Overcoming as Jesus Did — Zac Poonen

The Need for a Distinctly Spiritual Church

If all that we believed and stood for was exactly the same as what many other churches believed and stood for, there would be no need to start another church. We might as well join one of the others. Because I do not believe in breaking up churches unless it's a matter of it being too big and breaking up her size.

But when you look at the history of Christianity through the years, you always find a church that started well over a period of time declining, decaying and then some people who are looking for life in that church pulling out and starting separately.

In the book of Revelation you read about the sad condition of some churches in chapter 2 and 3. Five out of the seven churches were in a pathetic condition and the Lord called them to repent. And if the elders, a lot depends on the leadership, the church becomes like its leader.

And if they had not repented, the group of people whom the Lord called the overcomers would not have stayed. They would have left and that would have been another church and the Lord would have been there in that small group.

And that's been the history of Christianity through the years. So, one of the things, for example, that we stand for which is different, which is in scripture, which people don't emphasize is this. Many Christian groups, you know, there are a lot of Christian groups that don't even preach about being born again.

If you are born in a Christian family, they just baptize you as a child and assume that you are a Christian. But then there are churches that say, no, you must be born again. Well, that's a little better.

But there also, I find that it's as though once you are born again, that's it. It almost doesn't matter how you live after that. They say, well, you are born again, now you are a child of God and you are going to be in eternity with God in Heaven.

So, they don't take sin seriously thereafter. And then there are other churches which go one step further and say, well, you must be not only born again, you must be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Okay, that's a little better than the first group.

But there also is that same assumption. Okay, now that you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you speak in tongues, it doesn't really matter. Everything is okay. And these groups, which started out well, emphasizing being born again or emphasizing being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

After a while, you find some people in these churches or a number of people in these churches, their quality of their life is no better than the life of a lot of people who are in churches that don't even preach any of these things.

And, I mean, you take an extreme situation like the Roman Catholic Church, which doesn't preach about being born again or baptized in the Holy Spirit. And I found some Roman Catholics who are far more godly than some of these people who seem to speak in tongues.

And that surprised me. I said, there's something wrong here. And I believe that the reason is, we have not emphasized something, they have not emphasized something the New Testament emphasizes, that the Christian life is like a race.

Running the Christian Race Toward the Finish Line

The Bible says very clearly in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, Let us run the race, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now, even if you were so good at running that you qualified to represent your country in the Olympic Games, and let's say you qualified in all the heats and came to the final of the 100 meters, you know, eight fastest men in the world, standing at the starting line of the 100 meters.

And supposing you came to the starting line, I tell you, that itself would be a great honor. I mean, if I ever came to the starting line of 100 meters in the Olympic Games, boy, I'd say I've really achieved something to even get there.

No Indian has ever got to the 100 meters final in any Olympics. But imagine after the starting gun is fired and I stand there at the starting line, people would think I'm off my head. What's wrong with me?

Did I come to the starting line just to stand there? And glory in the fact that, boy, I came to the starting line of the finals of the 100 meters in the Olympics. I know there's a great honor there, but that's not what I came there for.

I came there to run. Even if I didn't come first and get a gold medal, at least I ran. But a lot of Christians, they come to whatever they consider the starting line, whether being born again or baptized in the Holy Spirit, you see them 10 -15 years later, they are still there.

It's the height of stupidity. The Christian life is a race. Let us run the race, looking unto Jesus, who ran all the way till the end and finally reached the finishing line, which is the throne of God.

So, that's what it says in Hebrews 12, verse 1 and 2. And it says, He endured the cross, chapter 12, verse 2, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. That's the finishing line. Now, if you compare that with Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21.

In the Revelation chapter 3, verse 21, the Lord says, If you overcome, now make that personal, if you overcome, just like I overcame, then I will allow you to sit with me on my throne, just like I sat down with my father on his throne.

So, how did Jesus get to the father's throne? It was not automatically saying, Oh, you are the son of God, you can come up here anytime you like. No, it says here, I overcame. Now, the word overcoming means there's something you have fought with and won, like a wrestling match.

It's someone you've grappled with in that wrestling match and overcame and you were the victor. So, when Jesus says, He overcame, Now, there's nothing great if Almighty God in heaven said, I overcame certain things.

