Thursday, March 18, 2010
Three Promises Of Guidance From The Book Of Proverbs
Zac Poonen
1. First Promise:
Proverbs 3:5 - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
This is a promise of guidance. God will direct our paths
if we fulfill the conditions. What are the conditions?
First of all: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
don’t lean on your own reason and intelligence. It doesn’t
say there that we should not use our reason or intelligence,
but not to depend on it. God created our powers of reasoning
and our intelligence. But like God created Eve to be subject
to Adam, reason must be subject to the Holy Spirit. A wife
is most useful in a home. But if she takes over the headship
of the home, there will be chaos - as when Eve took over the
headship in Eden and sinned. We have to use our reason
(and intelligence) to find God’s will, for it is a very capable
“wife”. Without our intelligence we would not be able to
study God’s Word or even live in this world. But we must
depend on the Holy Spirit to enlighten our reason. Faith is
not contrary to reason but is beyond reason - just like
multiplication is not against addition but is beyond addition.
Secondly: Acknowledge God in all your ways. That means to
obey every single thing that God reveals to you. Give the
Lord first place in every area of your life. Then the Lord
will lead you in His perfect will.
As I look back over the past years, I am amazed to see how
the Lord has led me - step by step. Many a time, I never knew
what the next step would be. But the Lord has directed my paths.
I pray that you will have the same joy as you look back on your life.
2. Second Promise
Proverbs 4:12 - A literal paraphrase of it would read:
“As you go, step by step the way will open up before you.”
You don’t need to know even what lies two steps ahead of you.
Take the first step that you can see. You will then see the
next step. This is how God guides us. Doors may look to be
closed in front of us. But as we approach them, they will
open automatically. But they won’t open until you come near
them. That is how our God leads us on. So don’t be hesitant
or afraid if you see a door closed in front of you. Take the
step God shows you now. “I have put before you an open
door,” says the Lord, “which no-one can shut”(Rev.3:8)
3. Third Promise
Proverbs 4:18 - “The path of the righteous is like the light
of dawn (when the sun rises) that shines brighter and
brighter until the full day (noon-day)” This is God’s
perfect will for everyone of His children – that they should
become more and more like Christ every day of their lives,
from the time that they are born again (when the sun rises),
until the day that Christ comes back (noon-day). Along that
path, we will get more and more revelation on God’s word,
more and more light on the corruption of our self-life, more
and more wisdom for practical situations that we face, etc.,
If you walk along this path of the righteous, you will never
backslide, just like the sun never goes back in the sky.
Why then is it so rare to find Christians who live like this?
Because most of Christendom lives at a substandard level.
We must not let our life sink to the level of the believers
around us. Our eyes must be fixed on the Lord alone.
We must seek to walk as He walked. Unfortunately,
many Christian leaders today are not good examples. Look at
God’s Word and look at Jesus. If you find a good example,
like Paul, you can follow him too. Paul said, “Follow me as
I follow Christ” (1 Cor.11:1).Believe in God’s Wisdom and God’s Love
Zac Poonen
God had great plans in mind for Adam and Eve, when He created them. But these plans could not be fulfilled apart from their being tested. And so He placed in Eden an attractive tree with luscious fruit called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And He forbade Adam and Eve from eating of it. The failure of Adam and Eve in Eden was primarily a failure of faith. Faith is the total leaning of the human personality on God, in total confidence in His perfect wisdom, love and power. Eve failed to have such a confidence in God and was thus lured by Satan into disobeying God's command. Satan suggested to Eve that there was a flaw in God's wisdom in not allowing them to eat of that tree. God had not given Adam any reason why the tree was forbidden. Faith never needs to have a reason for obeying God. It is our intellect that demands to know the reason first. Obedience to God must always be the obedience of faith, not the obedience of reason.
Paul said that he had been called "to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles" (Rom.1:5). He also said that the "preaching of Jesus Christ had been made known to all the nations, leading to the obedience of faith."(Rom.16:25, 26) Our intellect is the enemy of faith, as is clear from Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart (not `head') and do not depend on your own intellect." The wisdom of God is hidden from the clever and the intelligent and revealed by the Spirit to those who simply believe like little babes. Jesus said, "I praise
Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes."(Mt.11:25). The intellect is a good servant but a bad master; and so its proper God appointed place is as the servant of the spirit in man - the spirit itself being subject to the Holy Spirit.
God gave Adam no reason as to why he could not eat of the forbidden tree, because He wanted to develop Adam's faith in Him. And this is the first area where God tests us too. Can we obey Him even when we cannot understand why He calls us to do something? What about when God calls us to do something that our reason tells us is unnecessary?
When Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and to walk on the water that command was contrary to everything that Peter's reason told him. But if he had followed reason, he would never have experienced that miracle. One could quote many such instances from the Scriptures. And here lies the reason for the powerlessness of many Christians and why many believers never experience the supernatural workings of God in their lives. They live by reason and not by faith.
