Using our Time Wisely and Denying our Self Will — Zac Poonen

The Purpose of Jesus’ Parables and Divine Revelation

I'd like to turn to Luke's gospel chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, the number of parables that Jesus spoke was amazing. No prophet in the old testament ever spoke in parables. We must meditate on each of these parables because there's a lot of truth in it.

Jesus said once to his disciples that when they asked, why are you speaking in parables? That's in Matthew 13. He told them because it is given to you to understand the truths of the kingdom of God. But it is not given to these pharisees.

So I speak in parables, he said, so that they won't understand. You know, it's quite an amazing verse that Jesus spoke there. Maybe I should show you that before we go to Luke 19. Matthew 13, where when Jesus, the disciples asked him in Matthew 13 10, why do you speak in parables?

The disciples asked him and he said, this is why I speak in parables. You know why Jesus spoke in parables? Here's the answer. Now we may think it is to illustrate certain truths and make it simple, but it's much more than that.

We know an illustration always makes truth clearer. But if you read Jesus' words, it's the exact opposite. We would say a parable is spoken so that people understand the truth. He said, no, he is, it says here, I speak in parables, verse 13, Matthew 13, 13, so that these people will not see and these people will not understand.

It's the exact opposite of what we think. We think Jesus spoke in parables so that things become clearer, but it's only clearer to certain people. But he said, these people will, I speak in parables because these people will hear what I say and they won't understand.

They'll see what I'm saying, but they won't understand. But to you, verse 11, it has been granted to know the mystery. Mystery means a secret which can be understood only by divine revelation. The word mystery is never found in the Old Testament.

The secret of the Lord, we read in Psalm 25, is with those who fear him. And to understand the secrets of the Lord, we must have a reverence for God in our heart. It's one of the most important things we have to teach our children, reverence for God, because the secrets of the Lord are revealed, Psalm 25, 14, to those who reverence him and fear him.

Like I've often said, not the fear that God will hurt me. See, we must teach our children don't be afraid that God will hurt you, but you must have a fear that you may hurt God. That's what we need to have.

Lord, I don't want to hurt you. You can only hurt somebody who loves you. You can't hurt an enemy. An enemy doesn't care for you. You can only hurt the heart of someone who loves you. So the fear of God is not the fear that God will hurt me.

He will never hurt me. But the fear that I may hurt God by something I say, or something I do, or by my attitude to someone, I may hurt God. And if I fear God like that, Psalm 25, 14 says he will reveal his secrets to me.

Anyone can read the Bible. Anyone who understands English or the local language can read the Bible and understand in their mind. But the Pharisees understood much better than Peter and John and James, but they never came into God's kingdom.

So we have to be careful that when we read the scripture, it's not just with our clever mind that we understand, or a clever mind we try to explain it to others. But say, Lord, give me revelation. How do I distinguish between revelation and understanding?

Revelation will change my life. Understanding will only increase my knowledge and help me to preach or teach others. And if your great desire is to just know the Bible or to preach something clever, you will not get revelation.

But if your desire in reading the Bible is that your life will be changed, the way you live at home with your husband or your wife must change. The way you bring up your children must change. The way your children respect your parents must change.

Then you will get revelation. Otherwise, you will only get understanding. So he said to you, Matthew 13, 11, is given to know the mysteries, the secrets, which are only given in divine revelation. It has been granted.

It's not something we deserve. God granted to those disciples. That's why those disciples could write these amazing scriptures like Peter and John and all wrote these amazing letters in the New Testament.

And to them, it has not been granted. Those Pharisees who studied the Bible so much, who knew it better than Peter, James, and John, it was not granted to understand the mystery, the secret. For example, a simple verse like, in everything give thanks.

That's written in Ephesians 5. It's written in 1 Thessalonians 5. Many clever people can explain it. But who has got revelation on it? I'll tell you. The one who does give thanks in every situation. If you are one who has learned to give thanks in every situation, because you believe that God is in control of it all, you've got revelation.

If you can only explain the verse, you've got a clever mind. You may be a Pharisee. You may be a Pharisee even if you sit in CFC. There are a number of Pharisees sitting in CFC. I know that because I know I've seen in all the churches.

