Jesus Gave All to His Father — Zac Poonen

Holiness Requires Humility and Brokenness

The more and more I have observed Christians, even those who have pursued holiness, I have come to one conclusion after 50 years of observation. One of the things I said was yesterday that holiness without brokenness is an illusion.

The primary mark of holiness is humility. I don't care how gifted a man is, how apparently holy he is, how passionate he is for evangelism. If he is not a humble person, if he doesn't have the spirit of humility and the spirit of a servant, my respect for him is zero, not even one out of hundred, zero.

I don't care how gifted a speaker he is, I don't care how passionate he is for evangelism, I don't care how big a church he has, I don't care how many thousands of co-workers he has, my respect for him is zero.

I mean, you have your choice, you don't have to follow me, but I have found that that has protected me from respecting the wrong people and wasting my time listening to people who cannot help me. Because, you know, there are so many voices in Christendom today.

And especially in the days of the internet, there are thousands of voices, you can spend your time listening to them and never make any progress in your Christian life. I have come to be very selective in what I read and what I hear, because there is very little of godliness on earth today.

And there are very few people who are really walking the way the apostles walked, of planting churches according to the pattern we find in the New Testament and seeking to encourage people to walk as Jesus walked, who have their attitude to money that Jesus had and the apostles had very, very rare.

There are a lot of people who have the right doctrine, a lot of people who get attached to CFC. I'm not impressed by all of them, I'll tell you honestly. It's godliness, it's godliness. And we work with so many people, Paul had many co-workers, but he didn't respect all of them.

I have many co-workers, I'm sorry, I don't respect all of them. Paul said about his co-workers, there's only one among all my co-workers whom I have real confidence in, that is Timothy. He doesn't seek his own.

He is concerned about the things of Christ. Let's turn to that verse. It's a very challenging verse, it's challenged me for many, many years myself. Philippians in Chapter 2. We saw it yesterday, how the apostle Paul told us to look at the attitude Jesus had, who humbled himself and became a servant, and who did not seek his own.

If he sought his own, he would have never left heaven. He left heaven because he wanted others to have what he had, and he was willing to pay any price that others may have what he had. That's the meaning of Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

Counting the Cost of Building the Church

Many of you who are sitting here, elders and others, who are very eager to build a church in your locality, let me ask you a plain, straight question. Are you willing to pay any price to build a church?

Whatever God asks of you, I mean only if God asks of you, supposing God were to tell you, sell all that you have and give to the poor and come and follow me, would you do it? Is there a limit to how much you'll obey God, thus far and no further?

That's why you find in your life also God also says to you, thus far and no further, I won't lead you any further. Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying you've got to sell all that you have. I haven't sold all that I have.

Many years ago once I did it when God told me to do it. But not today. But my point is, is there anything that God, that some area in your life where you will not obey if God tells you to do it? Philippians 2, Jesus was willing to give up everything to build a church.

We want to build a church not paying the price that Jesus paid. And we find we have all types of problems in our church. Naturally, Christ gave himself totally. He gave up everything because he loved the Father so much.

And when Paul was concerned about the church in Philippi, to which he was writing and he says, I want to send somebody to encourage you fellows to build you up. He looks around at all his co-workers.

He's not looking around at believers in the church. He's looking at his co-workers whom can I send to help these people. And he says in chapter 2 verse 19, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly so that I may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.

Now Timothy was not the oldest of Paul's co-workers. He was much younger than Paul. And there were other co-workers of Paul who were much older than Timothy. Why didn't Paul send one of his more senior older co-workers?

He says because I don't have anybody else. Listen to that word. I don't have a single one of my co-workers who's got the spirit of Timothy. First of all, he will genuinely be concerned about your welfare.

Willing to deny himself any extent to seek your good. And secondly, he seeks the interests of Christ. All of them, they all seek after their own interests. They will serve the Lord when it's convenient.

They will serve the Lord if it does not disturb their own plans. They will serve the Lord after they have made their own plans for themselves and as an extra serve the Lord. And they don't seek the plans of Christ Jesus.

They don't seek the things of Christ. This is a law of God that he gives in the measure in which we have given. That's a law. We need to understand God's laws here. See what Jesus said in Luke chapter 6.

