is going to be the real Jesus.
And it's unfortunate that we have to speak
about that because God never intended that there
should ever be any other Jesus presented to
this world than the real one.
Everything valuable has been counterfeited.
People don't counterfeit things that are not valuable.
Even in the time of the apostles, we
read of Jesus being counterfeited.
So, I want to turn, first of all,
to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 11.
So, you'll see this is not a problem
that is a problem of the 21st century.
It was there right from the beginning.
The devil is a deceiver.
The Bible says he's a deceiver of the
whole world.
And one way in which he deceives people,
particularly Christians, is by presenting a Jesus which
is not the Jesus that you read in
the Bible.
Turn to 2nd Corinthians 11, verse 3.
Now, these were believers.
Remember, in Corinth, Paul is writing to born
-again believers in the church in Corinth and
telling them, he says, I'm afraid.
I am afraid that you believers will be
deceived by the devil.
Just like the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, by his cleverness.
The Bible says that there's no one among
all created beings cleverer than Satan.
Read that in Ezekiel 28, where God says
about Satan, you are wiser than Daniel.
Now, God didn't consider Solomon to be the
wisest man on earth, just like other people
do.
His wisdom was earthly.
Daniel was the one whom God considered the
wisest person and he looked at the devil
and said, you're wiser than Daniel.
So, among all created beings, he's the cleverest,
he's the smartest, the shrewdest and he fell
away.
And if any of us think that we
can fool the devil, it's not true.
He's cleverer than all of us and he
studied human nature for 6,000 years.
He studied Christians for 2,000 years and
he knows exactly how to fool any Christian
today.
And anyone who thinks he's smarter than the
devil, is just fooling himself.
Now, why has God made it like that?
Why has God allowed Satan to be cleverer
than even Daniel, who was one of the
finest men in the Old Testament, cleverer than
you and me?
And the answer to that lies in the
answer to this question that we see in
the Old Testament.
Why did God allow the enemies of Israel
always to be stronger than them?
Israel was always a small, weak nation, just
like today.
And throughout the Old Testament, you see massive
enemies, hundreds of thousands of people coming against
Israel and Pharaoh's army coming against Israel.
And here was Israel, a helpless group of
people.
The reason was so that Israel would never,
never depend on their own ability.
If Israel was a huge, mighty nation with
millions of people, soldiers and others were weak,
they wouldn't need God.
They could handle the problem themselves.
And that's why God has always made His
people weak so that they would depend on
Him.
God has made you and me not as
sharp as Satan so that we don't depend
on our own cleverness.
And do you know who are the ones
who go astray in Christianity?
Those who depend on their own cleverness.
So Paul says, I'm afraid.
You know, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
he says, you guys are all so clever.
Corinth was a place where a lot of
clever Christians were in the church and that's
why they were so carnal.
And he says, I'm afraid of you clever
people that the serpent will deceive you by
his craftiness and he will lead your minds
astray from the simplicity that there is in
Jesus.
That's what he's afraid of.
There is a simplicity about the real Jesus.
He's not complicated.
And he says, I'm afraid that you with
all your cleverness you'll get all these ideas
and be led astray from that simplicity and
purity that there is in Christ.
Whenever your Christianity, please listen to this, the
two words here, simplicity and purity.
Whenever your Christianity has got away from simplicity
and purity, you can be sure the devil's
got the better of you.
I don't care what else you do.
I don't care how much evangelism you do.
I don't care how much even praise and
worship you do.
Where you've gone away from simplicity and purity
in your life, the devil succeeded.
And how does he do it?
It says here, Paul says to the Corinthians,
if someone comes to you, verse 4, and
preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached.
So this was happening in the first century
too.
The name was the same, but it wasn't
the same person.
Is it possible that a lot of Christians
today are believing in another Jesus?
And maybe that's why their lives are so
powerless.
Because, I'll tell you why.
Because Jesus said, he who believes in me,
these are some of the things that are
going to take place in his life.
And why is it there are so many
people who say they are believing in him,
and nothing seems to be happening in their
life?
Their life is so worldly, so defeated, just
like any other person in the world.
It must be that they are not believing
in the real Jesus.
I can't think of any other reason.
Or is it that Jesus broke his promises?
Or he's changed his mind?
He hasn't changed his mind.
He's the same yesterday, today and forever.
If someone comes and preaches another Jesus, it
says in the last part of that verse,
you bear it beautifully.
You accept it.
Now why do people want another Jesus, and
not the real Jesus?
If we can understand that, we won't be
deceived.
Now I'll tell you.
It's because the world, even the Christian world,
wants a Jesus who will allow you to
live the way you want to live.
And continue seeking your own, and go to
heaven when you die.
A Jesus, who will make you rich and
healthy, like all the other people in the
world, but won't tell you to die to
yourself.
And that's what everybody wants.
He says, you bear it beautifully.
