You want to marry the one God chose for you, not the one you choose. My wife and I have been married for 54 years. We're extremely happy with each other. We never fight at home now. In the early days when we were ignorant of God's ways, like every married couple, we fight.

It's gone. 365 days of the year. We have peace, peace in our home. It's a foretaste of heaven because we chose each other. Seeking the will of God. If you young people who are considering marriage, say, Lord, I want your will, not who I choose.

It's the first step to a happy marriage. Even a job. Lord, I want you to, you got a plan for my life. I want to fulfill that. Do you know that God made a plan for your life before you were born? Let me show you a verse in Psalm 139.

It's one of my favorite verses. Psalm 139. Verse 13 and 16. Psalm 139 verse 13 says, Oh God, you formed me in my mother's womb. That you know. It's God who formed you as a little embryo, a little baby inside your mother's womb.

And there, before you came out of your mother's womb, before you were born, it says here in verse 16, Oh God, your eyes saw me there when I was not even fully formed. And while I was in my mother's womb, when I was not even fully formed as a baby, in your book, that is in God's mind, all the days ordained for me were already written down.

That means God had written a life story of yours the way he wanted it before you were born. Isn't that amazing? Many people, their only goal in life is, I want to go to heaven when I die. That's a very ungrateful way to live the Christian life.

After all that Jesus did for you, can you only think of going to heaven when you die? Don't you want to do God's will on earth before you die? That plan that God wrote down in his mind for your life when you were in your mother's womb, that from the very first day till however long God planned your life to be, this is what he must do every day.

I'm sorry that I discovered that after more than 20 years of my life. Thank you. When I was 19 and a half, excuse me, I was in India and I joined the Navy when I was 15. I'd finished school and I joined the Navy.

I had no interest in. I was nominally Christian going to church, but I didn't want to do God's will. I wanted to become a big officer in the Navy, but somehow God laid hold of me when I was 19 years old and I got converted.

And it was a radical conversion. My whole direction of my life changed. I said, Lord, now I don't want to be a big officer in the Navy. I want to do your will, whatever that is. And I'm glad I made that decision 63 years ago and therefore I look back over 63 years with many mistakes I made.

But I'm thankful that I discovered fairly early in my life that God had a plan for me before I was born. Now, if you're old already and you never thought of it before, at least you can do something with the rest of your life.

But some of you young people, you can do, you've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it like so many other people have done. Go to Jesus and say, Lord, I never knew that you had made a plan for my life before I was born.

Show it to me. Do you know the number of times I have cried out to God and said, Lord, show me your plan for my life. Please show me. I want to fulfill that because I know that's the only worthwhile life I can live on this earth.

I've cried and prayed to God and when God sees that you're earnest, he'll show it to you. If you're not earnest, he won't show it to you. And if he has not shown you your plan, his plan for your life, I'll tell you one thing, he sees that you're not earnest about it.

And he says, all the days, verse 16, that were ordained for me were written down in your book before even there was one of them. That means before my first day on earth, God had planned my whole life.

Boy, I wish I'd known that when I was five years old. I discovered it when I was nearly 20. Have you discovered it yet? Do you really think you can make a better plan for your life than God can? I look back over my life and I say, Lord, I'm so thankful that you planned my life.

Do you think God's plan is worse than the plan you can make? Let me show you another verse in Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 11. I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Now listen as if Jesus Christ is speaking that to you directly, personally, as if there's nobody else in this room.

And the Christ is here and he's speaking to you personally. And he's saying to you, my dear son, my dear daughter, I have some plans for your life and I know it. And they are plans for your welfare. That means they are plans to do something really good for you, not to harm you in any way, to give you a wonderful future and a wonderful home.

He doesn't want to mess up your life. A lot of people have got a wrong idea about God that if I surrender to God's will, oh, my life will be unhappy. My life has not been unhappy. I've been a very happy man ever since I surrendered my life to do God's will.

I'm not the richest man in the world, but I certainly would like to find out if somebody's happier than me. There may be many people who are doing God's will who are as happy as me, but happier than me?