That's like a man saying, I crushed that little ant under my foot. Is that something you glory in, that you crushed a little ant under your foot? For God Almighty to say that He overcame something, it's as meaningless as crushing an ant under your foot.

So, that's not overcoming. I wouldn't even consider that you overcame something. If you overcame a lion, I would say, okay, you can call that overcoming. But you crushed an ant under your foot, you got to be crazy to call that overcoming.

So, when Jesus says He overcame something, it was something that He had to battle with. Almighty God's got to battle with nothing. He speaks a word and worlds are created. So, it must be referring to the time when Jesus was here on earth as a man and was tempted exactly like us and had to struggle like we struggle against temptation.

When people opposed Him and hated Him, He struggled to love them and He was determined to love them. And He overcame. He consistently overcame. And that was the race. And He finally reached the finishing line, which is the throne of God.

And it says in this verse, if you also overcome and overcome and overcome, one day you can reach the finishing line and sit on the throne. Now, what would you think if the verse read like this, whether you overcome or not, you will one day sit with me on my throne.

Is there a verse like that in the Bible? But that's what most Christians preach. That's what I heard for years in so many churches. Ah, you have accepted the Lord. It doesn't matter whether you overcome or not.

We are all human. We fail, we fall. You will still sit to the throne of God. I want to say you will not. If you keep on not overcoming and finally Jesus makes you sit with Him on His throne, I would say in heaven that Jesus Christ, you are a liar.

You are a liar because you said in Revelation 3 .21, only those who overcome are going to sit with you on the throne. And now you make everybody sit with you on the throne. What is that? To scare people on the earth?

Told a lie? I don't believe that. And yet some Christians are accusing Jesus of being a liar when they say, whether you overcome or not, you will still sit with Jesus on the throne. I want to tell you the truth, you will not.

Where you will be, I don't know and I am not interested in finding out. See, for example, if there are rules for Australian citizens, I am not interested in finding out those rules because I am not one of those citizens.

I don't care. So, when there is some complicated rule that you got to study, you better study it if you are a citizen. I don't have to study it because I am not a citizen. It doesn't apply to me. But if you want to be a citizen, you better study that rule carefully and many of you did.

So, I say, if you don't want to get to the right hand of the throne of God, then don't worry. You don't have to worry. Like I don't worry about what the rules are for Australian citizens. But if you want to get to the right hand of the throne of God, you better find out what the rules are.

And it's so clear in the teaching of Jesus. If you, I mean, either he is telling the truth or he is telling a lie. I know I have met non-Christians who say to me in India, Why are you guys so narrow-minded?

Say, Jesus Christ is the only way to the father. Why don't you be broad-minded and say, there are many ways to God. And I tell them, listen, it's not a question of my opinion or yours. I ask you one question.

Do you want me to call Jesus Christ a liar? Oh, no, no, no, we don't want you to do that. Because they respect Christ. I say, okay, then I'll tell you what Jesus Christ himself said, not what Zakkunen says.

Jesus Christ said in John 14, 6, I am the way. No one comes to the father but by me. What does that mean in plain English? It means no one can come to the father except through Jesus Christ. Now, if you want me to say, no, you can come to the father through other ways, you are indirectly asking me to call Jesus Christ a liar.

I am sorry, I will not call him a liar. So, this broad-minded way is indirectly calling him a liar. You know, it's something like, people ask me this, Why are you Christians so narrow-minded? You only say Jesus Christ is the only way.

Not only this, I say all truth is narrow-minded. Supposing I say 2 plus 2 is 4. They say, why are you so narrow-minded? Why can't you accept it as 3 also? Another fellow says 2 plus 2 is 5, accept him.

Or at least 3 .9 or 3 .99. I say, sorry, not even 3 .999, it is 4. You try to be broad-minded in mathematics, you'll go nuts. You can't be. 3 plus 3 is 6, whether you like it or not. 2 plus 2 is 4. We can accept truth as being narrow-minded in mathematics or even in chemistry.

They study in chemistry that 2 parts of hydrogen plus 1 part of oxygen is water. You say, don't be so narrow-minded. Why do you have to say that? Just take 2 parts of hydrogen as water. It isn't. It's not.

So, why is it only in the spiritual realm people say truth can't be rigid and strict? Every other realm we accept it. This is because people don't know God. People who don't know mathematics may say 2 plus 2 is 5.