In Luke chapter 6 he said, verse 38. Give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. And here's the law. By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.

And if you're only getting a teaspoon of grace from God, the probability is that you only give a teaspoon of your life to God. The best part of your life you keep for other purposes. You got your own plans and you're not committed totally to God's work.

Seeking God's Kingdom Above Secular Ambition

See many people, their secular job is more important to them than the work of God. So they will take very active part in a particular church in one place. But when they find better prospects somewhere else for a secular job or they get transferred, they ditch everything and go there.

And say, okay, I can do something for the Lord there. Not because the Lord led them there, because there are more prospects for money and job and promotion there. I believe God will use them. He'll use them with a teaspoon of grace.

I'm not saying God gives them leprosy or sends them to hell. But they'll be tremendous. They'll accomplish 1 of what God wanted to accomplish through them in their lives. And they'll discover it when they go and stand before the Lord in eternity.

And they look at another person who sacrifices everything secular, who will refuse a promotion because he's committed to a church here, who will not go there even though he can get five times the salary there because he's committed to a church here.

And I'll see that God honors him. Are you like that? Paul's co-workers, I mean I was challenged when I read that passage. Paul's co-workers were seeking their own. I mean if you got into Paul's team, that itself would have made you feel, boy, I'm somebody.

Paul selected me. He didn't select everybody. He once said, John Mark is not fit to be in my team. I don't want him. It was a tremendous honor if Paul selected you to be on his team. And then in his team, some people who started out very well, over a period of time, they began to seek their own.

And everything was according to their convenience. God's work was not first. Their own secular job was first. I'm not saying God will not use you. He'll use you about 1 of what he could have used you if his work was supreme.

I don't know whether you see the insult there is when we treat God like that. Supposing you invite a guest to your house and say, come for a cup of tea. And you have only one cup there. And that's for me.

And I drink up 80 of that cup and give my guests what's left in that cup. Here's something for you. I invited you for tea, right? You wouldn't do that to a beggar. But we do it to God. Many believers that I know do it to God.

Their own work and interest and life and family is number one. 80 -90 is drunk. We give the dregs, 10 to God. I'd like to do something for you, Lord. You died for me. Can I do something for you? Here are the dregs of my life.

I've made my own plans. I've got a lot of things to do. But here are the dregs of my life. Dregs of my time. Dregs of my energy. Do you ever think that God would use you in the same measure as another man who's given 100 to God?

No. You will excuse yourself saying, ah, but he's got a gift God's given him. God would have given it to you, but he doesn't give it to you because he gives according to the measure in which you give.

We try and excuse ourselves saying, oh, God hasn't given me that gift. Why didn't he give it to you? Because you gave a teaspoon to him, he gave a teaspoon to you. In the same measure in which you give, you will get.

It's a law. You need to understand God's ways. There's no partiality with God. If you're totally committed, he'll be totally committed to you. Look at the example of Jesus. John 17. This has been a great verse for me.

Jesus' Total Surrender to the Father

It was a secret of Jesus' life. Why the father would commit himself so totally to him. John 17 and verse 10. In his prayer to the father he said, all things that are mine are yours. And therefore, all things that are yours are mine.

Every single thing in Jesus' life, his time, his energy, his health, his money, his everything, his relationships was God's. He was willing to turn around to his own mother and say, don't interfere with my ministry.

How many of you will turn around to your mother and father and say, don't interfere with my ministry. He said that to his mother. In John chapter 2. Oh, we want to please people. Well, no wonder you get only a teaspoon from God.

For Jesus, his father was everything. All that I have. I don't care whom I offend. All that I have, father, is yours. And the father said, really? Well, in that case, all that I have is yours too. Do you think that God did more for Jesus than he would do for us?

Supposing you go to God, any one of us, I don't care who you are, sister, young person, 15-year-old boy like Sadhu Sundar Singh who saw a vision of Jesus when he was 15. Are you older than 15? Sadhu Sundar Singh was younger than you when he saw a vision of Jesus and changed his religion and became a totally committed Christian and is today, up till today, the most outstanding Christian that India has ever seen.