I don't think so. You can't be happier than doing God's will. And all those who are doing God's will will be just as happy as I am. And you can be that. And you can come to the end of your life with tremendous satisfaction that the one life God gave you, you did not waste it.

Some of you came to America from another country to make money. I didn't come here to make money. Okay. You made a lot more money than you would have made in India or somewhere else. But are you happy?

What are you going to say at the end of your life that you made so many hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is that all? Are you going to go to the gates of heaven and show them your bank account and say how much money you made?

There are people who live in India or whatever country you come from who may go to heaven happier than you. Though they didn't make as much money as you or live in a grand house as you did, I want to tell you that is not the greatest thing in life.

I don't know how many of you will believe me. But if you believe me, it'll change your life if you believe the scripture that God has made a plan for your life. You can never make a better plan than that.

God's Grace for Wasted Years

And you may say, well, what about all the years gone by if I have not sought God's will? I messed up God, my plan, God's plan for so many years. Never mind. God says start from today, start from today, for the rest of your life.

Say, Lord, I want to fulfill your plan. And you say, what about the past? I'll give you a wonderful promise for the past. Please remember this all your life. Acts of the Apostles in chapter 17, it'll encourage you.

It's a verse that I offer to many people, Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. Here's what God says. Having overlooked the times of ignorance. What are the times of ignorance? You never knew God's plan for your life.

You say, what to do about those years? I was ignorant of God's plan. God says, forget it. You know the meaning of overlook? Overlook means, God says, I forget it. I'm going to forget about those years when you did not know my plan for your life.

But now, God is telling you, to repent means to turn around. Stop doing your own will from now on. Say, Lord, I want to do your will for my life. I want to know what it is. Now, make that decision today.

I can give you a written guarantee. It'll change your life. Because I know from my own experience it did. It's made me a very happy person. It's given me a very happy marriage. It's given me a very happy life.

Even though I may not be earning as much money as you do. It doesn't make a difference. I've discovered one thing in my life. That money doesn't make anybody happy. A comfortable life doesn't make anybody happy.

Look at all the miserable people there are who live comfortable lives with a lot of money. I'll tell you who's really happy. The one who does God's will. Jesus Christ was the happiest person that ever lived on this earth.

And he was not a millionaire. When he traveled, he said, I don't even have a place to stay. He never stayed in rich hotels. He says, I said, a man doesn't have a place to lay his head. He was very careful with money.

So different from today's preachers. Do you know that Jesus had a treasurer? There were thousands of people who followed Jesus. And they were so blessed by his healing. And his message that they would give money as an offering.

He didn't ask for it. There was a man called Judas Iscariot who collected that money in a bank. And Jesus didn't use it to buy a grand house for himself. He came here to do the will of his father. And he said, comfort is not the main thing for me.

I want to do the will of my father. He was so utterly faithful. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong in having a good car or a good house. Don't misunderstand me. God has given you those things.

Use them by all means. But don't think that's the main thing in life. I wish we'd all be gripped by one fact. The plan God made for your life. Is the best possible thing. And if you missed it till now, God says, okay, I'll overlook the past.

Can you start today? And say, God, I want to do your will from today onwards. Tell God seriously, he'll do it for you. He's not going to send you back to your home country. No, don't misunderstand. Don't think that God is such a cruel God who likes to make your life miserable.

Wants to make you live in a hut. That's the devil who tells you that. Oh, if you give yourself to God, he'll make you live in a hut and you'll have to give up this and give up that. No. What did we read in Jeremiah?

I've got plans to make you happy. For your welfare, for your good. The second thing there in Daniel chapter four is, oh, yeah, I must say one more thing before I go on. You say, what about the years that were wasted?

Here is a wonderful promise that you can claim. I've claimed it for the few years of my life that I wasted. It's in the book of Joel. Do you know where Joel is? You're going to meet him in heaven and he'll ask you, did you read my book?

And you'll say, your book? Which is that? You see, I wrote only three pages and you didn't read it. You didn't have to write, time to read three pages that I wrote. Read it before you meet him. It's in the Old Testament.

Towards the end, Joel chapter two. The Lord says, it's a little expression verse 25. I'll make up to you for the years that were eaten away by locusts and this locust and that locust and whatever way you wasted your life.