Faith is also a total confidence in God's love. Satan suggested to Eve that God did not love them sufficiently and that this was why He had kept that lovely fruit out of bounds for them. If Eve had been living by faith and not by reason, she would have replied, "Well, Satan, I don't understand why God has told us not to eat of that tree. But I am certain of one thing - that God loves us intensely; and so I am sure that He will never withhold any good thing from us. So, if he has forbidden this fruit, there must be a very good reason for it, that has our good in view." That would have been the answer of faith. But instead she fell for the Devil's lie. It is only the shield of faith in God's perfect love for us that "can extinguish every flaming missile of the Evil One." (Eph.6:16).
All discouragement and depression are the result of living by reason and not by faith. All anxiety and fear also have their roots in the same cause. God allows us to be tested -
to be tempted to doubt His love, when He withdraws from us the `feelings' of His manifest presence with us - so that we can be strong in faith and thus come to the place of maturity where He can fulfill His purposes through us.
God made that tree of knowledge of good and evil attractive because it was only thus that Adam and Eve could be tested. Would they reject something so attractive, in favour of God? Or would they reject God and choose what pleased themselves? This is the choice that faces us too in the moments oftemptation. And that's why God has permitted temptation to be so attractive. It is only when we reject some forbidden thing that is really attractive, and to which we feel tremendously drawn and which we know can give us pleasure, that we prove that we love God wholeheartedly.
It is also thus that we prove our faith in God's perfect love - believing that what God has forbidden He has done in perfect love for our very best. Thus every temptation to sin and to disobey God becomes a trial of our faith. To live by faith is to believe that every commandment of God has come from a heart of perfect love that desires the very best for us.
When God gave the Israelites the ten commandments, Moses told them, "God has come to test you" (Exod.20:20). It says in Deuteronomy 33:2,3, "At God's right hand there was a fiery Law for them. Indeed (this proves that) He loves the people". Would they believe that this fiery law was a proof of God's love for them? That was the test. Where Eve failed to trust God, the Israelites also failed and they too disobeyed the commandments.
But it is just here that Jesus overcame. He lived by faith. Every temptation that Satan brought to Him in the wilderness was refuted by the simple reply, "It is written.....". Jesus lived in obedience to every word of God.
God's Word was given in perfect love for man and Jesus obeyed it in faith. Thus He has become a Forerunner for us. If we are to serve God's people effectively, it is essential that we too live by faith - and manifest our faith by total obedience to God's commandments. Thus alone can we be
examples to others.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Three Great Truths
Zac Poonen
1. Holiness comes by looking unto Jesus
"Let us run the race....looking unto Jesus" (Heb.12:1,2)
The secret of godliness is found in the Person of Christ Who
came in our flesh (as 1 Tim.3:16 makes very clear) - and not
in the doctrine that Christ came in our flesh. It is through
His Person and not through a doctrinal analysis of His
flesh, that we become holy.
Any amount of self-effort will never make a sinful heart
holy. God has to do a work within us, for that to happen.
Holiness (eternal life) is God's gift - and it can never be
attained by works (Rom.6:23). The Bible states that God
alone can sanctify us (make us holy) entirely (1 Thess.5:23
says that so plainly that no-one can mistake it). Yet
multitudes of believers are struggling to deny themselves in
order to be holy. They become Pharisees instead. "The
holiness which is no illusion" (Eph.4:24-Philips) is
attained by faith in Jesus - in other words by "looking unto Jesus".
If we keep looking only at a doctrine we will become
Pharisees. The purer our doctrine, the greater the Pharisees
we will become. The greatest Pharisees I have met on earth
were among those who preached the highest standards of
holiness through self-effort!! We have to be careful that we
don't end up as one of them!
What it means to look unto Jesus is very clearly explained
in Hebrews 12:2. First of all we are to look at Him as One
Who lived on earth "enduring His cross" daily - "tempted in
all points as we are and yet without sin" (Heb.4:15). He is
our Forerunner (Heb.6:20), in Whose footsteps we are to run.
Secondly, we are to see Him as the One Who is now "at the
right hand of the Father", interceding for us and ready to
help us in every trial and temptation.
2. The way of the cross is the way of life
"If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him" (2 Tim.2:11)
There is no way for us to have the life of Jesus manifested
in our body other than by accepting death to our Self-life
in all the situations that God plans and arranges for us (2 Cor.4:10,11).
We must "consider ourselves dead to sin" (Rom.6:11) in all
situations, if we are to overcome sin. We must "mortify the
deeds of the body through the Spirit" if we are to live (Rom.8:13).
The Holy Spirit will always lead us to the cross in our daily life.
We are sent by God into situations where we are "slaughtered
the whole day long" (Rom.8:36) and "delivered to death for
Jesus sake" (2 Cor.4:11). In such situations, we must accept
"the dying of Jesus" (2 Cor.4:10), so that the life of Jesus
may be manifest in us.
3. We are called to be rejected and persecuted by men
"All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Tim.3:12)
Jesus told His disciples that in the world they would face
tribulation, (Jn.16:33); and He prayed to the Father NOT to
take His disciples out of the world (Jn.17:15). The apostles
taught believers that only through much tribulation they
could enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:23).