People who don't know chemistry may say, Yeah, it doesn't matter whether you got 2 parts of hydrogen, 1 part of oxygen is water. And people who don't know God will say, Yeah, there are so many ways. In the same way, Christians also, we say, Okay, we accept that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.

But, I'll tell you where Christians are also got it wrong. Whether you overcome or not, you'll still sit with Jesus on the throne of God. Isn't that what most Christians teach? It is not in the Bible.

The Bible is so clear, unless Jesus is a liar. If you overcome, as I overcame, you will sit with me on my throne. That is so clear that you have to call Jesus a liar. If you say or give people the impression, Ah, it doesn't matter how you live, you're going to get there.

It doesn't matter how you live with your wife at home, whether you overcome sin or not, Yeah, you just confess it. Do you think a man is overcoming if he keeps on sinning every day and then confesses it?

Is that called overcoming? I don't believe that's overcoming at all. If I go into a wrestling match and I lose every time, Can I say I've overcome? I go tomorrow and I lose again. I go tomorrow and every day and I keep on losing.

Can you call me an overcomer? Can you call me a victor? No, you'll call me a loser. And that's how a lot of Christians are. But they still believe in their heart, Oh, God is so kind and He's so merciful.

Somehow or the other, He'll just ignore all that and say, OK, you're all forgiven, you're OK. You're all going to sit with Jesus on the throne. I want to tell you, it's not true. And it's better to know it now than to get a surprise at the judgment seat of Christ.

Spiritual Assurance and Taking Sin Seriously

I've said this to the Lord many times. I said, Lord, please don't ever give me a surprise at the judgment seat of Christ. I don't want to get any surprises there. I want to know the truth about myself and about my eternal destiny now.

I don't want to be even 1 unsure about my salvation, about my relationship with God, about where I'm going to be in eternity and what's going to be my eternal destiny. I may not know all the details of heaven, but I do want to know about my relationship with God.

It's like, you know, supposing a doctor tells you, Listen, I don't think you've got cancer, but there's a 5 chance that you may have a pretty deadly form of cancer. And you say, Oh, that's OK, doctor.

5 is not serious. 95 you're sure I'm OK, right? Which of you would take that position? You'd say, No, you've got to go through the test. And the doctor says, Tests are pretty expensive. They're going to cost you a lot of money, which even the Australian social security may not cover completely.

You'd say, Yes, tell me, I don't mind spending it. I want to be sure that I'm 100 free from cancer. Why are we so particular about physical health that we want to rule out cancer 100 But when it comes to spiritual things, if I'm 95 certain it's OK.

I'll tell you why. Because we think our body is more important than our spirit. It's one of the greatest deceptions that the devil has put upon the human race, making that their body is more important than their spirit.

I say, I know whether I'm a wholehearted Christian, for me anyway, there's one simple test. If I treat cancer as more serious than sin, I'm not at all a wholehearted Christian. If a blood test shows that I've got AIDS, and that disturbs me more than my frequently falling into anger, I'm not a wholehearted Christian.

You know, there are people who get AIDS even without sex. Sometimes they get a blood transfusion with an infected needle and you can get AIDS. It may not be due to any sin on your part, but you got AIDS for no fault of yours.

Some nurse used an infected needle, that's all, in some blood transfusion. Supposing you discover that by some accident like that in some hospital, you got AIDS. And that disturbs you. It'll disturb every one of you.

I want to ask you, are you disturbed when you frequently fall into anger? Are you disturbed when you frequently fall into dirty thoughts? Or look at computer sites that you should never go to? It doesn't disturb you?

That is a proof that you don't really know God at all. You are just like any old heathen in the world who thinks your body is the most important thing you have. So long as your body is healthy, the other things are not important.

Well, what's the difference between you and any heathen? That's how they feel too. Atheists feel like that. An atheist would be disturbed if he discovered at a blood test that he's got AIDS. An atheist is not at all disturbed if he loses his temper.

You say, but he watches TV and I go to church. Well, you should be more, you are more answerable to God than him. That guy doesn't have any understanding. So, you find, you know, the fundamental problem with Christians is this.

I'll tell you. They don't take the word of God seriously and they are dishonest. They are dishonest because they say the Bible is the word of God, but they don't take what's written in it seriously. I've asked people this question.

