He Pleased the Father for 33 Years — Zac Poonen

I'm glad to be back and I want to rejoice with all of you that the Lord has led us through these 33 years and it's been a very wonderful journey for those who knew how we started and where we are today.

Looking Back With Thanksgiving and Forward With Hope

And at every point in our life it's good for us to do two things, look back to the past and look forward to the future because at every point in our life there is a past and a future. So when we look back there is so much to thank the Lord for, for his mercy and forgiveness and grace and help and goodness and many things.

It's only thanksgiving. Certainly we can say that. No complaints. He has done, like scripture says, exceeding abundantly above all that we have asked or thought or imagined. There are very, very few here who were here when we first started meeting 33 years ago.

And I don't even remember, we were probably about 10 people or so and the Lord has now increased our numbers by, I don't want to count, I don't even know, I never count, but it's in great numbers and the influence has spread to many places.

And it's only thanksgiving that we can think of as we look back. And the other thing for those who were there from the beginning would recognize is that this has been entirely God's work. No man could have, no man or group of men could have done what the Lord has done for us.

And since we all know that Jesus lived on earth also for 33 years, now all of you haven't been in the church for 33 years, but some of us have been and some of us have been involved in the ministry for 33 years.

So, you know, what I do in everything in life, we are to run the race looking at Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's a wonderful truth about the new covenant that God has opened our eyes to in these 33 years.

Jesus as the Better Example of Faith

And let me repeat it. In Hebrews chapter 11, we read about great men of faith in the Old Testament who accomplished amazing things, starting with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and many others, Moses, Joshua, Daniel.

Now, we haven't done some of these wonderful external miracles that these men experience. None of us got a baby like Abraham. He's 100 years old and none of us are 100 years old. And none of us have built an ark single-handed just with our family to save the world like Noah did.

None of us have been thrown into a den of lions and seen the lions shut their mouth like Daniel. We have not split open any Red Sea like Moses. We have not pulled down any walls of Jericho like Joshua.

These great men of faith did amazing things. It says they even raised the dead in Hebrews 11 and verse 35. But what many Christians, and I tell you, my experience is that more than 90 or 95 percent of Christendom that I have come across don't have a clue, don't have a clue that these people are not our examples.

We can learn things from them, sure. You can learn things from some non-Christian person who works in your office. So I'm not saying we can't learn anything from them. We can learn a lot of things from the lives of David and Moses, and I certainly do.

But what we need to recognize is at the end of this wonderful chapter, it says in verse 40, God has provided something better for us. What is better than splitting the Red Sea? What is better than getting manna from heaven for 40 years?

What is better than pulling down the walls of Jericho? What is better than shutting the mouths of lions? And what is better than, verse 35, the resurrection from the dead? People think that's a great thing.

Here it says something better than the resurrection from the dead. There are many people who claim to be raising people from the dead. It's all humbug. I believe God can raise the dead, sure, but a lot of these people who claim about it and broadcast it all over the world don't believe all those lies.

God has provided something better, something better than resurrection from the dead, and all these other things listed in Hebrews 11. That's the last verse of chapter 11. And then he tells us what is the better thing that God has provided.

He has given us an example to follow, and that's not Abraham, that's not David, that's not Elijah. It's not even these people who raised the dead. It is Jesus, chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. Jesus. So, you know, this chapter really, these four verses, should really be the end of chapter 11.

By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, all the way down, all the way down to the last, and then it says, by faith Jesus. That's the last one. What did he do? Because it says he is the author of our faith.

Verse 2, the author of my faith is not Abraham. That's why I won't tell lies like Abraham to save my life. He told a lie saying his wife was his sister. That's why I won't get angry like Moses and throw the tablets down.

That's why I won't sit under a juniper tree depressed like Elijah, because he's not the author of my faith. That's why I won't fall into adultery like David, because he's not the author of my faith. That's okay for all these preachers who follow these old covenant examples.

God has provided something better for us. Many people, their book of Hebrews finishes in chapter 11, verse 39. That's it. Not for me and not for many of us. We see verse 40, God has provided something better for us.