It's a picture, locusts eating up the grains. And I will make up to you for the years that have been lost in your life. It's a tremendous statement. I will make up to you for the years that are lost in your life.

Paul's Example of Redeemed Years

Let me tell you the example of a man who lived much worse than you. How many of you have killed other Christians? I think zero. There's a man in the Bible you read of who for 30 years lived completely outside the will of God.

And for many years he was persecuting Christians, putting them in jail and killing some of them. His name was what we know as the Apostle Paul. 30 years. He lived only about 67 years altogether. The Emperor Nero cut off his head when he was 67 years old.

But out of those 67 years, 30 years he lived for himself and for the devil. Persecuting Christians and but you know when he came to the end of his life, he said I finished my course. Amazing. You say how could he have finished his course when for 30 years he wasted, not only wasted but he killed other Christians and did so many wrong things.

It's amazing what God can do. God says I can make up for you the years that were wasted. And what a fantastic work Paul did. In the remaining 37 years of his life, the results are lasting till today. All of us our lives have been affected to some degree by what Paul wrote in the Bible.

And millions of people in the last 2 ,000 years and yet that man wasted 30 years of his life. I'm just telling you to say that God can restore the years that are eaten away. So let's go back to Daniel 4.

God Humbles Human Pride

So here he was Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar building a kingdom by his according to his own plan and by his own money and power. See that's another thing we all think we are very strong and capable. We can do so many things.

I can do this and we can plan this and plan this and I've saved up enough money for the future and I can do this and that and I've got this education. And with this education I can always get a job and even if I lose this one, I'll always get another job.

You know the amount of confidence we have in our own power. It's absolutely amazing. And that's how Nebuchadnezzar did by my own power and ultimately it's for my own glory. And listen to what happened.

See how God humbled him. This is what I want to show you. This mighty king who was the most powerful king in the world. It was about 500 years before Christ. Who had built the most powerful empire in this fantastic city called Babylon and a palace.

As soon as he said these words in Daniel 4 30 of the next verse Daniel 4 31. A voice from heaven came saying King Nebuchadnezzar you proud man. Your authority and sovereignty has been taken away from you.

And God says I'm going to drive you away from human beings. I'll make you like an animal and you will eat grass like the cattle for seven years until you recognize that almighty God is the ruler of all men.

And as soon as the word was spoken this man the moment he said this I built for my by my plan and my power for my glory. God said you think you're such a great man. I'll humble you right now and Nebuchadnezzar was driven away from mankind and he began.

Can you imagine a man who was the king and the most powerful king in the world suddenly going around in his underwear crawling on the grass eating grass verse 33 like the cattle and his body day and night out there in the open drenched with the dew of heaven and he wouldn't cut his hair it began to grow like verse 33 like eagle's feathers and his nails became like bird's claws.

You read this verse? This mighty king this is not a fairy tale this actually happened to the mightiest king that ruled at that time to show God showed for God to show for human beings for all time that if you become proud that you're so capable and you can do something for God I can humble you in no time.

As you look back over your life, I want to ask you dear brothers sisters are you proud of something you've accomplished? You know the thing that God hates? You see adultery, murder. Yes, he hates all that but something worse than all that pride.

Are you proud about what you've accomplished in your life? I've done so much. I've done this I've done that or maybe I brought up my children my children have accomplished this that and the other any type of pride God can humble in a moment.

He did it for this man and that's the lesson we got to learn. Did he learn the lesson? Yes, thank God. Many have not learned it even though they hear the word of God it says at the end of that seven years verse 34 I in Nebuchadnezzar, he's giving his testimony now.

I raised my eyes to heaven. And my reason came back to me stop behaving like an animal. I like that expression. Read it slowly middle of verse 34 I raised my eyes to heaven and my reason Came back to me and he's saying then I became a sensible human being.

And I want to tell you He's the one who raises his eyes to heaven to see God. Whose senses have come back to the place. Otherwise Our senses are not in the place proper place and I bless God. I honored him.

I acknowledged finally that his dominion is lasts forever. And now I want to tell you the verse which I told you about in the beginning the most total complete Statement of the almighty power of God found in the whole bible.