And there's a lot of that going on
today, in the world, in Christian television, in
a lot of public crusades.
I think there are a lot of sincere
people going to all these meetings, watching all
these television programs.
But their lives are not being changed.
They're not coming into a life described in
the New Testament of overcoming, overcoming sin.
They're not coming into the type of family
life described in the New Testament.
Many of these people, even the people who
stand up in the pulpit, are divorced numerous
times.
It's another Jesus.
It's another Jesus, who's not much bothered whether
you maintain God's holy standards or not.
So long as you get large crowds in.
The real Jesus in Scripture was never interested
in crowds.
Did you know that?
You know, when one of the largest crowds
followed Him once, He turned around and said
to them, you can never follow Me if
you don't hate your father, mother, brother, sister,
and your own life, and wife and children,
and take up your cross every day and
follow Me, and forsake all your possessions.
He said, don't waste your time following Me.
Where in the world do you find a
preacher who preaches like that to a large
crowd today?
It's another Jesus.
Today's preachers, when they look at this great
crowd, say, it's wonderful you fellows have all
come, go and bring your friends next time.
And it's a type of message that makes
them happy, live just like everybody else in
the world, and imagine that they're disciples of
Jesus.
It is another Jesus.
So, what is our responsibility?
I think of the words of Jesus when
He was with His disciples after His resurrection.
And He said to them, As the Father
sent Me, so send I You.
Do you remember those words?
As the Father sent Me, so send I
You.
Now I want every one of you, if
you're a serious Christian, I want to tell
you something.
Those words are what Jesus is speaking to
you.
As the Father sent Jesus, I want to
say to you in Jesus' name, Jesus is
sending you out into the world.
Okay.
Now let us see what did the Father
send Jesus into the world for?
Now it's very important, before I come to
that, just finish this verse, 2 Corinthians 11
verse 4.
What happens when this other Jesus is preached?
You see, He's talking about preaching here.
And therefore, that verse primarily refers to preachers.
And preachers are not just those who stand
in pulpits.
You may be preaching at home.
You may be witnessing to people.
And when you preach another Jesus, the end
result, one of the results that comes from
preaching another Jesus is that you receive another
spirit.
Not the Holy Spirit.
Some other spirit gets into you.
And that also I have seen.
When people listen to these preachers who are
preaching another Jesus, who's come to make you
wealthy and healthy and bless you with all
material blessings and that's about the only thing
He does for you and doesn't give you
any victory over your anger and your bitterness
and your grumpiness and your depression and your
gloom and excuses all that just makes you
healthy and wealthy and prospers your business and
is not interested in your reaching out to
needy places to bring people to Christ.
What happens is when people, because they like
to listen to this type of Jesus who
makes no demands upon them.
And they open themselves up to this type
of preaching.
You know what happens?
They receive a different spirit.
And that also I've seen.
It's another spirit.
It can duplicate many of the gifts of
the spirit but it's another spirit.
And then they open themselves to another gospel.
A completely different gospel from the gospel found
in the scriptures.
So all that flows from listening to the
preaching of another Jesus.
So that's why it's important for us.
So what's our responsibility?
As the Father sent Jesus you and I
have been sent into the world.
Now what did the Father send Jesus for?
I want to show you a verse in
John's Gospel chapter 1.
Turn with me to John's Gospel chapter 1
and see what the Father sent Jesus for.
It says here in John 1 and verse
18.
Now it's important for us to understand this
because it relates to that other verse.
As the Father sent me so send I
you.
So to try and understand what did the
Father send Jesus for?
Now a lot of people will say he
was sent to die for the sins of
the world.
That was one small part of it.
But notice what it says here.
No one has seen God at any time.
John 1 verse 18.
John 1.18 No one has seen God
at any time.
But the only begotten Son who is in
the bosom of the Father, he has explained
Him.
The world was full of people who had
never seen God and all the great religious
leaders that came before Christ and subsequently also
have tried to explain a God whom they
never saw.
I mean it's like trying to draw a
picture of an animal you've never seen in
a zoo or a photograph of.
You try and draw it and ten different
people draw ten different pictures.
And that's why you have so many religions.
People are talking about a God whom they've
never seen.
Whom they know nothing about.
But there was one person and that was
Jesus because he came from heaven being the
second person of the Trinity.
He came to show the world what God
was like.
That was the primary reason why he came.
And his death on Calvary was also part
of that.
To show that God loved the world so
much that He was willing to give His
Son to save you from your sin.
So Jesus we can say primarily came to
earth because no one on earth had seen
God and God loved the earth so much
people on the earth so much that He
sent His Son to show these people what
I'm really like.
And there was another reason for that because
there were a whole bunch of religious people
in those days just like religious people today
called the Pharisees.
And they were also people who had not
seen God.
But they were every Saturday in their meeting
hall they were explaining to people what God
was like.
And they hadn't seen God.
