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  LETTING GOD GLORIFY HIMSELF AT OUR EXPENSE
  by Santosh Poonen
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of following Jesus by
having the attitude of humility and seeking God's glory above all else.
It delves into the example of Christ's selflessness, obedience, and
willingness to step down from his divine privileges to the point of
death on the cross, showcasing the ultimate sacrifice for God's glory.
The message challenges listeners to embrace a life of unselfishness,
obedience, and humility, mirroring Christ's example of complete
surrender and willingness to endure any cost for the Father's glory.

Topics: "Humility", "Selflessness"
Scripture References: Philippians 2:5, Ephesians 5:10, John 17:4, Matthew 16:24, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:21, Luke 9:23, Galatians 2:20, Romans 15:3

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of following Jesus by having the
attitude of humility and seeking God's glory above all else. It delves
into the example of Christ's selflessness, obedience, and willingness to
step down from his divine privileges to the point of death on the cross,
showcasing the ultimate sacrifice for God's glory. The message
challenges listeners to embrace a life of unselfishness, obedience, and
humility, mirroring Christ's example of complete surrender and
willingness to endure any cost for the Father's glory.

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CONTENT
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Yeah, when I consider the work of your heavens, work of your fingers,
does anybody know what is the verse before that? I didn't. I had to look
it up. So don't feel bad if you don't.

Anybody happen to know without looking? Yes. Oh, maybe she does. We
actually saw it demonstrated.

So let's turn to Psalm 8. I love the contrast here. And I encourage you,
family, as we, as you think about our memory verses during the week,
it's good that you memorize them and maybe say it over and over again. I
have it whenever the verse is posted.

I save it as my screensaver on my phone, so that I'm often reminded to
go back and look at it. And it helps me memorize it. And then when I
have time, I try to go and look at the verse itself in its context and
perhaps read the chapter or the verses before and after.

This is verse 3. When I consider your heavens, Psalm 8, verse 3, the
work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,
what is man that you take thought of him? Recently, I had the chance to
spend a few nights outdoors. It was cold, but it was beautiful. And the
stars were, it was out far away from the city lights, so you could see
the heavens.

And times like that, I think of this verse, there's such amazing beauty
there. What am I? This little speck of a speck of a speck of a speck on
earth that you say, hey, I want that you, God would say, I want to pour
my divine nature in you. I mean, there's the universe and then there's
the Milky Way, which is pretty huge in itself.

And then you've got this solar system within that, probably other
systems, star systems. That's what solar system means. It's related to
the sun.

And then the sun is huge. And then you've got these huge planets. And
earth is what, maybe fourth or fifth on the list of little small
pebbles, maybe, or specks.

And then this little speck that's so big for us, there's a little speck
called North America. On that little speck on the speck called North
America is a little country called the United States. And in that little
speck of a speck of a speck is a state called Colorado.

And now you drill down and then there's this speck on a speck on a speck
on a speck on a speck on a speck. That's me. What is man that you would
lavish your love so richly on me? I mean, have you ever looked at a
little piece of dust and think, I want to do something nice for that
piece of dust.

That's what God did for me. So what God did for you and I, let's never
forget that. And all our gathering and praising is wonderful, it's
acceptable to him, but let's never forget how small we really are.

What a privilege it is that God would come down and say, I will take on,
I will be made in appearance as this speck of a speck of a speck of a
speck of a speck of a speck. God fit into this tiny little speck so that
we might become the righteousness of God through Christ. That's verse
three and four.

But before that, verse one, Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name
in all the earth. You who have displayed your splendor above the
heavens. And then he says, but as it were, if I could paraphrase much
rather than the stars singing my praise and the mountains singing my
praise, you think it's intentional that God didn't give the mountains a
mouth and didn't give the rocks a mouth and tongues? Yes, because
there's somebody else he gave a tongue and a language and a mouth with
which to praise him.

Who? Infants. Verse two, from the mouth of infants. That's why we like
to have the children come up every now and then.

