New Covenant - Jesus Revealed Father - Part 3 — Zac Poonen

Ministry Does Not Prove Holiness

Today, the Christian world thinks mostly of ministry. And oh, this person's ministering so much, he must be pleasing God a lot, rubbish. A few chapters later in chapter 7, Jesus said about people who did ministry, Lord, we cast out demons in your name, we did miracles in your name, we prophesied in your name.

Jesus' Warning to Workers of Iniquity

And Jesus will say to them, get away from me, you who live in sin. Ministry doesn't prove anything. How many of you believe when you look at a man whose doctrine is all correct, stands up and does miracles and casts out demons and prophesies in Jesus' name, how many of you would even, it would even cross your mind that that preacher, that famous preacher who's drawing hundreds of thousands of people on television and on a platform could possibly end up in hell.

I doubt whether even 1 of the people sitting here would say that that crosses your mind. You know how much you've been deceived? I'm not deceived because this is one of the verses in my book, Bible verses that Christians don't believe.

Holiness, Sin, and the Deception of Ministry

What is that? That preachers who cast out demons and prophesy and do miracles in Jesus' name will go to hell if they don't live holiness, in holiness. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. You lived in sin.

You loved money. You think love of money is not a sin? You think it's a very light thing for a preacher to love money? Bible verses that Christians don't believe. Bible verses that CFC Christians don't believe, despite having heard it so often.

The power of the devil is so strong to brainwash us so thoroughly that we hear a truth a hundred times and the devil says, no, it's not true. That's exactly what he went to Eve and said to her. It's not true.

Has God really said that? Has God really said that people will do miracles and prophesy and cast out demons and if they don't preach holiness and live a holy life, they'll go to hell? No, he didn't say that.

How can this man, who's a man of God, who's being so blessed, who's blessing people here, there and everywhere, how can he go to hell? I tell you, we don't know the truth and that's why we live in bondage ourselves.

Pleasing the Father in Ordinary Life

Heaven and earth will pass away. Mark my words, but the words of Jesus will never pass away. Take his words seriously because when you take words like that seriously, you see that to be a son who pleases the father, it's not a question of whether you can preach like me.

It's not a question of whether you can do miracles. It's not a question of whether you can heal the sick. It's a question of whether in daily life, like Jesus in those 30 years in Nazareth, everything you do is to please your heavenly father.

The way you speak to your wife, morning till night, you want to please your father. The way you speak to your husband, morning till night, you want to please your father. You don't do any miracles. You're just speaking ordinary things.

The way you bring up your children, you're longing to please your father. The way you do your work, your goals and ambitions in life, it's just one terrific passion to please your father in heaven. The way you handle money, the way you keep your accounts, Jesus is watching you and you want to please your father in every little thing.

The programs you watch on television, you have a desperate longing to please your father. The books you read, the things you do every day, the places you go to, the amount you eat, the amount you sleep, you want to please your father.

You say, boy, that'll be a tremendous strain. Not at all. It's the healthiest Christian life you can ever live. Because if you're not pleasing your father, don't think you're pleasing nobody. You're pleasing yourself.

That is the root of sin. So we can say, Lord, I'd like to get rid of my anger. Well, stop pleasing yourself first. Hit the root. So that's why it's so important to know God is our father. One who wants sons and daughters who will please him.

Family Life Under the Old and New Covenants

It was not possible under the old covenant. Old covenant, what do we know? What do I know about Moses' private family life? I know he quarreled with his wife and it became so bad he had to send his wife back to her father's home.

That's okay. In the old covenant, a prophet can be like that, but not in the new covenant. Your family life is very important in the new covenant. The way you bring up your children, very important. Samuel was one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, but his children were so wayward that they were taking bribes.

Sons of a prophet taking bribes from the people. And that was the man who denounced Eli for the way his sons were behaving and his own sons became like that. But Samuel was still a great prophet. Why?

He was under the old covenant. But it's all different in the new covenant. The way you bring up your sons and daughters is very important in the new covenant. But if we don't hear these things from very early in our Christian life, we don't take them seriously.

The Father’s Pleasure as the Heart of the New Covenant

My brothers and sisters, let's learn something about the new covenant, about our relationship with our heavenly father and what he wants from us from that simple sentence that Jesus heard when he was 30 years old after never having done a miracle.

Because many of us, you know, you hear somebody have a particular type of ministry and say, boy, I wish I could have that ministry. And what you're seeking is honor. You want the honor that comes from a certain type of ministry.

You wish you could heal like somebody or preach like somebody or do things like somebody. I'll tell you, that's not the main thing. He didn't say, this is my beloved son who has healed so many sick people or preached so many sermons.

This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. I remember many years ago, the Lord said something to me that delivered me from wrong understanding. He said, never, never evaluate how happy I am with your life by how many places you travel to, how many sermons you preach, how many people you bless, how many books you write or anything to do with your ministry.

Evaluate my happiness with your life only by whether you keep your conscience clear all the time between me and all human beings. That makes me equal with you. Isn't that wonderful? We're all equal. The person who was born again yesterday is equal to the person who was born again 50 years ago.

He can keep his conscience clear or not keep it. So can I. This is what the New Covenant is all about. Because it says, like we sing in that chorus which they sing in, Thou art worthy, O Lord, for Thy pleasure we were created.

Created for God’s Pleasure

Revelation 4. We were created not to do a ministry for the Lord. In heaven the elders and the angels know that. Thou art worthy for Thy pleasure we were created. Do you know why you were created? Do you know why you were brought to new birth and recreation?

For God's pleasure. That God can find happiness in you. The way you live, the way you speak to others, the way you conduct yourself, the way you handle money, the way you spend your time, the way you do everything, that God your Father can look down upon you and say this is my son, this is my daughter in whom I'm very very happy, I'm very well pleased.

So my brothers and sisters as we think of this New Covenant, think of this as the major thing in the New Covenant. And to know God as a Father is a very important part of this. We're not trying to please the CEO of a company who is very demanding.

We're not trying to please a managing director. We're not trying to please a dictator. We're not trying to please a hard father, but a loving, compassionate father. See this lovely verse in Psalm 103.

In Psalm 103 it says, verse 13, just as a father, Psalm 103 verse 13, has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who love him. Those who fear him. Those who reverence him. Like a father feels for his children.

God feels. Those of you who are fathers and mothers, don't you feel for your children when they are sick or when they are struggling with something? Maybe you're healthy, but they're not, and you feel for them.