And they told them that God was like
this and like this and drew a picture
of God before their congregation where God was
so strict about certain rules and regulations and
only if you did that and if you
did it like this and you did it
like this then only God would be happy
with you.
And those poor simple people were sitting there
listening to these preachers Saturday after Saturday and
paying their tithes and they preached to them,
God will be very angry with you if
you don't pay your tithes.
And God will be very angry if you
do this and do that and all things.
And these poor people were slaves.
They had the picture of a God who
was like a policeman who was or a
judge who was out to catch them for
every little thing.
And God sent His Son to show them
what He really was like.
And He came to earth.
And who do you think His biggest clash
was with?
We never read that He clashed with the
Romans or the Greeks or the murderers of
the world or the gamblers or the adulterers
or the thieves.
His clash was with these religious leaders who
were presenting another picture of God to the
people.
And I want to say to you my
dear brothers and sisters if you take upon
yourself the ministry that God is giving you
and me to go into the world as
the Father sent Jesus our calling is exactly
the same.
When Jesus came to earth there was another
God being presented.
People of course they were preaching from the
Bible.
Now I know there were other religions in
India and other places those days where they
were preaching other gods.
I'm not talking about them.
They were false.
They were not so dangerous because they were
not talking about the true God at all.
But in the Jewish synagogue they were holding
the Bible.
They had the Bible from Genesis to Malachi
and they read it and read it and
they presented another God that was more dangerous.
And today Christians are not going to be
deceived by listening to all those false religions.
It's when a man gets up with the
Bible and preaches from the Bible and presents,
you know he picks out certain favorite verses
and unfortunately one of the great tragedies today
is today's Christians don't know the Bible properly.
They don't read the Bible enough.
They read so many other things.
They watch so many other things.
But they don't know the Bible enough and
so all these preachers have a heyday fooling
all these people who don't know the Bible.
They pick out certain verses and say, don't
you see it says here, it says here
like this and convince people that this is
what God is like.
And it's exactly the same today as it
was in Jesus' time.
And Jesus came to show that that's not
what God was like.
And can you imagine the anger of these
preachers?
Because this young man came up and said
God's not like that.
This is what God is like.
That's why they killed him.
So I want to say that if the
Father sends you and me into the world
just like, if Jesus sends you and me
into the world just like the Father sent
Jesus our calling is going to be the
same.
I'm not supposed to sit back and say
well I just take care of my family
and bring up all my children in a
godly way and that's it and finally we'll
all go to heaven.
That's the most selfish way you can live.
Do you think people in the world don't
think of their own families?
That's all they think about morning, noon and
night.
And what do you think about a Christian
who all he does is sits and thinks
about his own family going to heaven when
he dies?
What about the rest of the world?
We're supposed to be witnesses to the uttermost
parts of the earth.
We're supposed to stand up and expose the
real Jesus and show that all this other
counterfeit Jesus is not the real one.
That's our calling.
As the Father sent me so send I
you.
Because like it says here no one has
seen God at any time.
I would say lots and lots of Christians
today have not seen the real Jesus.
And we it's a fantastic calling.
I mean I'm amazed that God would give
us such a calling to show what Jesus
is like and it doesn't have to be
in the pulpit.
I mean just think for a moment.
You know the Bible says in the same
gospel let me read you this verse.
John 1 4 John chapter 1 verse 4
In him was life and the life was
the light of men.
You know this is the big difference between
the New Testament and the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament it was the word
which was the light of men.
You read that in Psalm 119 verse 105.
Thy word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
That's the only light they had.
And they'd get up and preach the word
and say that's the light.
Listen to it.
But then Jesus came because nobody had that
light in the Old Testament.
But Jesus came and said here is the
real light.
It was his light.
There was a light he lived.
Do you think people saw God only when
Jesus got up in the pulpit?
Oh no!
They saw God when Jesus lived in Nazareth
at home as a 20 year old young
man.
They saw God when Jesus worked in the
carpenter shop.
I mean you didn't have to wait till
he was 30 years old if you went
into his carpenter shop and dealt with this
young carpenter of Nazareth.
25 year old young carpenter of Nazareth.
You'd have seen God.
You'd have seen something in his life which
you'd have never seen in any religious person
anywhere in Israel.
So he was manifesting God all the time.
But 33 years it was his life which
was the light.
Don't ever forget that.
And if that's the way that Jesus is
sending us to the world like the Father
sent him you may never stand in the
pulpit all your life.
90% of Jesus' life, 30 out of
33 years he never stood in the pulpit.
It was his life which was the light
of men.
And that means his life at home with
his mother Mary and his four brothers and
sisters at home and in the carpenter shop
and the different people who came and his
customers.
He was a carpenter earning his living by
making stools and benches and tables and things
like that and people came and ordered things
and the way he dealt with them and
the way he collected their money and the
type of material he the type of furniture
he made for them and he was manifesting
a certain life in all those things.
Just as much as when he stood in
the pulpit.