They sing better than we can from heaven's perspective. From the mouth
of infants and nursing babes, you have established strength. And the New
Testament paraphrase of that says praise, showing that praise is
strength.

Because that's the verse that was quoted in when Jesus, Matthew 21, when
Jesus was coming in the triumphant entry, he says, don't you know it's
written? You experts of the law, you missed it. Because of your
adversaries to make the enemy and the revengeful seize when I consider
your heavens, etc. And then he says, what is man that you take thought
of him and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a
little lower than God.

Who's the him? David only knew it as himself and human beings. The
writer of Hebrews clarifies, this is Jesus. You have made Jesus this man
that you would be mindful of, this speck of dust.

You have made him a little lower than God and a little is putting it
mildly. What do you mean a little lower than God? Jesus came down so far
to become the speck of a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck. And you
crown him with glory and majesty.

You make him to rule over the works of your hands and you put all things
under his feet. Verse 9, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in
all the earth. We speak in this church often about the new covenant.

And unfortunately, I don't hear much preaching about it. And that's one
of the reasons we believe God has called us to emphasize this a little
bit more and speak on it. And if you hear that often in this church,
there's a reason for it to fill up, as it were, the messages that are
lacking in Christendom.

Please understand, I'm not trying to compare myself with others or say
we're better or worse. God is a judge of that. But I know we know that
God has called us for a very specific reason.

If we didn't have a specific purpose as River of Life Christian
Fellowship, we just might as well all join whatever church is closest to
us. One that you can walk to. You don't have to drive.

Because it doesn't really matter. It does. And I believe God has called
different expressions of his body, even within this area, to emphasize
certain things.

Without comparing ourselves with others, without judging others, loving
everyone, blessing everyone we meet. But recognizing that there's a
purpose with which God has called us here. And one of those is to shine
the light on the corners of God's truth that may not otherwise be talked
about very often.

Especially as it pertains to the New Covenant. But my fear for myself
and for us as a church is that this word New Covenant can become, as
they say in the world, a buzzword. It's just, oh, New Covenant.

We've got this little niche, New Covenant. And it can become something
that just flows off of our tongues very easily without our really
knowing what does that mean. Now there's plenty of teaching that we have
available on the CFC website or even our RLC website about the New
Covenant.

So I'm not going to go into that. But if you feel like you don't really
understand the New Covenant, I'd encourage you to go sometime and search
online for teachings on that from our website. And it's important to
know that.

But I want to talk about an aspect of the New Covenant today that has
been on my heart for a few weeks. The New Covenant is essentially to
follow Jesus in such a way that I become like Him. Let's turn first to
John chapter 17.

When Jesus came and opened the new and living way, and opened the way
into the New Covenant, you can say, He went around with this phrase, You
see that over and over again in the New Testament, in the Gospels.
Follow me. He was passing by and walking along the beach.

And the Father prompted Him and said, Hey, there's a couple of guys over
there. They already knew Him. It was Peter and Andrew.

Andrew had met Him before that and then called Peter. And sometime
later, Jesus is walking by and sees them again. And the Father says,
Call them to follow you.

So Jesus goes and says, Leave your nets and come follow me. And they
did. Left their nets and followed Him.

It says, He went a little further up the beach and there was their
competition. James and John. I mean, they weren't the same.

They were two different groups. Any fish that James and John caught,
Peter and Andrew didn't get to catch. And vice versa.

And God says, Listen, you competition, I'm going to call you to build a
church together. So He says, James and John, you too. I mean, I wonder
if Peter and Andrew are walking by like, No, not them.

No, please. They've been stealing our fish. Not stealing, but they're
making more money than we are.

Something like that. But anyway, God says, James, John, you also follow
me. My point is, the call was, follow me.

And that must continue to remain the call that we emphasize if we're
going to build the church of Jesus Christ. It's not, come and listen to
some good teaching, and have a good time of singing, and let's have some
time of prayer, and let's hang out together, and eat a meal together,
and have good conversation, and you scratch my back, I'll scratch your
back, and send a few messages during the week to pep talk each other.
No.