But we have to, the difference is that some fear God. Lord, I don't want to hurt you. And then it goes on to say in Matthew 13, 12. This is another verse you need to understand. Whoever has to him more will be given.

He'll have an abundance. And whoever does not have even what he has will be taken away from him. Now, this looks like the opposite of communism. Communism says, if you have more, you must give it away.

And if you have less, we will give you. And Jesus was not a communist. Many people helping the poor is not the same as communism. Jesus said in spiritual truths, whoever has to him will more be given and he'll have an abundance.

Spiritually, the meaning is, let me explain to you, Matthew 13, 12. If you have some truth in your mind because you read it and you really fear God and have made that truth real in your life, let's take one truth, in everything give thanks.

You haven't just understood it, but you fear God so much that you determine in your life in every situation to give thanks to God because you believe that he controls it all. You know what God will do?

It says, because you were faithful that one little thing, he'll give you more. You get more revelation. But the one who has a truth like that, and he says, oh, I understood it, but you don't do anything about it in your daily life.

Even that truth which you have will be taken away. So now we turn back to Luke 19, having understood what Jesus is trying to do when he speaks in parables. So in Luke 19, he speaks in verse 12 onwards.

The Parable of the Minas and Faithfulness

And this is a parable. A noble man went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. And that's referring to Jesus himself, who's gone away. And one day he'll receive all the kingdoms of the earth as his one kingdom.

Then he will return. And that time has not yet come, it's going to come. And when he comes, comes back having possessed the kingdom, before he went, before he went, he called 10 of his slaves, Luke 19, 13, and gave them 10 minas, a certain amount of money.

And my margin says that is about three months wages. He gave them each, so whatever your one month's wages multiplied by three, that's the amount he gave to each person. And he said to them, do business with this until I return.

Use this and make some profit from it by the time I return. Remember, this is a parable. He's not telling us to make more money. We need to understand what he's saying here. And when he read, verse 14 is referring to unbelievers, we leave that out.

Verse 15, when he returned after receiving the kingdom, he called all these slaves to him. And he said, I want to know what you did with that one mina that I gave you. And remember, 10 people, each had one mina each.

They were absolutely equal. There's another parable where if you turn to Matthew 25, and then we come back to Luke 19 after that. In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke another parable, which is not exactly the same.

If you read carefully, you will notice that here it says in Matthew 25, 14, a man was about to go on a journey and he called his slaves and gave them his possessions. And now he did not give them equally.

He gave one person five talents. He gave another person two talents, another person one talent. And when he came back, the man who had five talents, he said in verse 20, Master, you gave Matthew 25, 20, you gave me five talents, I produce five more.

The man who had, he said, and the Lord gave him a reward. Well done. I will put you in charge of many things. The man who had two talents, he came back, brought two talents. And notice carefully, he got exactly the same reward as the man who brought five.

Well done, good and faithful servant was 23. Because you were faithful in a few things, I'll put you in charge of many things. What is the meaning of this parable? Matthew 25 is referring to the gifts of the spirit God gives us, abilities, and that we are not equal there.

God has not given the same number of gifts or abilities to serve him to all his children. Some have more and some have less. Some are gifted like the apostle Paul with many, many gifts. And some others, very little, maybe some sisters, they don't have many gifts.

So it's five, two and one. Some are very little. Some have five times what others have. But if you have five, or you have two, the Lord is looking for percentage. Five brought five, that's 100%. The person who got two brought two, he also brought 100%.

So the rewards are equal. So a very gifted man will have to produce more for the Lord. One who's not so gifted does not have to produce so more. When you look at another brother who's far more gifted than you, and you find that he has been able to accomplish so much more for the Lord, don't get discouraged.

He may be having five, or he may be having 50. And you may be having only two. But your reward can be exactly the same as his, even though you don't travel as much as he does, you don't have the gifts he has, because you were faithful with the gifts God gave you, which is very limited, perhaps.

Please remember that, so that you never get discouraged, or never think that, never compare yourself, let me warn you, never compare yourself with somebody who is more gifted than you. Because God is not going to evaluate you on the basis of your gifts.

It is he who determines whether you should have five, or two, or one. And if you got only one, God expects only one from you. That's all you can do. So, I mean, if you take the matter of children, for example, if God gives you one child, and he's given somebody else five children, what's the difference?