And that's where all of us have hope
because most of us may never stand in
a pulpit.
But that's not the light.
The light is the light.
So just look at it like this for
a moment.
What does this mean in practical terms?
Supposing instead of you supposing one day the
Lord came to you, Jesus himself and said
okay, instead of you going to work today
I'm going to work in your place.
I will go as you.
I'll take your name and work in the
office as you.
And let's assume that he can miraculously put
on your face and now remember it's Jesus
going with your face and with your name
and working in your office.
Do you think people would sit up and
say hey what happened to this person?
He's so different now.
Would they say that?
That is the challenge that comes to us.
Supposing one day Jesus said okay I'm going
to go back from work in your place
and your wife's not going to see you
today she's going to see me.
But you won't know it's me.
You'll think it's still you.
I'm going to take on your face and
would your wife say boy, what's happened to
my husband?
He's come home a different man.
Would there be a difference?
Ask yourself.
Or would your wife say that's my husband.
Would people at work say that's the same
person.
That's a very challenging thing.
That is the test.
Please take it seriously.
In your home, in your work, you may
be a wife.
Supposing Jesus says no, okay I'm going to
replace you today as a mother and as
a wife.
Would people in your home see a difference?
Would your children see a difference?
Would they say hey how come mommy's like
this today?
And there I want to say my brothers
and sisters we see how unlike Jesus we
have conducted ourselves in our home to our
husband wife, children in our place of work.
We're religious.
We've got all the trappings of our particular
religious denomination and you know how various people
through the years had various emphases and if
you're a Christian you'll do this, you'll carry
a Bible, you'll speak in tongues, you'll grow
a beard or you'll dress like this or
you won't dress like this.
What all things the world has heard about
do you think a Christian is seen in
the way he dresses?
Some people say oh you've got to dress
shabbily then you're like Jesus.
Some people say no you've got to dress
as a suit and tie then you're like
Jesus.
I want to tell you it's got nothing
to do with these things.
It's a life throughout Christian history.
The devil has always tried to shift that
emphasis from the life of Jesus onto something
else.
It doesn't matter what it is.
Something other than the life, dress in a
certain way or your appearance must be this
way or must sing in this way or
some religious activity anything other than life because
the devil knows if you discover that it's
the life that is the life, boy his
kingdom will be shaken because his kingdom is
the kingdom of darkness and you can't shake
that kingdom of darkness with a particular type
of dress or with a particular type of
religious activity or whether you grow a beard
or not or whether you behave like this
or not externally I mean or with any
type of religious activity or the way you
have your meetings.
It's got nothing to do with these things.
It's got to do with the life which
is the light of men.
That light can shake his kingdom and that's
why the devil's always got Christians concentrating on
anything other than the life of Jesus and
if you don't believe me examine your own
life haven't you found yourself drawn to certain
people because they dress like you.
Their meetings are like the way you like
it.
What's it got to do with meetings?
It's got nothing to do with meetings.
It's got to do with the life.
The life of Jesus and do you see
how the devil succeeded with so many of
us by shifting the emphasis from life onto
something else it doesn't matter what it is
and then we have all these Christians with
their hundred or thousand different emphases all different
from the life of Jesus and all criticizing
each other because these fellows are not doing
this and these fellows are not doing that
in him was life and the life was
the light of men and there was something
about that life which was different from any
other life that was seen on the face
of the earth.
What was the difference?
It was not that he carried a bible
and went to a meeting it was not
that Jesus dressed in a particular way.
I think Jesus looked just like all the
other people of his time dressed like them
and his appearance was like them and that's
why you know the chief priests and all
were not able to identify him in the
garden of Gethsemane.
They'd seen him so many times in the
temple why did they need Judas to identify?
Do you need somebody to identify a man
whom you've seen for three and a half
years preaching in the temple and regularly regularly
I mean you've seen me much less than
that.
You'd identify me anywhere.
Why do you need some close friend of
mine and say point out who Zach is
to me Why did they need somebody to
point out Jesus because he looked so much
like the other people.
He was not special and in the darkness
they thought they'd miss him for Peter or
somebody else.
They wanted to get the right man which
proves to me that in Gethsemane that proves
to me that he was just like everybody
else.
It was not in his dress or in
a particular way he walked or anything.
It was a life that was different and
I want to say to you my brothers
and sisters the one thing that should distinguish
us from people in the world is our
life.
It's not anything else.
It's our life and we see here the
main characteristic of the life of Jesus.
I want to turn you to John's Gospel
chapter 17 which he said at the end
of his life.
He himself said these words to the father.
I want you to see these words.
John's Gospel chapter 17.
He said father the hour has come.
Glorify thy son.
The son also may glorify thee.
And he says in verse 4.
I have glorified thee on the earth.
I have accomplished the work which you have
given me to do.
There was only one thing Jesus came one
goal or ambition he had and that was
to glorify the father.
In everything he did before he did it
he'd say will this glorify the father?