I said, tell me honestly. Do you really believe with all your heart that there's only one book in the whole world that God has written? Or do you believe the Bible is one among, it's a good book, a lot of good teachings, but I mean, it's not God's word.

I said, then be honest. Say, I don't believe this is God's word. I pick and choose what I think is God's word and what is not. I'll tell you honestly, that is what many Christians actually believe. If you believed that there was only one book written by God, think of it like this.

Many of you are immigrants in this country. Supposing the Australian government had made one little booklet, maybe 20 pages. Say, you must know this book thoroughly if you want to be a citizen. I tell you, every one of you would know it by heart.

You wouldn't worry about what all the other agencies say are necessary for becoming a citizen. You'd say the Australian government has said this one book is necessary for you to know if you want to be a citizen.

You would study it and read it and read it and read it and read it because you want to be a citizen. Why is that? Is it because you're more eager to be an Australian citizen than to be a citizen of heaven?

You've got to face up to it. And when you go to God and confess your sin, say, Lord, my sin is I'm more interested in being an Australian citizen than being a citizen of heaven. I'm more interested in pleasing the Australian government than pleasing Almighty God.

That is my sin. I want to repent of it. I want to turn around and say, Lord, I want to please you from now on. I couldn't care less if I'm a citizen of Congo or Rwanda or any place like that, but I want to be a citizen of heaven.

And Lord, is there only one book in the world that shows me the way there? And I want to take it seriously. If you really believed it, you would devote yourself to studying the scriptures. I did that 50 years ago because I was convinced in my heart, I was only 21, that there is only one book in the whole world that God Almighty has written.

And if there is only one book that tells me what is going to be pleasing to God, what is God's way, and no one has seen God at any time, and Jesus Christ is the only one who has come to reveal, I want to know everything because that's what's going to make me eternally happy.

Yeah, I was seeking my own, I can say. I was seeking my own eternal destiny. I was seeking to see what God created me for. You know, it's like if you get a job in an office, and which office will tell you when you go to get a new job there?

Supposing you go to a new job, and they say, come here and do whatever you like, you know, just have fun. There's no job in the world that tells you that. They have a job description. They'll give you a printed sheet, say, this is what we expect you to do.

And supposing you get that printed sheet, you say, who's going to take all that seriously? I come here to enjoy myself, and I'll do whatever I feel like every day. You'll get sacked probably in one day.

You'd be lucky if you last two days in such an office. But you wouldn't do that because money is so valuable. You'd follow every, there are 25 instructions, you'll follow all those instructions because you want to get your salary at the end of the month.

Why don't we follow scripture carefully like that? I mean, supposing somebody promised you a hundred dollars for every command in the Bible you obeyed. Would you obey more zealously? Or would you say, well, it doesn't, it won't make me any more zealous to obey God's commands if somebody promised me a hundred dollars or a ten thousand dollars for every command I obeyed.

I'd obey them even if there's zero profit from it because it is God's word. So when God created man, he had a plan for us, just like when you join an office, you got a job description. Do you know there's a job description for man?

Man was created to please God. And if you haven't fulfilled that job description, you're a total failure. I'm going to tell you the truth. If I, as a servant of God, for example, when I preach, if I preach to please one single human being out of ten thousand people sitting in front of me, I'm not a servant of God.

I'm not fit to preach. Because I'm preaching, thinking of that one fellow sitting there I want to please. I don't want to please anybody. Almighty God is there. He's the only one I want to please. Because that's my job description as a human being.

I want to ask you, my brothers and sisters, do you really believe that your only calling in life is to please God? And if you don't please him, whatever else you may do, you may say, I'm not going to have television in my home.

I'm going to go to all the meetings. You can do all that. If you don't please God, you've wasted your time. So, if you overcome, you will sit with Jesus on his throne. I say, so these are the reasons why we have to start another church.

A Church for Those Tired of Defeat

Because we want to emphasize some of these things which are not emphasized by anybody. And if that's the reason why you came to this fellowship, God bless you. But if you came to this fellowship because you were fed up with some other church, you're not going to be very happy here.

I told one brother who once came to me in one of the conferences in India. He said, Brother Zak, I'm also fed up with the Pentecostals. I want to join your church. I said, please don't join. Because you'll get fed up with us after a while.