It's not just some doctrine that we must know the new covenant. It's something we have to manifest. Jesus didn't talk about new covenant. He manifested it. The glory of God was seen in Jesus Christ, not full of teaching, but full of grace and truth.

It was a life. Moses brought the law, but Jesus brought a life. Preachers can preach, but Jesus demonstrated a life and it's a demonstration that is the primary thing in the new covenant. So Jesus is the author of our faith, of my faith.

I want him to write his faith in me. Author means what? That means he writes. The author of my faith means he writes his faith in me. Like Paul said, I live by the faith, not my faith. I live by the faith of the son of God.

He said in Galatians 2 .20. What about your own Paul? Well, I'm crucified with Christ. I'm dead. My faith is useless, but I live by the faith of the son of God. That which he wrote into my heart. I want to ask you whether Jesus has written his faith in your heart.

That's the only real faith there is in the world today, when so many Christians are talking about some other type of counterfeit faith. And what did this Jesus do by faith? Did he split open any Red Sea?

He did some amazing miracles. He fed 5 ,000 and five loaves and two fishes. He walked on the water. He raised a man who was dead for three days, but none of those things are mentioned here. He turned the water into wine.

It's not mentioned here. What is mentioned here? He doesn't say the author of our faith who turned water into wine. The author of our faith who endured the cross. Who took up the cross every day of his life.

Taking Up the Cross and Doing the Father's Will

Meaning? That's another thing most people don't understand what the cross is. Let me put it to you very simply, in a picturesque way, so you can understand. Where my will crosses God's will. That's where I face the cross.

Where I have to die to my will and do God's will. Jesus said we got to do that every day. Every day he said take up your cross and follow me. Because he took up the cross every day for 33 years. So when we come to the end of 33 years, one of the first things we have to ask ourselves is, have we taken up the cross for 33 years?

Like Jesus did for all those 33 years faithfully. In other words, he never once did his own will in 33 years. That was the greatest feat and accomplishment of Jesus' life. And that is the faith I want written in my heart.

Because I will discover when I get into eternity, that that is the greatest thing that any man can do on this earth. To do the will of God. He who does the will of God will remain forever. It says in 1 John chapter 2 verse 16 and 17.

This world will pass away. Everything but he who does the will of God will remain forever. When Jesus summed up his own life on earth 33 years, he said in John 6 38. I came from heaven to earth for 33 years not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

That's how he summed up his life. How shall we sum up our life? Lord we have reached so many people with the internet. We built a big hall here. We have more people meeting here than no. Those things impress men.

We have reached out here. We reached out there. Jesus said in 33 years I never did my own will because man was created to please God. They sing in heaven in Revelation chapter 4. Thou art worthy O Lord for thou has created all things and all things were created for thy pleasure.

Says in the last verse of Revelation 4 to please God. That's the reason why we were created. And there was one man who walked on this earth for 33 years and every day he pleased his father. He didn't raise the dead every day.

He didn't do miracles every day. In fact for 90 percent of his life he never did any miracles but he pleased the father. You don't have to do miracles to please the father. In fact for 30 years he never preached a sermon, never cast out a demon, never did a miracle and the father said at his baptism this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Isn't that a great encouragement for those who don't have the gift of healing and the gift of miracles and don't have the gift of preaching? Maybe you don't have those gifts but can't you please the father in your daily life?

Is there anything that hinders you from saying father in this situation where somebody is provoking me and I'm tempted to do something I will not do it because I don't want to do my will. I want your will to be done.

I want to die on the cross. Who is there who can say I can't do that? Say you don't want to do that. That's another thing but no one can say I can't do that. You may say I can't preach like someone, I can't sing like I can't play any instruments.

Maybe you can say I don't even have money to give for God's work. That's fine. God doesn't ask for any of those things. He asks for the one thing which most preachers never preach. He asks you to deny your own will every day and do the will of your heavenly father for that is what Jesus did for 33 years.

He raised the man who was dead for three days once. That's it. He turned water into wine once but he did the will of his father every day. So as I seek to evaluate my life that's what I want to see. Many many years ago the Lord said to me don't ever ever evaluate your life by your ministry.