And let the Holy Spirit witness to him
and if he felt it would glorify the
father he'd do it.
That's why he prayed so often.
And that's why we don't pray so often.
That's why we don't ask the Lord so
often.
I don't mean kneeling down and going through
the ritual of prayer.
I've seen a lot of people who go
through hours of religious ritual of prayer who
are some of the most carnal and nasty
and hard to get along people I've met
on the face of the earth.
Very religious.
Very prayerful.
Just like the Pharisees.
But it's a ritual.
For Jesus prayer was talking to the father.
Will this glorify you father?
If it doesn't I don't want to do
it.
I don't want to do anything that is
going to not honor you.
It's not in your will.
It won't glorify you.
That's how he lived for 33 years.
He never sought his own.
He always sought what will glorify the father?
Will that glorify the father?
That was the principle of his life.
And that's how he finished the work.
I've glorified you on earth and I've finished
the work you gave me to do.
Everything he did on earth.
I mean if his mother sent him to
fetch a bucket of water from the well.
You know they didn't have running water in
their houses those days.
Go to the village well and get a
bucket of water Jesus.
And little 12 year old Jesus would run
off to the well and he'd get a
full bucket of water.
Not a half a bucket.
Because that wouldn't glorify the father.
Little things like this.
That you know you'd say what's so great
about whether you bring a half bucket of
water or a full bucket of water?
It's in the little things that you see
a godly man.
The little things.
The little faithfulness.
Faithfulness with money.
As a carpenter.
He was faithful.
He wouldn't overcharge people and take advantage of
poor people.
It's in little things.
In everything.
What will glorify the father here?
In every area of his life.
That's why he needed to pray.
We don't pray because we think, yeah we
know.
I've glorified you on earth and I've finished
the work you gave me to do.
And I want to show you, before I
move on from this passage, the previous verse.
It's the finest definition of eternal life that
I've found anywhere in the Bible.
You want to know what eternal life is?
A lot of people say eternal life means
I mean if you were to ask the
average Christian, I'd say 99% of those
Christians will not give this answer.
I mean, before I showed you this verse
if I were to ask you, what is
eternal life?
What would your answer be today?
Many of you have been saved for many
years.
What would your answer be?
You'd probably say eternal life means I'm going
to live forever in heaven.
That's not how Jesus defined it.
If there was one person who could define
eternal life, and if you have this, you've
got eternal life.
If you don't have this, you don't have
eternal life.
Listen to it.
John 17 verse 3.
This is Jesus' definition of eternal life.
And that's why we need to know the
real Jesus because there's another Jesus preaching another
type of eternal life.
This is eternal life, Jesus said that they
may know thee.
To know what God is like.
And to know Jesus Christ who was sent
by the Father.
The more I know Jesus Christ that is
eternal life.
To know God and to know Jesus Christ.
Not to know about God or to know
about Jesus Christ.
You may know about somebody but you don't
know that person.
But the way you know your husband.
The way you know your wife.
If you've been married 30, 40 years you
really know one another.
Jesus said to know him like that that
is eternal life.
And the reason why there's so much worldliness
among Christians is because they don't know Jesus.
The reason why there's so much of legalism
and religious rules and regulations is because they
don't know Jesus.
And the reason why they don't know Jesus
is because the preachers they're listening to are
not telling them about Jesus.
They're telling about all these rules and regulations.
They're telling about psychological techniques to become rich
and how we can get things from God
and teaching a wrong type of faith than
the faith spoken of in the Bible.
That's why you see such a powerless Christianity
today.
Let me show you another verse.
Philippians in chapter 2.
Now this is another very, very important verse.
In Philippians chapter 2 we read.
See I want to give you a little
bit of the history of this passage.
It's written right there.
Paul was in jail.
In prison.
And Paul was a man who had a
great burden for the churches he planted.
Just like a mother would have a concern
for her children.
How are they getting on?
I mean children are far away.
She'd want to know how are they getting
on.
She'd want to telephone them.
She'd want to get a letter from them
or want them to call.
Here was prison.
Paul was in prison and there was no
way of finding out how is this little
church in Philippi getting on which I planted
some years ago.
And he said I'm going to send somebody
to find out.
I've got a number of co-workers here
with me and I want to send one
of them because I can't go.
They've locked me up in prison.
I want to send one of them to
go to Philippi to stir them up and
to find out how things are going on
there.
And he looks around at his co-workers
and he can't find anyone except Timothy.
Is it because he had only one co
-worker?
He had a number of co-workers.
And I want to tell you Paul's co
-workers had a pretty high standard.
If you read in Acts of the Apostles
chapter 13 and 15 you'll read there how
Paul said we'll never take that fellow John
Mark again on our team.
I know he's a fine brother, he's born
again filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking
in tongues and all that, but we're not
going to have him on our team anymore
because that guy's a half-hearted fellow pulled
out of work just because things got a
little tough.