He started at 15. He's been a tremendous challenge to me. Right from my earliest Christian life, he was totally committed. Will God do the same for you? Yes, he'll do it for anyone. But his laws are, in the same measure you give, you will get.

I'll tell you honestly, my brothers and sisters, if you ask God to give you light, you will see in so many areas, we are so stingy. We are tight-fisted. And that's why we don't get much from God. We pray, we pray, we come for meetings, we come for conferences, and we still live the same up and down, up and down life and sometimes go lower and lower.

It's not God's will. We need to understand God's ways in the measure in which you give, you will receive. As I said, one of the great things I've discovered through the years is that those who have really seen one truth, one truth, that Jesus became a man just like us and was tempted exactly like you and me, did not have any resources other than the Holy Spirit which he offers us, and overcame sin.

Christ in the Flesh and the Secret of Godliness

Those who believe it thoroughly in their heart, their lives are changed, their ministry is changed. Yesterday you heard Brother Setu in the afternoon, one of the finest elders we have in Tamil Nadu. Why does he have such a ministry that blesses people?

Do you hear what he said yesterday? He has seen that Jesus came in the flesh and was tempted like us and overcame. I mean, you can put that as one of the truths you know. Yeah, that's truth number 45.

I also know that. But for people like him, it was everything. For people like me, it's everything. It's not truth number 45. It's not even truth number 2. It's everything. Jesus came in the flesh, was tempted like me, did not sin, and therefore has opened a new and living way for me to walk in his footsteps, to serve like he served, to have a fire in my heart even if I am a hundred years old, like he had till the end of his life that will never decrease, never go down.

It will get more and more. It can be for anyone if you have seen it. If that is not truth number 45 or truth number 2 for you, but you have seen it and been gripped by it. Not as a doctrine, but something you have seen in Revelation.

The person of Jesus, not the doctrine. I know many people who also preach that Christ came in the flesh, but it's a doctrine. And they are some of the biggest legalists and worldly people I have ever seen in my life.

But they preach that doctrine. Carnal, proud Pharisees. But that's because they haven't seen Jesus. They have seen the doctrine of Christ coming in the flesh. We have got people like that some in our midst too, who have seen the doctrine of Christ coming in the flesh, but they haven't seen Christ himself.

What is the secret of godliness? Let me tell you about a mistake I made when I read the scriptures. When I first understood this truth. 1 Timothy and chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3 says, the church of God, verse 15.

Paul is writing to Timothy and says, in case I am delayed in coming, I am writing so that you will know how you must conduct yourself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God. The church of the living God is called here the family of God.

The church was meant to be a family, not an institution. And this church is the pillar and support of the truth. Do you remember when Samson pushed down the pillars? The whole building collapsed. The church is to be a pillar and support of the truth.

Which truth? Here it is. The mystery of godliness, verse 16. That Jesus was revealed in the flesh and was pure in his spirit. He did not sin in his spirit. His spirit was righteous and even angels saw that.

That is what we proclaim in the world. The secret of godliness, the way to live a godly life, the living Bible paraphrases it like this, the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. We all know that.

To live even one day without having dirty thoughts, to live even one day without speaking a rude word, to overcome anger 24 hours a day, to never rejoice in the Lord all the time, to love righteousness and hate iniquity 24 hours a day, that's not an easy thing.

The way to live a godly life is not an easy matter it says there, but the secret is here. The answer lies here in seeing that Jesus came in the flesh, not in the doctrine. This is the mistake I made. When I first read this verse, I said, ah this is the doctrine and I spent a lot of time writing articles trying to explain to people this doctrine that Jesus came in the flesh and I found people who are carnal.

I met other people who preach Jesus came in the flesh. They were carnal, worldly, legalistic, hard-hearted, evil. And I saw you can even hold this doctrine and be a Pharisee who can go to hell. And then I saw years later that it was not the doctrine.

The secret of godliness was not in the doctrine of Christ coming in the flesh, but in the person of Christ. Ah, what a world of difference that is. The word was made flesh, not the word was made ink, printing ink.