Sermons you preach or people you reach out to it means nothing. That's a gift and those who evaluate their life by their accomplishments and their gifts will definitely go astray or be puffed up with pride and God becomes their enemy.

Evaluating Life by Love and Service Rather Than Accomplishment

Jesus went about doing good it says when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Acts 10 30 and the Lord said to me evaluate your life by how much good you have done to others. How many have you delivered people who are oppressed by the devil.

That's what he did. All of us can do that. Do you know with a word of encouragement that you give to your husband and wife or wife at home you don't have to be a great preacher. You can deliver them from the oppression of the devil.

You think Christians are not oppressed but Christians can't be possessed by demons but they are certainly oppressed many of them and you can have a word of encouragement instead of criticizing them and finding fault with them.

You can deliver them just like Jesus from that oppression. Try it. Try speaking a word of encouragement to your oppressed wife and see if she doesn't get delivered or to your husband who's under pressure and see if he doesn't get delivered.

You can do it. You don't have to be a great preacher. Looking unto Jesus who never did his own will endured the cross. Now the other thing I want to say here is it never says in the Bible that Jesus enjoyed the cross.

Neither are we supposed to enjoy the cross. Oh I like it when people crucify me. I don't like it I'll tell you. Neither did Jesus but he took it whether he liked it or not. People ask me do you enjoy reading the Bible.

I say it's not a question of enjoyment. I do it because it's the right thing to do. Do some of you folks enjoy going to work when it's raining and you got a headache in the morning. You still go. Why?

Because you got to feed your children. You go to work whether you enjoy it or not because it needs to be done. Those who say well I'll do things when I feel like it. I tell you most of the most days you won't go to work and they'll just sack you.

You see a Christian doesn't do things just because he enjoys. The joy comes because his joy is in the Lord. Jesus endured the cross. The joy was set before him it says. If I go this way the joy set before him.

What was the joy set before Jesus? For many people today when they obey God the joy set before them is that God will reward them. You know a lot of preachers preaching this today. Come and give you a tithe to my ministry.

Look at this guy who gave a tithe and God gave him a car. And so they give that tithe for what? What is the joy set before him? Some earthly thing that will perish in a few years. You think that was you think Jesus was doing things to please the father to get to get a house or a chariot or something like that.

Looking unto Jesus I tell you that is the greatest need of the hour. You'll never go wrong if you understand this verse. Looking unto Jesus Philippians 2 verse 5 says let this attitude be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

You take that one verse that's enough. It's the same thing here looking unto Jesus who for the joy set before him. The joy set before him was one thing that he could please the father that he could have fellowship with his father.

Is that the joy you're looking for? I tell you you can have it all the time if you take up the cross. Taking up the cross is not a miserable heavy gloomy little thing. I've seen people who are miserable and gloomy.

They are the ones who don't take up the cross. They are the most miserable gloomy people I've met on the face of the earth. Those who don't take up the cross. The ones who do take up the cross are the ones who are the happiest people on the face of the earth.

So I want you to think about that. You want to be happy? You want to rejoice in the Lord all the time? Then take up the cross. Deny yourself and say no to your own will every day from now on. As we look back in the past and we say Lord we have failed in so many areas.

That's where we can look to the future and say well Lord I want to learn something for the future. A wise man learns from his past failures and from the failures of others so that he doesn't repeat them in the future.

So that's what we can think of as we complete 33 years. Compare ourselves with Jesus. We're supposed to look at him. See how he endured the cross. The only joy he longed for was fellowship with the Father.

Is that the only joy we long for? Good question to ask ourselves. And he despised the shame. Do you know that Jesus was made fun of, ridiculed, mocked and he said the disciple is not greater than his master.

He said if they call me the prince of devils what do you think they'll call you? I want to ask you brothers and sisters as somebody called you a bad name because you stood up for the Lord. As somebody told stories, false stories about you not because of something foolish you did but because you stood up for the Lord.

Have you lost a promotion or an increment because you stood up for the Lord? Have you lost a job because you stood up for the Lord? Well you're blessed. I would not want to leave this earth without suffering all these things for Christ.