You know, if Paul selected you for his
team, that itself is a great honor.
But as people continue you know a lot
of people when they first come to Christ
they're so excited.
I've seen a lot of people, a lot
of young people when they first come to
Christ, they're so zealous.
They're full of zeal and excitement and dedication
and sacrifice and everything and then you see
them 10 years later, 15 years later not
at all like that.
All the zeal is gone, the fire is
gone.
It's great when I see young people on
fire for the Lord and I say well,
I hope the fire will be more 10
years from now 15, 20 years from now.
And people continue, why do I say that?
Because I see a lot of people whom
Paul called young, zealous people years later.
You know what happened to them?
They were all seeking their own except Timothy.
That man endured.
One man among all Paul's co-workers.
I think all of them started out seeking
God's glory otherwise Paul wouldn't have got them
on his team but after a while one
by one they began to seek their own.
And so when Paul wanted to send somebody
to Philippi, he looks around and he says
he ticks them off in his mind one
by one should I send him?
No, he's seeking his own.
Then what about this guy?
He's a good chap, he knows the Bible
but he's seeking his own too.
What about this person?
Yeah, he was fine, I remember what a
zealous young fellow he was when he first
came on to our team but now he's
seeking his own.
But Timothy ah, that's the chap he's steadily
gone on and on and on and on
You know I want to say to you
my brothers and sisters it's wonderful to be
zealous when you're first converted.
I hope it'll continue to greater heights of
glory as you continue because I want to
tell you something 90% or more of
Christians do not go that way.
There are probably a lot of people sitting
here who when you were first converted you
had such a passion you were zealous, you
wanted to live for God but where are
you today?
Lots and lots of people I've seen in
India I don't know all of you but
I've seen folks in India almost all of
them backslide when they get married they're zealous
before they get married they get married and
they have one or two children so when
I say when I see a zealous young
person I say praise God brother but I'm
not going to give a final verdict on
you yet I'll wait till you have one
or two children then let me see what
you're like that's what happened to these these
people and Paul said but Timothy is different
and what was different about Timothy?
It says here in verse 21 Philippians 2
verse 21, let me read from 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
because I have no one else of the
same spirit I don't have anyone else whom
I can send who's got the same spirit
who will genuinely be concerned about your welfare
because they all seek after their own interests
and not those of Christ Jesus when Jesus
came to earth he did not seek his
own we can say there are two trees
the tree of Adam and the tree of
Christ everyone we're all born into the seed
of Adam we can say we were branches
on that tree and we received the life
of that tree and you know what the
life of Adam is which we have all
received from our parents it's a life that
is primarily interested in seeking our own if
I do this how will it benefit me
if I go and live in such and
such a place how will it benefit me
how will it benefit my family how will
it benefit my children of course I also
want to be religious I also want to
be filled with the Holy Spirit I also
want to speak in tongues I want to
praise the Lord I want to be in
a good church I want to give a
little money for missionary work I want to
do some type of activity all that is
ok, I mean we'll do all that but
basically my fundamental decisions in life are determined
by how will this benefit me how will
this benefit my family the entire race of
Adam is like that that's how every businessman
lives in the world how does every businessman
live how will this benefit me how will
this benefit my family of course, if my
going to church and attending meetings will bring
me in touch with other businessmen and other
influential people I'll do that I meet a
lot of businessmen who go to church but
their fundamental aim in life is not glorifying
God, or politicians they're politicians what's every politician
thinking of how will this benefit me and
when you have a race for the president's
seat what are they seeking how will this
benefit me how will this benefit my family
what about a lot of people who are
seeking to be a pastor in some church
what are they thinking of how will this
benefit me if I become pastor of this
church it's the same story in 2000 years
this is the tree of Adam and Jesus
is another tree to be in Adam, the
Bible speaks about being in Adam and in
Christ now let's look at this tree called
Jesus Jesus came to earth to live by
a completely different principle from the life of
Adam Jesus principle was how will this glorify
the father if I go and live here,
will that glorify the father, if I do
this, will it glorify the father if I
spend my money like this, will it glorify
the father, if I live like this, if
I spend my days like this if I
spend my hours like this, will it glorify
the father, that's the principle by which he
lived he wasn't just interested in going to
meetings and just doing a few religious activities
to ease his conscience and live for himself
that's religion now when a person lives like
that and is a worldly unconverted person, that's
ok because that's how all children of Adam
are supposed to live but when a person
calls himself a Christian a disciple of Jesus
and lives by that principle that's what the
Bible calls Babylon that is Babylon, do you
think Babylon is just some particular denomination do
you think by coming out of some denomination
you come out of Babylon do you think
you get rid of certain habits in your
life and then you got rid of Babylon,
I wish it were so easy do you