The call from beginning to end in the new covenant is this. Jesus
saying, follow me. Must continue.

In everything you hear in this church, brothers and sisters, and those
of you online, please know, this is our heart. It's always Jesus
calling, follow me. We may express it in different things.

There are different aspects of following Jesus that we might focus on in
a message, but through it all, it's the same call. Jesus saying, follow
me, follow me, follow me, follow me. If you started by saying, I follow
you, Lord Jesus, when I gave my life to you, it doesn't end there.

Today, I've been a Christian for I don't know how many years, because I
don't remember exactly when I was born again. When I was a young boy, I
believe. But today, the call for me is exactly the same as it was when
He first called me, follow me, that's it.

Jesus said, follow me. While I was full of sin, He said, follow me, I'll
clean you up, I'll cleanse you. Now follow me.

And the call for, I remember this story, a legend has it, or the story
that's been passed down about how Peter died. I don't know if it's true,
but there's a spiritual lesson in it. They were persecuting in
Jerusalem, the way I understand it, some years after the Day of
Pentecost, many years later, and Peter was trying to escape.

And so he ran out of the city and started, and he's managed to escape.
And as he's walking, he sees in a vision, Jesus walking back, carrying
His cross. Again, this is, I don't know if it's true, because I didn't
hear it from Peter.

So one day I will ask him, is that really what happened? But the story
goes that, as he was going, he saw Jesus walking backwards to Jerusalem,
carrying His cross. And Peter asked Him, Jesus, what are You doing? He
says, I'm going again to be crucified, since You're going the other way.
And Peter knew the message.

It was his time to die. So he turned around and went back. And I think
the part I wanted to stress, was that he was saying, follow me.

That Peter remembered the call that Jesus gave him at the beginning.
Follow me, Peter. And then in John 21, right before Jesus departed, he
gave Peter the same call.

What is it to you about what happens to somebody else? Follow me. And
then at the end of his life, Jesus says, follow me. In death as well.

And Peter was crucified. And as the story goes, he was so mindful of how
unworthy he was, even to die in a similar way as his Savior, that He
asked them to hang him upside down. On a cross, upside down.

Can you imagine how painful that must have been? But regardless, that
was the call. Peter understood it. The disciples understood it.

They emphasized that. Paul said it. Follow me.

I'm following Christ. All these letters I write to you, church. All
these things I've written to you, Titus and Timothy.

It's essentially this. That you might really follow Jesus. And to follow
Him all the way to the end.

So what does it mean to follow Jesus? Because that is the new covenant.
Is to follow Jesus. In everything.

All the way to the end. If I see something of the nature of Christ, it
doesn't mean doing everything that Jesus did. That's where a lot of
people also go astray.

It doesn't mean that I have to, because Jesus cast out demons, therefore
I should. Or because Jesus healed the sick, therefore I should. Because
Jesus raised the dead, therefore I should.

God may use some in the same way that He used Jesus. But we are called
to have the same attitude that Jesus had. The nature of Christ.

The nature of God. You can say that the new covenant is essentially us
becoming like God in His nature. And that nature is manifest in our
attitudes.

More than even our words and our deeds. Let me explain what I mean by
that. Because if you look at the words of Jesus and you say, I want to
follow Jesus.

Then, well, I only say the words He said. That's it. And you never hear
any other words coming from my mouth.

We know that's not true. You look at the actions of Jesus. He did so
many actions.

He lived in Israel. Does that mean that we should therefore all live in
Israel? No. He didn't have a car.

He wore certain types of clothing. He never had a phone. All these
things.

So does it mean that we therefore adopt a lifestyle that looks like
Jesus? No. That's not partaking of His divine nature. That's not
following Jesus.

Following Jesus is in our attitudes. In your attitude which determines
your words and deeds. In your attitude, if you are like Jesus, then your
words will be Christ-like even if they are not Christ-copying.

You know, there's a difference between Christ-copying and Christ-like.
Christ-copying is, I dress like Jesus, I look like Jesus, which I don't
know what that is. I live like Jesus and all those things in an outward
way.