They're not going to suffer it in heaven. All my shouting in heaven Lord I love you I love you will sound empty if I was ashamed to stand up for him on this earth in my place of work with my relatives.

That's something we can evaluate ourselves in 33 years. Jesus said if you follow me your own relatives will be your enemies. Have you experienced that? I'm not saying you're making your relatives your enemies because you fight with them for property or some foolish thing like that no or because you do something stupid.

Because you're following Jesus, man's enemies will be those of his own family. If you have not experienced that you must be better than Jesus. He's the master. You're not following him. You're going in some other direction.

It's good to evaluate ourselves at the end of 33 years. Not in terms of how much we have reached out or our numbers have increased as I said. None of these things. We can have a carnal glory in this. The world is full of people who glory in their statistics.

Oh so many people so much outreach so much money so much this that and the other. What could Jesus say at the end of his life? 11 people and they also ran away at the last minute. The only thing he had was his clothes and that also people took off him and tore up and distributed among themselves.

His accomplishments are nothing right compared to great Christian ministries these days. What was his outreach? He traveled in a small country called Israel which is smaller than Kerala all his life. But did he have worldwide outreach or anything like that?

You know we've got to have a correct sense of values and it'll only come if you fix your eyes on Jesus. It says you're fix. NASB is very good fixing your eyes because you know like we sing that song count you know prone to wonder.

Come thou fount of every blessing. One line says prone to wonder. Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. We all know that. What a tendency that is for our eyes to leave being fixed on Jesus on to other beautiful things and people on this earth.

It's really a job. We need the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to fix our eyes on Jesus. But I'll tell you that's the man who can come to the end of his life and have no regret. That he looked at Jesus and compared himself all the time with him.

Humility, Grace, and the Danger of Spiritual Pride

People who unconsciously gloat over their accomplishments even in Christian work. They lose the grace of God. And I have seen numerous people in my life. Once upon a time there was such an anointing upon them.

You see them years later. They are not the same. I'm not here to judge them. I'm not their judge. I just sit listening to them and say this is not the same person I knew a few years at all. He's much worse.

The anointing seems to have gone. What has happened? I know what's happened. God is the enemy of the proud. That's all. That's scripture. It's not my opinion. He gives grace to the humble. Is there any human being in the world, any Christian in the world who will humble himself and say God didn't give me grace?

Impossible. The moment you and I cease to be humble, that moment we stop getting grace from God. Now I'll tell you something. You'll never have a problem with humility. Never. You'll never have a problem with remaining humble.

You'll never have a problem with becoming proud. Never, never, never, if you fix your eyes on Jesus. It's when we fix our eyes on other people that we have problems with pride. Like I've said, the boy who got 10 in mathematics is pretty proud.

Comes home. Mommy, I came first in the class. Everybody else got 7, 6, 5, 3, 0. He got only 10%. He's proud. But the person who got 99 in another school is not proud because 25 people in his class got 100%.

You see, humility doesn't depend on how much you got or how much you accomplished. How is the person with 10 score became proud and the person 99 was humble? It's a question of who they compared themselves with.

The 10 person compared himself with all those children who got 6 and 5 and 0. He's pretty proud. Foolish pride to get 10 in mathematics and be proud of it. That's the way a lot of Christians are. They compare themselves with that other group, the other Christians, the other Christians there.

Maybe some of your unconverted relatives and say, Lord, I thank you. I'm not like other men. Become Pharisees. But the one who compares himself with Jesus who got 100 every single day, which means he never did his own will, never pleased himself.

You think such a man is ever going to have a problem with pride? Never. Even if he lives a hundred years in faithfulness, he will not have a problem with pride. I recommend that way to you, where God will never be your enemy.

Not for a single moment. I want that. I don't care if all human beings are my enemies. I mean, I believe God's brought me to such a place where it doesn't matter now to me. It wasn't like this a few years ago, but at least now I think God's given me grace to come to the place where even if 7 ,000 million people in the world turn against me and become my enemies, I say, praise the Lord.