Mothers. He'll expect you to bring up one child in a godly way. But he'll expect that other mother to bring up all five children in a godly way. She brought up five godly children, and you brought up one godly child, because you had only one.

And she had five children, and she brought up five in a godly way. You are equal to her. The one, the percentage, the one who brought two, who got two, and produced two, got the same reward as the one who got five.

I say that for your encouragement, because so often, believers compare their gift with somebody else's, and sometimes get discouraged. I can't do as much as he can, or I wish some sisters also say, I wish I could travel here and there, and I'm stuck at home with all my children and the needs at home.

Well, God's not going to expect you to go here and there like the Apostle Paul. No. So that's just in passing. But I want to come back to Luke 19, which is what I was going to speak on. And that is, in Luke 19, everybody was given equally one.

One talent, one talent, one talent equally. What is the area in which all of us are equal? Well, I'll just mention that, but the point here is, one man who got only one, verse Luke 19, verse 16, brought 10 minas.

He made 10 out of one, and he got a much higher reward. Well done. You will have authority over 10 cities. The other man who had one mina brought five minas. Verse 18, he did not get the same reward. He said, you will have authority over five cities.

And let's go down the line, if somebody had brought only two, he'd have got authority over two. So that is, I told you, in the area of gifts, God has given some more than you, and if you produce a hundred percent result with your limited gifts, you get the same reward as the Apostle Paul, who probably had a hundred gifts, hadn't produced much with that.

But in this area, you can do, all are equal. What is the area where we all get exactly the same? Not Bible knowledge, not intelligence, not even length of life. Some people live 80, 90 years. Some people live only 30 years.

Not length of life, not even privileges. Some people have more money. Like a lot of you have earned a lot more money than some poor brother in Kerala. Those are not the things that make the difference.

Redeeming the Equal Gift of Time

But there's one area in which we are all equal. I would say two that I can think of. Every one of us has exactly 24 hours a day. Nobody gets 25. Nobody gets 15. You have 24 hours a day. I have 24 hours a day.

Everybody in the world, every Christian has 24 hours a day. But what you do with those 24 hours may be very different from what another brother does with his 24 hours. You may be wasting a lot of that time.

That person may not be wasting that much time. He may be redeeming the time. And so he's able to accomplish much more with his life because he has redeemed the time. He doesn't waste his time watching movies.

He reads the Bible. So he accomplishes much more whereas you fool around and waste the time with all kinds of useless things. You can spend your time on the internet with all the interesting things that are there and be completely ignorant of the Bible.

But you had the same 24 hours as that brother who really got to know the scriptures and as a result was a greater blessing to other people. Your reward will not be like his. This will be far more. Not because he's more gifted but because he used his 24 hours in a 10 times better way than you did or I did.

So that's a challenge that we must bear in mind. One talent to every single person. 24 hours absolutely equal. When you look at another brother or sister, ask yourself, does he have more time in a day than you have?

Exactly the same. There's another area where all of us are exactly the same. The Bible speaks about the lusts of the flesh, self-will. If we were to break down self-will into many, many lusts, the lust to make more money, the lust to lust after women you're not married to, the lust to take revenge on someone who hurt you.

So many lusts in the flesh come out of our own self-will. Every human being has the same self-will. There is no difference between your self-will and another person's self-will. Exactly the same. All children are born with a self-will.

All of you know that. Pretty early in life you discover it, how stubborn they are, how strong they are when they are one year old to disobey you. And that is why the Bible says we must discipline our children at a very young age because the greatest gift you can give to your children is not education like a lot of parents think, not good food and plenty of clothes and plenty of money and a rich inheritance.

The greatest gift, let me tell you this my brothers and sisters, the greatest gift you can give to your children is to break their self-will and humble them. Otherwise your child will grow up to be a proud person even if he knows the Bible and even if he can preach or anything he'll be useless to God.

I've seen people like that in CFC who know the Bible, who are proud. Because the parents never broke this, broke the self-will of that child when the child was small. They pampered them and made them feel they are very great and maybe they were clever and did well in their studies.

They never broke their self-will. Very, very important. There are, I told you this, everybody has got 24 hours, we're all equal, one Meena each. Everybody's got the same self-will and when the Bible speaks of the word flesh, one use of the flesh is this physical flesh, our meat in our body, but the more the spiritual meaning of the word flesh is self-will.

