(Clip) A Disciple of Jesus Will Put Self To Death — Zac Poonen

Four Kinds of Lovers

Four types of lovers mentioned here, lovers of self, lovers of money, and verse four, lovers of pleasure, and lovers of God. Four types of lovers, and only one of them is right. True Christian must be a lover of God, but instead of being a lover of God, he's going to be a lover of himself, his own rights, his reputation, his honor.

Offense as Evidence of Self-Love

One of the proofs of that is we get so easily offended. Only one who loves himself gets offended. One who doesn't love himself but loves God never gets offended with anything that another person says or doesn't say, with anything that another person does or doesn't do.

We get offended because we get hurt. Our self-life gets hurt by the way somebody treated us, by what we heard somebody said about us behind our back. We love ourselves so much, and who are we talking about now?

The Cross and Death to Self

Unbelievers? No. So-called believers who have never understood what it is to take up the cross and put self to death. See, because in the last days, there's going to be very little preaching about the cross, and death to self-life.

It's almost unheard of in most churches today, and never heard of in Christian television. And so, when there's no preaching against death, on death to self, self is going to flourish in the lives of many Christians.

Why Self-Love Prevents Following Jesus

They won't even know that you cannot follow Jesus if you love yourself. They'll think you can love yourself and follow Jesus. And look at the multitudes of Christians who get offended and hurt, and don't even feel that that's a terrible sin.

They say, well, somebody did that to me. I have a right to be hurt. Exactly, because you're an unbeliever. You're not a disciple of Jesus. That's why you've got a right to be hurt. If you're a disciple of Jesus, you have no right to be hurt.

Jesus' Example and the Cost of Discipleship

Jesus was never hurt. When they called him Prince of Devils, they spat on his face. They did all types of things. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? There are very, very few Christians who are going to take up the cross in the last days and follow him.

And so, it's going to be very difficult to be a true Christian, because we are surrounded by people who claim to be Christians, who claim to be filled with the Spirit, who claim to speak in tongues, etc., and who get hurt, and get offended, or are disturbed because their name was dragged in the dust.

Honoring God's Name Above Our Own

Now, Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Forget about your own name. But the last days, Christians are going to be more concerned about their name. For example, I'll tell you, do you know how much the name of Jesus is dishonored in India today?

That doesn't disturb most people who call themselves Christians. But if their name was dragged in the mud by somebody once, boy, that would really disturb them. Or if their little pretty daughter's name was dragged in the dust, boy, that would disturb them.

The Deception of Self-Love

But let the name of Jesus be dishonored throughout the country. It doesn't bother them. You think such people are disciples of Jesus? No. Far from it. But they sit in churches. They claim to be born again.

They claim to love the Lord. That is the amazing thing that devil has done, deceiving them, that they love themselves from top to bottom, head to foot, and they think they are disciples of Jesus. So, we can only warn you.

Freedom from Self-Love

Nobody can change you from being a lover of self if you don't want to be free from it yourself.