Christ-like is an attitude. It's my nature that's becoming more and more
Christ-like which is changing my attitude towards things and people as a
result of which my words are changed and my actions are changed. This is
what it means to partake of the divine nature.

What it means to be in the new covenant. And to follow Jesus, I'd like
you to see here in John 17 that you could sum up Jesus' life and the
example that we are to follow when he says, follow me. Jesus says,
follow me.

What is it that I'm going to follow? And I see, as I've been meditating
on Christ's life and reading about it in the Gospels and even the
teachings about the attitude. Why do we have the Epistles, for example?
If you're curious, isn't it enough that we have the Gospels? How did
Jesus live? See, that's exactly what I was just saying and that is, if I
only had the Gospels I would only know mostly what Jesus did and said.
And Luke says that, right? In the book of Acts, the first account, what
Jesus did and taught.

That's the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the book of Acts,
you get to see what the apostles or the disciples did and taught. Mostly
what they did, really, in the book of Acts.

In the Epistles, you get what the disciples taught, which shine a light
into the attitude of Christ, into the nature of Christ. That's why those
are very, very important books. A lot of people like to read the
Gospels, they like to read the Bible stories in the Old Testament.

And that's good. Children, you can start there. But as you grow in
Christ, I hope that the letters of Christ, which are the Epistles,
that's what epistle means, letter, will become precious to you because,
in a sense, they shine a light, not so much into what Jesus did, because
you don't read much about what Jesus did in the Epistles or what he said
but you read why he said what he said.

What was it about his nature and his attitude? That's why, for example,
you have a verse in Philippians 2, verse 5, that says have this attitude
in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Not have these words or have
these actions or eat the food that Jesus ate or drink the water, the
liquid that Jesus drank. Have this attitude.

That is what it means to partake of the divine nature. And I see that
Jesus' life could be summarized in this, that he only sought his
Father's glory in everything that he did. It was only this.

I only want to seek your glory, Lord. So read this in John chapter 17.
This is a prayer that Jesus prayed after a little message he preached to
his 11 disciples.

The way I understand it, by now Judas has left to go betray him. He's
left with his 11 close disciples. And he's handing off the baton to them
as it were.

And he's encouraging them. He's saying, I'm going to send you a helper
called the Holy Spirit. And then after he finishes teaching them these
things, he says, I'm going to pray for you.

And he prays to the Father in a way that they could hear him. And then
he says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son.

Now if you stop there for a moment, he says, well Jesus, I thought you
were very humble. What is this glorify your Son business? Jesus has the
right to be glorified because he is God. He's always been God.

He was speaking about the glorification that comes through his being
crucified and bearing the sins of the world. Defeating death and the
grave through his resurrection and being raised up in the heavenlies.
But even in that glorifying of the Son, you see what he says? So that
the Son may glorify you.

This was Jesus' only objective. And I see that throughout his life.
Whether Jesus suffered reproach or was honored.

Because Jesus did receive some honor. There were Greeks who came from a
long distance to see him. Herod wanted to hear him preach.

Herod was the ruler of his area. Crowds would gather to see him preach
or hear him preach or to see him do miracles. And he was a popular
person in some sense.

Had a large gathering. And then at other times a few minutes later, they
would want to kill him and stone him and throw him off a mountain. And
then they eventually did kill him.

And no matter what his outward life looked like, up or down, despised or
honored, it was this. Let your name be glorified. Father, I only want
you to be glorified.

And this, dear brothers and sisters, is the essence of the new covenant
I see. Is to seek the glory of God in all things. I talked about that
verse a couple weeks ago in Ephesians 5 verse 10 which has become my
daily motto verse.

Not just daily, like hourly, like constantly through the day. You know
Ephesians 5 verse 10, right? Let's look at it again quickly. We looked
at it a couple weeks ago.

Ephesians 5 verse 10. Let's read verse 8 first. If your Bible has it
like mine, verse 9 is in parentheses.