For some people, the word has become printing ink, a doctrine. They study the Bible. The word was made flesh, brother, not the word was made printing ink. The word was made flesh and we see it in Jesus, not in a doctrine.

The Bible was given to us to help us to see Jesus, not to get a doctrine. I told you how great movements have floundered and gone astray because the founder knew god. The followers know the doctrine. There's a world of difference when you see Jesus come in the flesh and when you know the doctrine of Jesus come in the flesh.

The difference is between heaven and hell. Many of us may think we have understood the doctrine of Christ coming in the flesh. It hasn't made you holy, right? But when you see Jesus himself, when the Holy Spirit shows you the glory of Jesus, then you will come into a godly life.

That is the secret of godliness and that is the truth which the church must be a pillar and support of. Your church will never be the church of the living God till it becomes a pillar and support of this truth.

If it is a pillar and support of the doctrine, it will not be the church of the living God. As I said, I've seen numerous churches that preach this doctrine. It's not the church of the living God. And I've seen people who believe this doctrine.

I have no respect for them. Zero. But I've seen people who've seen Jesus who may not be able to explain this doctrine as well as others. But they've seen that Jesus came like us and I've seen their lives.

It's something like saying a doctor may be able to explain the digestive system perfectly but his own digestive system may not be working. But he explains it perfectly. Another person who cannot explain how the digestive system works because he's not a doctor, his digestive system may be working perfectly.

Do you think you've become holy because you've understood the doctrine perfectly? Is a doctor healthy because he can explain every part of the human anatomy and physiology perfectly? No. That's one of the deceptions that some of us get into.

That because I can explain a doctrine clearly and I understand it clearly therefore I have it. No. As I said, a doctor can explain everything about the human body but he may be sick. He may have cancer.

He can explain all about cancer and get cancer himself. Another person may not be able to explain but he has life. What do you look for? There were two options that Adam had. Knowledge or life in the Garden of Eden.

And Adam went for knowledge. And I fear that many of us who go for conferences and listen to messages are going for knowledge not for life. And that knowledge brings death. Even the knowledge of good and evil brings death.

The knowledge of Christ manifest in the flesh brings death. I've seen it. I've seen it in hundreds of people. But when you go to life and say Lord I want to see you Jesus himself even if I can't explain the doctrine I have life.

Jesus as the Firstborn Among Many Brothers

And then when I look at Jesus I see that there's no partiality with God because Jesus was the elder son. As you've heard me say this before that before Jesus came to earth he was called the only begotten son.

It's very important that many of you who come newly to our churches understand this. Jesus was called the only begotten son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son John 3 .16 but after his resurrection he is not the only begotten son.

He's always called the first born. When does an only begotten become a first born? If you have only one son you'll call him my only begotten son. Begotten just means I gave birth. But when does your first son become first born?

When you have another child. Then you say this is my first born son. But you can't say no you're saying he's the first born if you don't have any other children. Right up until the time Jesus was raised from the dead there was only one God had only one son Jesus.

But once Jesus rose from the dead the same day that he rose from the dead he used a title for God which he never used at any other time. He told Mary Magdalene in John chapter 20 and verse 17 in the middle of that verse go to my brothers and say to them I ascend to my father and your father.

A title of God that he never used before. Many times he would say my father. You read that in the gospels numerous times. Many times he would look at his disciples and say your father. But never did he combine the two and say my father and your father in one sentence.

This is the first time. Why? This is the first time he referred to his disciples as my brothers. Earlier on he said yeah these are my brothers who hear the word of God and do it. But now he specifically calls his disciples my brothers.

Do you know what he told them three days earlier? You read that in John 15 he said till now I've called you servants. Now I call you my friends. Servants? Now you've become friends? Three days after the resurrection he calls them brothers.

Did you see the difference? If you don't know that verse turn back to it. John chapter 15 verse 14 and 15. You are my friends. You're not my brothers. You're my friends. I will not call you servants anymore but I call you friends.

That was just the night before his crucifixion. But after his resurrection what does he say in John chapter 20 verse 17 my brothers. Now I want you to see this. You start as my servants, my friends, my brothers.

I don't think we've understood that. You know we have great respect for somebody we say he's a servant of God. And what are you brother? I'm only a son of God. You know if I were to introduce you, supposing you came to my home and said this is my son and this is my servant.