It says in Galatians 5, the spirit lusts against or fights against the flesh and the flesh fights against the spirit. It's not my body that's fighting against the Holy Spirit, it's my self-will. So whenever you read flesh in the New Testament, this Holy Spirit fights against the flesh, it's your self-will.

And it says your flesh fights against the Holy Spirit, it's your self-will. And we're all the same there, one Meena each, exactly equal. Somebody else's self-will is, we speak of some people as being strong-willed or weak-willed, but self-will is the same.

I mean, some people express it in a different way and some people keep it inside like, you know, the Bible speaks about, not the Bible, society speaks about extroverts and introverts, but basically self-will is the same.

And the interesting thing is that Jesus, when he came to earth, the thing that made him a man like us was he also had only 24 hours a day. He did not have more than 24 hours in a day. He also had the same self-will that we have, a self-will that would like to do something which is not the will of God.

Jesus’ Submission to the Father’s Will

Then what is the difference? The difference was he never did his self-will. And that's why with that one Meena, he produced not 10 Meenas, but millions of Meenas, spiritually speaking. Some people produce 10, some people produce 5, some people produce 100.

It depends on how much you crucify your self-will in your daily life. That's why I said we must, the greatest thing you can do with your children is to break their self-will at an early age, then you give them a good start in life.

You know, I noticed Indian parents particularly are very eager to send their children to kindergarten at a very early age, send them to kindergarten when they're three years old. Most schools, they accept them when they're four or five years old.

Let's send them to three years old so that they can become graduates by the time they are 19 years old or something. And so they get a good start in life. Boy, if you could have the passion to let me break the self-will of my child at a very early age and get them really spiritual so that they can make a lot of progress in their life, you'll be a wonderful father and mother.

But if you just puff them up saying you're a wonderful child and you're so good looking and you're so smart and keep on saying that and you don't break their self-will, you're going to ruin them. Please remember that.

I remember in the way I brought up my own sons, I'm not the perfect father. I've made a lot of mistakes and I've repented of them. But I had a great desire, I must say, which I used to keep praying, Lord, I want these children of mine one day to become my spiritual brothers.

And I want to do, I'm completely available to you. And there are two things I emphasized. I say, I don't care what rank you come in your class. I don't care whether you get a hundred percent. You must work hard.

Working hard is more important than what percentage you get. But the two things I emphasize is you must honor your father and mother and all people who are older than you. Even if we had a servant maid in our house, I taught my children to respect that person who's older than you.

Even a beggar comes to the gate, he's older than you, respect him. Don't speak rudely ever to someone older than you, even if he's lower in society. I tell you this, I'm sorry to say that I've seen a lot of CFC people who do not respect people of some lower caste or who are lower in society or who are, you know, from a lower level of education or something like that.

We must teach our children to respect anyone who's older than them. Always speak respectfully to parents and to others. And if you start by the time they are two years old, you've done a great job. The second thing, it's only basically two things.

The second thing I emphasized very strongly with my own children was never tell a lie. I don't care what you lose, what you break in my house, the most valuable thing you break in my house, I'm not bothered.

Unless you do it with anger, that's bad. But if you accidentally break something, there's nothing in my house that is valuable to me, I told them. Nothing. I don't have any valuable things in my house.

You are the valuable one, you children. So you can break anything accidentally, it will not disturb me, I will never ask you why did you break it. But don't ever tell me a lie. And if you tell me a lie, you'll get the most severe punishment from me.

Teach your children to speak the truth. Very important. When they grow up in life, they will speak the truth. Even if they have to lose their job, they will speak the truth. We have so many people who tell lies in order to keep their job.

You know the number of people who tell lies to get a visa to come to the Gulf or to go to the United States. False certificates and false so many things. I know people, believers who have done that. Okay.

I'm not here to judge them, but you can see in their life with the total lack of spiritual development that something in their life was wrong. Something wrong. They told a lie and got a job. They told a lie and got admission in a college.

We're giving false marks or false certificates. We all have one Meena, one life. It's very, very important to make sure that we use that one life for the glory of God. We have only one. Sadhu Sundar Singh, who I believe was the greatest Christian India has ever seen, said this, you know, in the world, many believers tell others, listen, this is the only life you have an opportunity to accept Christ.