Jesus said that if people had called the Head of the house
Beelzebul, the members of His household would be called by
worse names (Matt.10:25). It is thus that we know we are
faithful members of His household. Some of the names that I
have been called, by other "believers", have been: "Devil",
"Son of the Devil", "Evil spirit", "Antichrist", "Deceiver",
"Terrorist", "Murderer", and "Diotrephes". It has been a
great honour to be identified thereby as a part of Jesus'
household. All who serve the Lord faithfully will experience this.
Jesus also said that a true prophet would not be honoured by
"his own relatives" (Mk.6:4). Jesus Himself was not accepted
by His family members. Every true prophet of God will be
rejected and dishonoured by his own relatives, even today.
In the same way, a true apostle will also be "slandered and
treated as the scum of the world and the dregs of all
things" (1 Cor.4:13). Suffering and rejection have always
been the appointed lot of God's greatest servants.
The teaching that the church will be raptured before the
"great tribulation" is a popular one with most believers
because it comforts their flesh to hear it. But Jesus made
it very clear in Matthew 24:29-31 that He will return to
take His elect only AFTER the great tribulation. THERE IS NOT
A SINGLE VERSE IN THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT THAT
TEACHES THAT THE CHURCH WILL ESCAPE THE GREAT
TRIBULATION BY BEING RAPTURED OUT OF IT.
This doctrine was invented by a man in England in the mid-1800s.
We must now prepare the church in our country for persecution.Our New Testament Privilege
Zac Poonen
In Mathew 6:9 Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father who
art in heaven”. The Israelites could never call God their Father.
That title was introduced for the first time by Jesus.
It was the title that Jesus Himself used constantly
in His own communication with His heavenly Father. We don't
realise what a privilege it is to call God our Father.
In the Old Testament, God taught the Jews His unapproachable
holiness by putting a veil in the temple, behind which was
the most holy place, where He dwelt. Into this place no man
could enter, except the high priest once a year. If you had
gone to those Jews 2500 years ago and told them that one
day, God was going to open a way for anyone to enter His
presence freely, they would have considered it impossible.
Yet this is the privilege that is offered us today under the
new covenant. The veil has now been rent so that we have
freedom of access right into the Father's presence; and we
can call Him "Father." We've got to read the Old Testament
if we want to appreciate our new covenant privileges sufficiently.
It's wonderful to see the father-heart of God in the parable
of the prodigal son. The son comes back after having wasted
his father's property and ruined his father's name. As soon
as the father sees him, he runs to embrace him. There we see
a picture of God the Father. It's the only place in the
Bible where God is pictured as running - and it is to
embrace a repentant sinner (Lk. 15:20)!
That was how Jesus portrayed God to the people. He wanted to
eradicate from their minds the wrong concepts of God that
the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees had given them.
After the resurrection, when Mary Magdalene met Jesus
outside the tomb, Jesus said to her, "I ascend to My Father
and your Father" (Jn. 20:17). Through the death and
resurrection of Christ, His disciples had come into a
relationship with God that had never existed before. They
could now call God their own Father. As a child can sit on
his father's lap, man could now be just as intimate with God.
Many have the wrong idea that God the Father is a very
strict Person and that it is only Jesus Who loves them.
This is a Satanic distortion of the truth. It was the love of the
Father that sent Jesus to save us from our sins. Jesus told
His disciples, "The Father Himself loves you" (Jn. 16:27).
He also told them that if their Heavenly Father fed the
birds and clothed the flowers, He would certainly take care
of them. There was no need for them to be anxious then, for
their Heavenly Father knew all their needs (Matt. 6:26-34).
He also told them that if earthly fathers knew how to give
good gifts to their children, their heavenly Father would
certainly give good things to His children too (Matt. 7:11).
You may say that all this is very elementary. Yet many times
when we come to God in prayer we don't really believe that
God is going to grant us our request, because we are not
sure of His tender, loving, fatherly care for us. Thus we
limit God by our unbelief. Do you really believe that when
you pray, you are speaking to a loving Father Who delights
to hear you and Who cares for you?
Some may have the feeling that God will hear them only if
they are mature saints. How is it with an earthly father?
If he has a number of children, does he listen to his 20-year-
old son more than to his 3-year-old daughter? Does he tell
his little daughter, "You are too young to talk to me.
I can't listen to you?" Certainly not. In fact, the father is
more likely to listen to his youngest child than to His
older children. It's even so with God.
He says, "All shall know Me (as Father), from the least
(youngest) to the greatest (oldest)" (Heb. 8:11). Notice
that the youngest are mentioned first! Even if you were
born again but yesterday, you can come to God boldly saying,
"O God, You are my Father, I am Your child, and therefore I
have a right to talk to You." That's the way Jesus
encouraged His disciples to go to God in prayer.
Every time we pray, we must approach God as a Father who
loves and cares, and who is interested in us. Only thus can
faith be generated; and without faith it is no use praying
at all. God is a good God. He delights to give good gifts to
His children. The Bible says in Psalm 84:11, "No good thing
does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." In Psalm 37:4
it says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give
you the desires of your heart." These promises in the Old
Testament are endorsed and confirmed and amplified by Jesus
in the New Testament along with many more promises.
This is the foundation for our faith - the conscious
acknowledgement of God as our loving Father.