Preserving Ourselves In God's Paths - Part 4 — Zac Poonen

Pressing On to Hear More from God

You know, the Lord will only tell you as much as you want to hear. He won't tell you more. They don't teach calculus in the second standard, and if you're happy with second standard mathematics, it's all you'll know.

But if you press on and press on and press on, you learn things and you hear things from God that other ordinary mortals don't hear, because you're getting close to Him. They teach things in the higher classes that they don't teach in the lower classes.

Avoiding Comparison with Other Believers

It's the same with God. I believe so many of God's people are dropping out at certain levels, because they see they are better than others around them. Everybody else is dropping out in second standard, I'm in fourth standard, I'm okay.

I believe one of the greatest reasons why many people don't go on with God is because they are looking at other believers around them. When I was 21 years old, the Lord told me, don't ever look at any believer around you.

Looking to Jesus Alone

Look at me. I've tried to follow that exhortation for 46 years, look at Jesus, He's the only one I'll follow. And that enables me to constantly be challenged, because I see I haven't come anywhere near His devotion.

And it challenges me, and not only challenges me, it keeps me humble all the time. It's impossible to be proud when you look at Jesus. It is impossible. You're not even tempted. It's when you turn your eyes away from Him that you sink, like Peter in the sea, into pride and selfishness and lust and every other wretched thing.

But otherwise, as He walked on the waters of sin and overcame, we can also walk, overcoming, without being dragged down and pulled down. In Philippians, in chapter 2, here is a word that I believe we can take heed to as a church.

Verse 5, Philippians 2, have this attitude in yourself which is in Christ Jesus. That's all. Have the attitude that Jesus had all through your life, towards the world, towards the people, towards other believers, towards failing believers, like His disciples were.

The Disciples' Sacrifice and Loyalty

You know, there's one thing those disciples had, despite all their failures. One or two things. One, they had given up everything for Jesus, given up their jobs, given up their profession. And I'm sure Peter and all lived much more simply after he gave up his job.

Traveled around, he got a wife, I don't know whether he had children, but suddenly he had a wife back home, and traveling around with Christ, and I don't know how many of the other apostles were married, but there was something they gave up.

They really forsook everything to follow Him, and the other was, they were absolutely loyal to Him. I mean, Peter slipped up and denied the Lord, and that is because he was under such pressure, but they were loyal to Him, despite their weaknesses.

I praise God for brothers and sisters in CFC who are loyal to the Church. They're not even tempted by other things that attract them elsewhere. They've benefited, they've received something, they're deeply grateful, and they're loyal.

And you can't win them away with a million rupees, or any amount. Have the same mind in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Have the same attitude that Jesus had. And there are three areas I want to mention here, which I've mentioned here.

Christlike Humility and Servanthood

First of all, in humility, it says he humbled himself in verse 8. And the message translation says, think of yourself the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. Think of yourself the way Jesus thought of himself.

What a word. Think of yourself the way Jesus thought of himself. How did he think of himself? It says here, he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant. And I want to translate that the way I understand it.

In Philippians 2 .7, he took the form of a bondservant, because he was made in the likeness of men. And that's how I see it. In some translations it's like that. That he knew that the only proper place for a human being to take is the place of a servant.

Have you seen that? The only proper place for a human being to take is the place of a servant of God and of others. A servant is not one who demands that other people should serve him. He serves them.

God made, I mean Jesus is the perfect example of a servant. He was a leader. How can a leader be a servant? Jesus is a classic example. He had authority, but he was a servant. The tragedy with a lot of Christian leaders today is, they don't have that spirit of a servant.

The Meaning of the Son of Man

Think of yourself the way Jesus thought of himself. You know a very common expression that Jesus used to refer to himself, when you know how he thought of himself, is the phrase the son of man. Very often instead of saying I, he would say the son of man, the son of man, the son of man.

In Matthew chapter 12 there is a place where they called him Beelzebul, prince of devils. And he turned around and said to them, well, I'm just the son of man, so it's verse 32 of Matthew 12, you're forgiven.

And my own translation of son of man is an ordinary man. What is the son of man? That means someone, everybody on earth is a son born to some man. That's I think what it means. He was saying, did you call me the devil?

That's okay, I'm just an ordinary man. You're forgiven. Don't speak against the Holy Spirit. Think of yourself the way Jesus thought of himself. That's been such a revelation to me. I never read it anywhere.

I don't think anybody else has ever seen it that way, but I saw it that way. When Jesus said he was the son of man, he was saying I'm an ordinary man. Do you know what a difference it will make in your life when your husbands realize you're an ordinary man and not a king in the house?

When your sisters realize you're an ordinary woman and not a queen? When your brothers realize you're an ordinary man, not to be respected by those younger to you? We live in a world where young people have no respect for older people.

It never disturbs me because I'm an ordinary man. It will disturb other gray-haired people because, hey, look at this generation. They don't respect older people like me. They're not ordinary people.

That's their problem. Well, they suffer.