Once you die, you do not have an opportunity to accept Christ. You must receive Christ now. Yeah, that's correct. Absolutely correct. Sadhu Sundar Singh used to say, this is the only life you believers have the opportunity to take up the cross every day.

You do not have another opportunity to take up the cross when you leave this earth. Don't miss the opportunities you're getting every day to take up the cross. Think if you had an opportunity every day to make some money.

Every day. I don't think you would waste one day. Oh boy, I wasted one day. I lost some money. Every day, an opportunity to make some money. That's how Sadhu Sundar Singh said, every day on this earth, you have an opportunity to take up the cross and follow Jesus.

Once you leave this earth, you will not get that opportunity even for a single day. There are many people who feel that once we get to heaven, after Christ comes, we're all going to be supremely happy.

The tears are all white from our eyes and we'll have no regret as to how we live. Well, I don't believe that. Do you think a selfish Christian who never denied himself but lived to enjoy life and make a little money and go to heaven when they die is going to be just as happy as the Apostle Paul or Peter when they get to heaven?

You really think so? I don't believe that. Those who have denied themselves and sacrificed so much for the Lord when they see Jesus face to face, boy, what a reward they'll get in heaven. And some other person who just his only desire was to go to heaven when he dies, live for himself, live to make money, live for comfort and ease and never thought of sacrificing anything for the sake of God's kingdom.

You think he's going to get the same reward as this other person? You think he won't have any regret in his life? I believe there will be regret in heaven because that one, I mean, I won't have regret if somebody had more gifts than me and accomplished more.

He had five gifts, I had only one gift. Okay, that actually accomplished more. But the area where he was equal to me, he had 24 hours, I had 24 hours and I see in heaven, boy, what a lot he accomplished with 24 hours a day.

He didn't waste it and play the fool with it like I did. Don't you think I'll have a regret? Not regret, you know, Jesus said that there are many mansions in heaven. You get a crown in heaven. It's all picture language.

Remember, Jesus used pictures. You are the light of the world. I'm not a bulb. I'm not a candy. Light is a picture. You are the salt of the earth. I'm not salt. But it's a picture. So when Jesus spoke about mansions, we're not going to have, oh, you are so faithful, I'll give you a 14 bedroom mansion.

What do I do with a 14 bedroom mansion in heaven? I'm not interested. I say you can take it. I want to be with Jesus all the time. I'm not going to sit in a 14 bedroom mansion. When Jesus said mansions, he was using an illustration.

When he said crowns, I get five crowns. You think I'm going to walk around heaven with five crowns on my head? It says they throw their crowns at the feet of Jesus. It's an illustration of a reward. And he uses the word crowns and mansions because on earth we value crowns and mansions.

But I believe I've asked myself, what is the greatest reward I would want in heaven? God were to say to me, I'll give you any reward you want. I know what I'll say. Lord, I want to be close to Jesus all the time.

Throughout my stay in heaven, the closest possible. And I believe that is the reward that people are going to get. You can get to heaven all right. But it's my conviction that not everybody will be as close to Jesus as others.

And that's determined here on earth. It's determined how close you want to be to Jesus here on earth. If I want to be close to Jesus, I have to be far away from sin. I have to be far away from the love of money.

I have to be far away from bitterness and anger and so many things. And if I don't want to be far away from that, if I want the love of money and I want to allow a certain bit of anger and bitterness and unforgiving spirit in my life, I am saying by my life, I don't want to be so close to Jesus.

I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to be so close to Jesus. And when I get to heaven, the Lord will say, you never wanted to be very close to Jesus on earth. Okay. You're not going to be close to Jesus here either.

Don't fool yourself, my brother. I know other preachers won't tell you the truth like I do. The reason I'm not a very popular preacher in many circles, because I tell them the truth. Jesus was not popular.

He was so unpopular that they killed him. They didn't like the truth, but that is the truth. Otherwise, what is going to be difference? You mean the person who's lived a careless life here on earth, even if he gets to heaven, he's going to get the same reward as the person who was absolutely faithful throughout his life.