Oh this is your servant. Oh great. Great to meet your servant. Oh this is your son. We'll worry about him later. You see what the devil has done? He's made believers crazy. Servant of God is greater than son of God.

How did the devil accomplish this in so many believers who are intelligent PhDs intelligent enough to get good jobs in the world because this comes by revelation of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that to be a daughter of God is greater than to be a servant of God?

I mean a daughter can also serve a son can also serve. We haven't understood this because we haven't seen that Jesus became our elder brother. My feeling is at least 75 of you haven't seen that Jesus has become your elder brother and that's your fundamental problem.

You haven't seen that Jesus came in the flesh. Maybe you understood the doctrine. If you understood the doctrine you'd have come to a godly life. You wouldn't be living this up and down life that you've been living for so many years.

You wouldn't be going from conference to conference. Up in a conference and down in the dumps after that. Up again in the next conference. That's not the way God wants us to live. That's the result of living by a doctrine.

Conformity to Christ as God's Purpose

When you see Jesus life changes completely. I'll tell you that. See Romans chapter 8 verse 28. A well known verse. God makes everything to work for good to those who love him. To those who are called according to his purpose.

That's a verse we all like to understand. But we don't understand what that good is. God makes everything to work for my good means what? You go for an interview for a job and you lose it. You don't get the interview.

You say well God will give me a job with a higher salary. Not necessarily. He may give you a job with a lower salary. You wanted to marry a pretty girl. You thought it was God's will but she went and married somebody else.

Ah. God will make everything work for my good. He'll give me a prettier girl. No. He may give you an uglier one. Because that's not the good he's after. Good is not giving you pretty girls to marry and higher salary jobs.

We haven't understood it. You tried to buy a house. It didn't work. Ah. Maybe God will give me a better house. No. He'll give you a smaller one. Do you understand what good is? The good is mentioned in the next verse.

The good is to be conformed to the image of his son. And if you can be conformed to the image of his son by marrying an uglier girl, he'll give that to you. If you can be conformed to the image of his son by getting a smaller house and a lower paying job, he'll give that to you.

Because he's not interested in giving you earthly good. He's giving you interest in giving you eternal good which will last for all eternity. And you will understand its value only when you get into eternity.

But the man who's long-sighted says, Lord, that's what I'm looking for. God. Now read verse 28 and 29 together. God makes everything for good to those who are called according to his purpose. His purpose is what?

That's described in the next verse. To be conformed to the image of his son so that his son might no longer be the only begotten but the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. That's God's purpose.

That everything, I believe this with all my heart, that every single thing that people do to me, harm they try to do to me, take me to court or harm me, spread stories, scandals about me, tell lies about me, it will make me more like Jesus.

And it has. And it'll continue to be so. No human being, no demon can ever do anything to me. I challenge them to do something that will not make me more like Jesus. Because I have a Father in Heaven who will never allow me to be tested beyond my ability, who will never allow anything to come into my life, because I love him.

I have only one purpose in life. My purpose in life is not to make money or to become a great preacher. My purpose in life is to become like Jesus Christ. And therefore my Father in Heaven will make every single thing that anybody ever tries to do, good or bad, will serve only his purpose for my life to make me like Jesus.

That's why my life is at rest. That's why I don't get into a panic if somebody does something or doesn't do something, somebody forgot to do something, well that's fine. God has got amazing plans in every little thing to make us a blessing to others if we stop complaining and grumbling.

In everything there is a purpose. Never, never grumble. Say, Lord, you're in it to make me like Jesus and making me like Jesus just doesn't mean my character, it means making me like Jesus in my ministry so that I can serve others and be Christ to other people.

I remember years ago when I was working in the Navy and you know the ship was to be anchored out in the middle of the sea and then we had to get into a little boat and go to the shore whenever we went out in the evening.

And the boat would come sort of every one hour or two hours. So I remember once we had to rush back at a particular time to get the boat to go back to the ship at night. And as I came to the jetty to take my boat, I found the boat had already gone.