Because we are not a bunch of people who are fed up with the Pentecostals. We're not a bunch of people who are fed up with the Baptists or even the Roman Catholics. We're not fed up with the Hindus. We're fed up with ourselves and our defeated lives.

That's why we came together to encourage one another to overcome what we're fed up with ourselves. And I say, the day you get fed up with yourself and your defeated life, welcome. But if you're fed up with that group, you'll come here and you'll get fed up with us.

And I've seen that. People are fed up with this group, that group. They say, hey, this is a new church. Let's go and join it. As soon as they join, they'll find something fault because we're not a bunch of perfect people.

No, there's no group in the world which is a bunch of perfect people. We've got weaknesses. And they'll see some fault in somebody and find criticizing that. I say, it's better such people never come to our church.

Don't waste your time. And I say, even Jesus. A lot of people say, anybody can come to Jesus. I say, no. Anybody cannot come to Jesus. Where does it say that in the Bible? Jesus said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Who said he invited everybody? If labor and heavy laden means you're sick and tired of yourself. That's what it means. Jesus in modern terms, it would be like Jesus saying, come to me all of you who are sick and tired of living your defeated life.

Sick and tired of living by rules and regulations instead of living by the life of almighty God. You're sick and tired of it. Come to me. I'll lead you into that life. So, who said he invited everybody?

He didn't invite everybody. He invited people who are sick and tired of their defeated life. And the trouble with a lot of Christians is they try to come to Jesus without being sick and tired of their defeated life.

It's like joining a nice club. But this club is a little better than that club. There are more facilities here. That's how a lot of people join a church. They're not sick and tired of their own defeated life.

And that's why whichever church in the world they join, they'll always be frustrated. And they'll always be troublemakers. I've seen such people. Because they're always seeking their own. I remember another person who once came to me and said, Oh, Brother Jack, I went to this church and they didn't show me any love there.

I said, Where in the Bible does it say that you've got to join a church for people to show you love? I said, Bible says you must love the other person. Not get them to love you. Is there any verse in the Bible that says get everybody to love you?

No. You go looking for the wrong thing. No, there's so many things which we know a lot of people who think they're very fine Christians are not. Because it's their own human ideas. Or they looked at other Christians and got their ideas from them.

They didn't get it from the Bible because they don't believe in their heart that God has written only one book. A lot of our so-called Christian ideas have come from either our own thinking or what we've heard from other people without checking up with what God has said in his book.

So, I want to suggest to you, to all of you who don't have the habit already to seriously study the scriptures. Otherwise, I tell you, you could get some wrong ideas in your head which are not in God's word.

For example, let me show you another verse. It says in 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5. The same verse, by the way, is also mentioned in James chapter 4 and verse 6. Same verse. It's repeated twice.

God is opposed to the proud but he gives grace to the humble. Last part of verse 5. There's a certain type of person whom God opposes. That means God is the enemy of a certain type of person. There's no verse in the Bible which says God is the enemy of the adulterer.

No verse in the Bible that says God is the enemy of the murderer. These are some two of the greatest sins. I mean, if there was somebody sitting here who's regularly murdering people, you wouldn't have much respect for him, right?

You wouldn't think that God is very happy with him. I mean, he commits a murder every alternate day or something. What about somebody here you know is committing adultery every week with some woman? You wouldn't think that person is a godly man.

But if some man or woman sits here and is proud, you could still think that he's a godly person. Where do you get that idea from? From the world. Because the world thinks murderers and adulterers are evil people.

But they don't think proud people are evil people. See how much our mind is influenced by the world. We think we know God. We don't know God at all. I never find Jesus condemning a murderer. Did he condemn the murderer on the cross?

No, he took him to paradise. Did he condemn the woman caught in adultery? No, he said, I forgive you. What about that other woman in Samaria who was divorced five times and now sleeping around with a man who is not even her husband?

Jesus forgave her. But what about the Pharisees who are not murdering, who are not committing adultery? He said, you guys will go to hell. Have you understood God's way of thinking? He opposes the proud.

It's like the law of gravity. You know, people ask, what about if a believer is proud? I say, God will oppose him. I mean, it's like a law. If you jump off the roof of a building, the law of gravity doesn't find out are you a believer or not before deciding whether to pull you down.

Whether you are a believer or not, the law of gravity will just pull you down. You break your head. It makes no difference whether you are a believer or not. This is a law. God is the enemy of the proud.