think if you change the way you dress
you got rid of Babylon, oh I wish
it were so easy, it isn't Babylon goes
far deeper than all that, do you think
if you change the style of your meeting
we got rid of all that Babylon, we
are now in Jerusalem is it a style
of meeting is it a style of dress
is it a particular subject that you preach
on no, it's much more deep rooted than
that it's a question of whether we've been
taken out of that spirit that is in
the race of Adam and we have partaken
of the spirit that was in Jesus Christ
where he said, Father I've glorified you on
earth you know we read of a time
when the disciples heard Jesus pray wonderful it
says in Luke chapter 11 he was obviously
praying out aloud with his disciples around him,
just like we would pray aloud when we
are with some fellow disciples and these disciples
remember had grown up in the synagogue listening
to all the religious prayers the Pharisees prayed
and here we read in verse 1 Luke
11 1 that they heard Jesus pray and
they'd never heard anything like this in their
life and they said Lord, teach us to
pray, verse 1 Lord, this is real prayer
this is communing with God this is not
some ritual this is not something to ease
our conscience looking at our watch, ok I've
spent 3 hours that's alright now, I can
get up this is not like that, I
mean we've seen enough of that Lord in
the synagogue this is real we've never heard
in our life anything any prayer like this,
what we heard just now maybe it was
only 5 minutes, but it was real and
they said Lord, can you teach us to
pray like this and Jesus said sure this
is how you must pray the most important
thing when you pray is that you must
be concerned about the Father's name and His
glory and not your own see what He
told them, when you pray say Our Father
hallowed be Thy name Thy kingdom come if
that is not your fundamental desire in life
your prayer will be just another religious ritual
it may be fervent and loud and screaming
and zealous, there may be tears actors can
do that God's not impressed I want to
ask you my brothers and sisters I don't
speak as someone who's preaching to you God
is my witness that every day of my
life I live in a judgment of myself
I stopped judging other people long ago I
did do that foolishly for many years and
made a mess of my life, but I
finished with all that, I don't judge any
of you, it's not my business I've got
enough to do judging myself I live before
God and I say Lord, am I seeking
your glory or am I seeking my own
here I want to tell you honestly many
many times the Lord has shown me there
you were seeking your own even today and
I believe as I see it I can
repent I can turn from it and a
little more fulfill the purpose with which Jesus
placed me on this earth I want to
encourage you to live like that if you
want to live the most worthwhile life you
can ever live in this one short life
God gives you on this earth, my brothers
and sisters, many years of our life have
gone by, some of you who are young,
oh you are the luckiest people sitting here
why are you the luckiest people sitting here,
because you can hear this message when you're
young and if you stick to it, imagine
what you'll be if the Lord tarries when
you're 50 or 60 years old, like me,
boy you'd be one of the godliest people
on earth if you live like this, I
wish somebody had told me this when I
was 19, this is what you gotta live
for Zach, this is the only thing you
must live for I wish somebody had got
a hold of me, I was converted when
I was 19, and I wish somebody had
got a hold of me at that time
and said, this is what you must live
for and if ever they saw me slipping
out I wish I had a mentor who
would hold me and say no that's not
the way Zach, don't live for yourself you'll
regret it when you get to the end
of your life live for God, live for
the glory of God I struggled through religious
Babylon for many years stumbled, fall, got up,
stumbled, fall, stumbled but I thank God I
found something and I want at least the
closing years of my life to go from
one degree of glory to another and that's
why I say you young people are the
luckiest because you can hear this I'm not
saying you live this way I hope you
do, but whether you will or not I
don't know, I've seen a lot of young
people who start off so well, God blesses
them and they get so proud, they get
so puffed up that God has to push
them aside, I hope that'll never happen to
anybody sitting here but if you're determined like
young Timothy there's an example there in scripture
Timothy was a very young man, probably about
18 years old when Paul picked him up
18 years old and it doesn't say that
in scripture but perhaps I think he was
a young man around that age and by
that time he already had a good testimony
in one or two churches around and Paul
picked him up and he was so lucky
to have a mentor like Paul a man
who didn't seek anything for himself and who
was straight in rebuking, correcting Timothy and encouraging
him and Timothy admired Paul and he took
Paul's words seriously follow me as I follow
Christ and I think Timothy said I haven't
seen Jesus but I've seen Paul and I
know a little bit of what Jesus was
like just like Jesus said to his disciples
you've seen me, you've seen the Father and
I believe that's your calling your children should
be able to say well, my dad wasn't
perfect but I saw a little bit in
him of what Jesus was like a fervent
desire to glorify the Father imagine if your
children can say that well, my mom wasn't
perfect but I saw in her a little
bit of what Jesus was like her only
passion in life was to glorify God think
if you've got younger brothers and they can
look up to you you know it's a
tremendous responsibility to be an older brother in
a family with younger brothers under you or
an older sister with younger ones under you
they're looking up to you I hope they
can see something of Jesus that's the only
life worth living for Father what's your number
one request?