And next boat, I don't know, maybe one or two hours. I said, well, praise the Lord, I was a believer already. Must be some wonderful purpose why I'm here. And there was a person there on my ship waiting for the boat to, who had missed the boat, just he and me.

And he came to Christ at that jetty. Was that worth it? I'd be willing to wait two years for a boat if I can bring somebody to Christ. Where's two hours? I've seen examples like that. I remember when I went to Bahrain first, some years ago.

It was mainly to meet one brother. I sometimes travel to a country to meet one brother. I did that once when I went to Perth. I went to Bahrain to meet one brother from our church who was there. I'd been, I was already in Dubai and I thought I might as well go across and meet him.

And from there I had to go to Doha. But when I was in Bahrain, the folks in Doha told me, we're in the midst of holidays and they won't give us the visa for the next four days. It's all holidays all over the Arabian Gulf.

It disrupted all my plans. I was stuck in Bahrain for four days. Well, I said these are holidays in Bahrain too. Let's have some meetings. So we had some meetings and in those four days a church was born there that's flourishing today.

Does God make a mistake? No. If I had sat there grumbling and complaining and murmuring, I would have not at all been in a good spirit to have any meetings. This happened to me numerous times. God makes everything work for good.

Every single thing. If you miss a bus, miss a train, miss this, that, don't complain brother. God is in the business of making you like Jesus in your character and in your ministry. I could tell you numerous stories like that.

Impartiality and God's Care for His Children

But here we see that Jesus is called the firstborn, the eldest among many brothers. That's what I wanted to point out to you. And I've often said I have four sons and I have tried my best to be like God to them which means total impartiality.

All are the same. No one is a preference for me. I'm sorry for many Indian fathers and mothers have got preferences among their children. That is because they are ungodly. I'll tell you this. If you have children and you have some preferences among them, I'll tell you to your face, you're an ungodly person.

With God there is no partiality. And I wanted to be like God. Some Indian parents love one boy and they don't love the girls or one girl they love that one and don't love the others. Or one is more intelligent, they love him.

Or one is more handsome or good looking, they love. This is all ungodly. With God there is no partiality. And from that I learned a great truth. That if I not at all a good father, could be completely impartial to all my children, that whatever I did for my eldest son I would do for all my other sons God will be much better than me.

Whatever he did for his eldest son, he will do for me, his younger brother. If God doesn't do that then I have to say, God I'm a better father than you. Is that possible? Do you believe Brother Zach is a better father than Almighty God?

I can honestly say anything I did for my first son I did for all the other three. Now do you believe that Almighty God is a better father? Whatever he did for his eldest son he will do for you if you are a younger brother or sister of Jesus.

That's what gave me faith. Oh Father what you did for Jesus you'll do for me. It changed my life when I understood this more than 30 years ago. That's when I wrote that song, what he did for Jesus he will do for you.

As he cared for Jesus he will care for you. What rest it brought into my life when I saw that Jesus was just like me. He became my older brother and God is my father and he is his father and my father and he is my elder brother and the way you know how when the soldiers came to kill the baby in Bethlehem how the father cared for Jesus.

And took him away just in time before the soldiers came. I've experienced that.

Too. Where people wanted to trouble me and God took me away from my home the night before they came. I could tell you many stories like this. He cared for me as he cares for Jesus. How when he was in the middle of a lake there was this storm the father cared for Jesus.

Once 200 people in a synagogue caught him. Imagine 200 people catching hold of one man, took him to the top of a cliff in Nazareth. You read in Luke chapter 4 to throw him down and kill him. The father cared for him and quietly he walked away from there.

How can you walk away when 200 people have ganged up to catch you and kill you? I've often thought about that. How did he do it? It wasn't a miracle that like Philip was once caught up by the hair that Jesus was caught up and taken away.

The father didn't do it. It says he just quietly walked away. How can you quietly walk away when 200 people have grabbed you and taken you to the top of a cliff to throw you down? I have a feeling you know like human beings are they argue about silly things and God allowed an argument to come up among these 200 people.

Which cliff shall we throw him over? This one or that one or that one? And they were discussing for a long time. You know when people get into a discussion like that it takes about half an hour before they decide which cliff to throw them.