God bless you. God's on my side. You can't fight with me, brother and sister. It is impossible. You can try. You won't succeed. That's not just for me. That's for you. That's how Jesus was. He said at the end of his life in John 16 in verse 32 to his disciples, the 11 of you, one of you just walked out to betray me.

Now 11 of you are left. All of you will also leave me, but I'm not going to be alone. I'm not going to say, oh, please, please don't leave me. No. If you want to go, you go. My father is with me. I want to tell you, my brothers and sisters, that's the only thing that will help you in the difficult days that will come for Christians in India and the world in the coming days.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And you can't develop that relationship with the father in one day. You have to be consistent. You know, just like everything, you can't learn swimming in a day.

You can't learn to drive a car in a day. It's practice, practice, practice. And you can come to the place where you really fix your eyes on Jesus and you never have a problem with pride. So as we look back over 33 years and look forward to the future, it's good to compare ourselves with Jesus and have hope that God will do something more wonderful in the days to come.

What is that? Reach more people? That is secondary. Make us more like Jesus. That's primary. And as a byproduct, as a byproduct, that life will overflow and bless whoever God chooses to bless. I'll tell you honestly, I don't have a great lust to reach all the 215 countries in the world.

No, not at all. I have a tremendous lust to do the will of God and complete it before I leave this earth, whatever it is. I once said to the Lord, I said, Lord, if you decide one day to paralyze me and make me lie in my bed and take away my voice and I can't speak anymore and I can't write anymore, it won't make the slightest difference to me.

I will just lie there and worship you and I'll be the happiest man in the world because I'm primarily a worshiper, not a preacher. That's just an overflow because I'm going to be worshiping God for all eternity.

Worship, Surrender, and the Desire for God Alone

And I've started practicing already. And worshiping God means not just singing songs, that's praising him. I'm not talking about praise. That's good. I'm talking about worship, which is very often in silence and which is mostly done alone.

My most sacred times of worship are when I'm lying in bed early in the morning or late at night or in the middle of the night. Those are the best times. The whole world is quiet. You don't disturb anybody.

You worship God. You don't make a sound. The highest form of worship is in silence. And what does it mean? It means to say, Lord, Jesus, there's nothing on earth I desire but you. There's no one on earth I desire but you.

You are enough for me. And when I leave this earth and get into eternity, you'll still be enough. I'm not interested in the golden streets or the mansions in heaven. In you, that is worship. And as long as you can say that every moment, you're a worshiper.

You're a worshiper. You're a worshiper. Be a worshiper. I want to turn to John chapter 17. Here is what Jesus says at the end of his life. Thirty-three years. I thought of this today. I say, Lord, we've finished 33 years of the church.

What did you say when you came to the end of your 33 years? You said, verse 4, John 17, 4. Father, I glorified you on earth in these 33 years, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do. What is this testimony?

I have finished the work you gave me to do. But Lord, have you traveled to China? There are needy people there. No, I haven't gone there. Have you picked up the dying people from the streets of Calcutta?

No, I haven't gone to Calcutta. I'm not saying these things are bad. What about the people dying in Africa? No, I haven't gone there. Have you at least gone to Syria, just next door to Israel? No, I haven't gone there.

What have you done? I have finished the work which my father gave me to do. Paul said at the end of his life, I finished my course. And some poor mother looking after 10 or 11 children who never left her house or a village all her life, but is faithful to Jesus, will be able to say at the end of her life, Father, I finished the work you gave me to do.

You gave me 11 children to look after. I tried my best to bring them all up in the fear of God, whether it's one child or 11. If you're a mother, what's the work God's given you to do? To bring up your child as a godly child.

That's what Timothy's mother did. Timothy's mother backslid in her early life and married a non-Jewish Greek businessman who had no interest in God. But she repented and said, okay, what I couldn't do with my life, I'll make sure my son does.

What a work she did. She finished the work God gave her to do. One son, I don't know that she had more children, but she brought up that one son so well that by the time that boy was 19 years old, the apostle Paul said, he's fit to be my co-worker.

Imagine Paul saying to you that one of your sons, 19 years old, is fit to be his co-worker. Boy, and your husband didn't help you in that job. You must be a fantastic mother. That's what Timothy's mother was.