It doesn't matter whether you are a believer or not a believer. If you are proud, God is your enemy. If you are proud of your Bible knowledge, God is your enemy. If you are proud that you are more spiritual than somebody else sitting here, God is your enemy whether you knew it or not.

He gives grace to the humble. You know, the reason why a lot of believers don't get grace, who imagine they have got grace, is because God sees there is no humility in them. I'll tell you something, brothers, sisters.

Even if everybody in this church thinks you are a very humble person, if God doesn't give you grace, he doesn't think so. What does it matter if everybody in the church thinks I am a very humble person and almighty God doesn't give me grace, proving that he doesn't think so.

What am I doing? Am I living in a delusion? Supposing I have got serious cancer in me, but everybody here thinks I am very healthy. I say, it's okay, everybody thinks I am healthy. You got to be an idiot to think like that.

You are sick with cancer and you are rejoicing in the fact that everybody thinks you are healthy. You got to be seriously off your head. But that's exactly how many Christians are. Everybody in the church thinks I am very spiritual.

Really? And that's when you got serious cancer inside you? How can it be? We value our physical health so much that if we have got cancer, it doesn't matter if everybody in the world thinks I am healthy.

The MRI scan showed me I have got cancer. So, if I am not getting grace from God, it's no use everybody thinking I am a wonderful believer. How do I know whether I got grace from God? It says in Romans 6 .14, Romans 6 .14 says, If you get grace, no sin can rule over you.

That's sure. Romans 6 .14 it says, Sin shall not, not may not. There is a difference between may not and shall not. It's very simple English. If you are under grace, it doesn't say sin may not rule over you after that.

It's clear cut. Shall not rule over you. It's more certain than if you have fulfilled all the conditions for citizenship, you become a citizen. Some of you knew that after so many months you would become a citizen.

How did you know that? How could you predict that, yeah, after one year I will be a citizen? How did you know that? Because there were certain rules that the Australian government laid down and you knew that another year from now you would complete those rules, you would become a citizen.

Well, here's what God's word says. If you receive grace, sin will not rule over you. It's absolute certain, more certain than you're becoming a citizen. How in the world can so many Christians be defeated by sin and still believe that they are under grace?

I can't understand that. I'll tell you why. They don't believe this is God's word. They believe some figment of their imagination is what is right and what God's word says is not true. I want to tell you something, my brothers and sisters.

I've read this book for 50 years and I've come to one conclusion. This is the word of God. I've never found a book like that in the whole world and I've found every single promise in it works if I take it seriously.

I believe with all my heart that a man who gets grace, comes under grace, no sin can rule over him. It may take time but he'll come to the place where sin does not rule him. To me, that's the test. Otherwise, I'm living in a world of delusion.

I'm convinced that a lot of Christians are living in an imaginary world that doesn't exist. Have you seen children play sometimes, small children play that one is a general or another is a policeman? It's games.

They imagine it and they can imagine it so thoroughly that you can take names of famous people. Some child can be Napoleon or someone like that. He's not Napoleon. He's imagining. That's exactly how a lot of Christians are.

I'm a child of God. I've got grace. I'm anointed. They're playing games. They're not serious because there's no evidence of it in their life. Sin shall not rule over you if you're under grace. Then why does sin rule over me?

Because I'm not under grace. Let's face it. Why have I not got grace? God gives his grace to the humble. But brother, everybody thinks I'm humble. Everybody thinks you are, but God doesn't. The only person whose opinion matters, he doesn't think you're humble.

How do you know? He doesn't give you grace to overcome sin. This is the rule I apply to myself. When I didn't overcome sin, I said, Lord, I haven't got grace. But Lord, I've made a tremendous impression on people that I'm a very humble man.

And the Lord says, whatever people may think about you, I don't think about that about you. And ultimately, it's only God's opinion that matters. You ask yourself one simple question. Can you honestly say about yourself that only God's opinion about me is important for me?

The opinion of any other Tom, Dick or Harry is not important for me at all. You make that one decision in your life that from today onwards, only God's opinion about me will matter to me. And the opinion of everybody else in the world is going to be unimportant.

I'll tell you something, you'll make more spiritual progress in the next six months than you have made in all your life till now. We are such slaves to the opinions of men. We may have come out of being concerned about the opinions of worldly people and now come to the opinions of the few people in our church.