I say, if that happens, I have to say God is thoroughly unjust. He's not unjust. He's a righteous God. I'm not saying that we want to be faithful to get a reward. No, that'd be wrong. That's wrong completely.

Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Not if you want a reward, keep my command. I don't keep any commandments because I want a reward in heaven. No, that would be selfish. Then I'd be lost in the line out of love.

If you love me, keep my commandments. This is the most important thing. I have one life, one Mina. I won't get another. Maybe we have wasted a lot of our life so far by carelessness and so many things that one Mina God gave us, so many a part of it is wasted.

I cannot do anything about my past life, but I can do a lot about today and tomorrow. I need to think of, like Paul said, forgetting the things that are behind and pressing forward towards what is ahead.

I press towards the mark or the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That's how we can be faithful with the one life God has given us. I told you that Jesus had the same self-will that we have, but what did he do with it?

Jesus’ Perfect Obedience and Taking Up the Cross

That's my question. See John chapter 6. This is the area where many people accuse me of preaching that Jesus was like us. I say, what? He was unlike us? I say, he was tempted like us. Here is the answer.

John 6 verse 38. I came down from heaven to do what? You ask that question to the average Christian. Some of you don't read the rest of the verse. Tell me what is your answer. Why did Jesus come from heaven?

Most Christians will say to die for my sins. That's right, but it's partially right. You got one out of ten. One answer is right. What is the full answer? Here it is. I came from heaven never to do my own will in my entire life, but always to do the will of the father.

From day one, in the last day of his life, every day he said no to his own will and yes to the will of the father. That is the meaning of taking up the cross. He had one Mina, 24 hours. He had one self-will like you and me.

You all have one self-will. He denied it. Next day, he had that same self-will. He denied it. He denied it every day for 33 and a half years and he chose the will of the father. That's what he did with that one Mina and we all are equal.

You and I, same 24 hours, same self-will, but Jesus was determined. I have come on earth never to do my own will, never to yield to self-will, but always the will of the father. Look at his last day on earth.

You know that. I don't have to turn to that passage in Gethsemane. He says, oh father, in great agony, what is my will? Let this cup pass from me. That's my will, but Lord, my father, I don't want that.

I don't want my will. If it is your will that I should drink this cup, I will drink it. My will is I don't want to drink this cup, but I will not do my will. Let this cup pass from me. That's his will.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. From day one to the last day of his life, he used that one Mina, the glory of his father. We so glibly sing, follow, follow. I will follow anywhere, everywhere.

I will follow him. It's easy to sing it, but my brother, sister, do you know what that means in daily life? It's not just a question of singing a song. It's many times a day, not just once a day, many times in a day we get the opportunity to say no to our own will.

Then we are using that money properly. Then we are doing business with that one Mina and getting some profit from it. If any of you are doing business, don't you think a businessman will feel, oh, I missed that wonderful opportunity to make some profit there.

If I had done this, I could have made some profit. You know, people do business to get profit. There's nothing wrong in that. People run a shop or a business to make profit. Otherwise, how will they live?

Jesus worked as a carpenter to make some profit. That's how he took care of his needs and his family's needs. There's nothing wrong in that. He didn't cheat anybody. But if Jesus did not make any profit as a carpenter, he could not have taken care of his four brothers and two sisters and his mother at home.

There's nothing wrong in making profit, but he didn't cheat anybody. He did it righteously. But think if a businessman who's perfectly all right to make profit, but if there was an opportunity to make profit and he didn't make it, wouldn't he feel sad?

A wonderful opportunity to make business instead of he slept through that time. Instead of going to the place of the market at nine o 'clock when the auction was going, he wasn't there and he lost a wonderful opportunity and lost millions of rupees.

He'd feel sad. But that's how it was with Jesus. Here's an opportunity for me to deny my will. I want to take it. That's the business Jesus was in. Another opportunity to say no to my own will, to die to myself.

Oh, I missed it. He never missed it. Have you missed it sometimes? Somebody gets angry with you and yells at you and you have an opportunity to die and not only keep quiet, but love that person. You know, in Proverbs it says, it doesn't say keeping quiet will turn away anger.

A gentle answer will turn away anger. Remember that. When somebody's angry with you and you keep quiet, that's not the highest. It's good. But that person may think that you're just holding the anger within.