What does it mean to finish the work God gave me to do? It doesn't mean traveling the world because God's given each of us different work. The hand never speaks one word in its entire life, but it finishes the work which the body gives it to do.

The tongue is supposed to speak, the ear never sees anything, but it finishes the work which is hearing. Each of us has got a different function. We tend to compare ourselves with those who got great ministries, but that's not it.

The work which God gave you to do, and do you know that Jesus could say that at 30 years? He could say, Father, so far I finished the work you gave me to do. But Lord, you haven't preached a sermon yet.

That's okay. You've been only making stools and benches. That's right. That's the work the Father gave me to do, and I did it for 30 years. He could say that when he was 10, obeying Joseph and Mary. Father, I finished the work you gave me to do so far.

What a wonderful testimony. Are you really seeking to fix your eyes on Jesus? I say this is what we should ask ourselves at the end of 33 years as a church. Have we finished the work that Jesus gave us to do?

Not what do other Christians think about us. I couldn't care less what other Christians think about us. So many Christian leaders have tried to put pressure on me all these 33 years. Why don't you do this?

And why don't you do that? And why don't you do this? Why don't you do this? Why don't you do more evangelism? Why don't you send missionaries to North India? I say, you can tell me all that stuff. I want to finish the work which my Father gave me to do.

Not what you guys pressurize me to do. I'm sorry. I'm not going to allow you to do that. Don't let somebody bring guilt upon your life. The ministry of condemnation, 2 Corinthians 3 says, is an old covenant ministry.

And in the olden days when we were all so legalistic ourselves, looking back 25 years or so, 20 -25 years, yeah, we had a bit of quite a bit of ministry of condemnation here too. I'm ashamed to say that.

Like Paul said, I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, but I understood grace and got out of all that legalism. Thank God for that. And I never want to go back into that pit anymore. It's as bad a pit as any dirty sexual lust, legalism.

People don't see it. There are some poisons that are sweet and some poisons that are bitter, but they both kill. So legalism and sexual lust are like that. One looks more dirty than the other, but they kill.

There is no condemnation. Whenever people try to make you feel condemned, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. Don't get condemned. Do you recognize that you are a member of the body of Jesus Christ?

If you gave your life to Christ, sometime in your life, you said, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I receive you as my Savior. You became a member of his body. Then you have a ministry, just like every part of this body has a ministry.

Every Believer's Ministry of Encouragement

And don't think your ministry is unimportant. You've heard me use the example of the nails. You'd say the nails are one of the most unimportant part of your body. But wait till you feel itchy somewhere.

You can't do anything about that part, except with your nails. And you may be one of those insignificant members in the body of Christ, like a nail. You're not even a finger. You're just a little nail.

Do you know that you can give a word of encouragement? That's what I mean by scratching. A word of encouragement that makes a person feel better. Don't you feel better after you scratch that itchy place?

You feel sort of nice. Somebody scratches your back and you say, thanks a lot. That's exactly it. Just a word of encouragement. That may be your ministry. You do it. It's the easiest thing to do. How many of you husbands encourage your wives?

When was the last time you did it? Encourage your husbands? Your children, perhaps? You correct them? Oh, yes. If I ask you, how many of you correct your children? Ah, sure. This morning. What about encouraging?

When was that? 2004. I remember once. Is that how it is? There's a ministry we can all fulfill to do good, to look at Jesus. He was a great encourager. He could look at a man who was in the military. You know, military man who's killed so many people.

Who says, Lord, please, I'm not fit for you to come to my house. Just speak the word and my servant will be healed. And Jesus says, boy, I've never seen such faith in all Israel. Do you think that Roman centurion ever forgot those words in his whole life?

You tell me, if Jesus spoke those words to you, would you forget that in your whole life? I think that Roman centurion was converted. That word was enough to convert him. Not a great sermon on repentance and faith and all that.

Just the fact this man encouraged me. There must be something about him. I don't know. I believe I'll see him in heaven, that Roman centurion. I ask him, how did you get here? Well, it was one day when Jesus said, I had more faith than everybody else.