Hallowed be thy name it's not easy I
can say it, I can repeat it and
you know like a ritual from tomorrow onwards
you can say okay Lord, hallowed be your
name and go around the rest of your
life seeking your own this is what's happening
in Christendom I've seen people please listen to
me I've seen people who've heard me preach
for 25 years the same truth and they're
seeking their own today it doesn't they'll nod
their heads in every meeting ah brother Zach,
this is it, we got stirred thank you
so much for that wonderful message you see
them 25 years later they're still seeking their
own so I'm not so impressed when people
come up to me and say oh brother
Zach that was tremendous I'd like to see
you 25 years later what is life I
hope you will be gripped by this I
want to tell you this I have shared
this in many places in many countries very
few very very few take it seriously everybody
would prefer the other Jesus who does not
make such demands people say oh brother what
a strain our life will be what a
tremendous strain it'll be if in everything I
have to seek whether the Father is going
to be glorified in it do you think
Jesus' life was such a life full of
strain you know people who have a life
full of strain get depressed do you think
Jesus was depressed far from it he was
the happiest person that ever walked on this
earth is the devil who tells you your
life will get all full of strain and
tension if you try to live like this
no Jesus said my yoke is easy and
my burden is light when you come to
the end of your life you'll be a
very very happy person because you live for
the same principle the same thing that Jesus
lived for Father I have glorified you on
earth and when the disciples asked him to
teach them to pray he said pray first
Father hallowed be your name of course in
my life first of all I want your
name to be glorified in my life that's
the main thing you know how much Jesus
taught his disciples don't live before the face
of men don't live to impress men don't
try to show other people how much you
pray don't try to show other people how
much you fast don't try to show other
people how much you give or what a
lot of work you've done what you've done
here or what you've done there live before
the Father let it all be in secret
let it be in secret don't let anybody
know what you did let your Father see
in secret and he'll reward you openly he
kept on telling that the only important testimony
is what your Father thinks about you not
what your fellow believers think about you whether
they think you're spiritual or they think you're
humble it's all fit for the trash can
the garbage bin what people think about me
they don't know me they see 1%
of my life and they try to assess
me do you know that all of you
know about 1% of my life maybe
members of my family know about 2%
but the remaining know about 1% even
in your own family they know so little
because they don't know your thoughts, they don't
know your motives they don't know your goals
in life and you can have all this
religious activity on the outside and look very
spiritual I want to say spirituality is determined
by what are you living for listen to
this the thing you live for determines whether
you're a sinner or a saint what you're
living for determines whether you're a spiritual person
or a carnal person it's not a question
of how zealous you are there are a
lot of zealous people who are carnal there
are zealous communists there are religious fundamentalists in
every denomination who are zealous who are even
willing to become suicide bombers for their religion
what does it prove?
it doesn't prove they're right all these things
don't mean anything if your motivation in life
is always Lord I will never seek my
own I've been taken out of that tree
this is the life of Jesus where he
never sought his own but sought to glorify
the Father I want to tell you something
if you take it seriously you may have
to take some decisions in your life concerning
certain things it can change your whole lifestyle
and people don't want that they want to
come for a little conference weekend conference like
this just feel nice and go back and
live the same old lifestyle without too much
adjustment maybe a little bit of maybe a
little more prayer at home little extra money
given for God's work here or maybe an
extra meeting but not too much disturbance to
my basic lifestyle I mean if you're like
that I say brother God bless you if
he can but I don't think much is
going to come out of it but if
you come to God and say Lord I
am willing to pay the price this weekend
I don't care what it's going to cost
me I'm willing to give up everything I
hold precious I want to please you I
want to get some understanding this weekend on
whether I'm really following you the real Jesus
or an imaginary Jesus that makes me feel
comfortable and nice let's pray bow before God
more than asking you to make a decision
which I'm not going to do I'm not
going to ask you to raise your hand
or stand up I'm not going to do
that in any meeting there's a time for
that there's nothing wrong with that but I'd
ask you to pray a simple prayer Lord
give me light that I might see myself
this weekend more clearly than I've ever seen
before myself before I don't want to be
deceived maybe you're the head of a home
you're a husband and that affects your family
and your children and you say Lord I
know the only worthwhile life I can live
on earth is a life that glorifies you
where I don't seek my own in anything
Lord there is so much of that remnant
remnants of that old life of seeking my
own that I discover here and there in
life decisions I've not taken some of them
seriously I've tried to shut my eyes to
them because they make me feel uncomfortable but
I want to face up to them Lord
and if you'll give me the grace Lord
I'll take any decision you want me to
take I can't do it I can't do
it but if you'll give me the grace
I'll take any decision you want me to
take but I want my life to count
for God I want to follow the real
Jesus please help me Lord you think the
Lord won't help you he'd be delighted to
hear that prayer from any person today old
or young God help us heavenly father help
me Lord I pray and each one who's
seeking you this night make this to be
an unforgettable weekend where we really met with
you we pray in Jesus name Amen