That means the Holy Spirit through Paul is just explaining something in
passing, but the sentence, really you can read verse 8 and verse 10
together. Ephesians 5 verse 8. You were formerly darkness, but now you
are light in the Lord. So we're talking about following Jesus.

Following Jesus is more than just saying, I was once in darkness, now I
am in light. That's a testimony of a lot of Christians. I was once in
darkness, now I am in light.

Okay. The Holy Spirit says, let's see if you're really in the light. You
were formerly in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord and so walk
as children of the light.

Let the fact that you are in the light now be seen by how you walk. That
you're following Jesus. That means it's not that I'm translated from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and I'm just sitting there
with my legs crossed waiting for Jesus to come and take me home.

He says walk as children of the light. Prove to the heavens and prove to
everybody you meet that you are in the kingdom of light by how you walk.
Continuing in verse 10, what does it mean to walk in the light? We read
in verse 10, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

This, I'll tell you honestly brothers and sisters, for a number for a
while now, has been my constant prayer. I find in the middle of the day,
if I have a little gap, maybe I'm sitting at my computer and I'm about
to do this or something else and there's a little gap, you know those
gaps in the day you have where it's like nothing really that you have to
focus on. There's a little gap before that next thing you have to focus
on.

I find this prayer coming up from within my heart. Lord, I want to learn
what is pleasing to you. Seeking to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

I just want to know that Lord. And I'll tell you my dear brothers and
sisters, if you pray that prayer in faith, He will answer. If you say
Lord, I want to learn what is pleasing to you.

And I really believe you'll show it to me. He will answer. Now, let me
give you a practical example.

Let's say you're there in the workplace. You say, Lord, what is it that
should be pleasing to you? Let's say you're doing the dishes and there's
a pile of laundry that you're trying to juggle both, right? Laundry and
dishes. And there's something else and the meals still need to be
cooked.

And all these things going on in the middle, you have this little gap of
a thought says, Lord, I just want to seek what to learn, what is
pleasing to you. And you might think, the religious person would think,
well so, just go forget about the dishes and the laundry and the meal
that needs to be cooked and go lock yourself in your bedroom. Forget
about your kids for a little while and just fast and pray for the rest
of the day.

That's religiosity. The Lord doesn't always say you know, what is
pleasing to the Lord is not always fasting and prayer, even though
that's good. It's not going out on the street and evangelizing because
you come back home and that pile will still be there and the kids will
be hungry.

So, seeking to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, after you pray that
prayer, after I pray that prayer, more often than not, I just continue
doing what I'm supposed to do next. Which is, maybe I have another work
meeting or I've got to write this email or I've got to do that other
thing. I've got to go take the kids here or for you moms, making them a
meal or doing the laundry or whatever.

You're continuing to do what you were planning to do but you're seeking
to learn what is pleasing to the Lord in your heart. This is having the
attitude of Christ. Because that's what he throughout the day, Jesus was
saying, Father what is pleasing to you? What is pleasing to you? I love
that verse in Romans 15 verse 3. Keep your finger here, we'll come back
to it.

Romans 15 verse 3. Keep your finger on John 17 that is. This is why we
are a church where we encourage you to bring your Bible because we go to
a lot of verses and it's good to follow along and read with me, family.
It's very important.

Don't just rely on my or your hearing it. Read it with me so you see it
in your Bible. For even, Romans 15 verse 3, even Christ did not please
himself but as it is written the reproaches of those who reproached you
fell on me.

Christ did not please himself so throughout the day his prayer was,
Lord, Father what is pleasing to you? I don't want to please myself. I
don't want what I do next to be determined or to be driven by a what
will please me, what will be good for me. I don't want to say that word
to my spouse or to my children or reply to that text message out of a
what will please me because Christ never pleased himself and the essence
of the new covenant is to follow Christ in every area.

It ought to be said about Santos at the end of his life Santos never
pleased himself. Now, there were times when I did. The times of
ignorance God is overlooked.

Now he commands all men everywhere to repent. I've repented of all, not
just sin. I've repented of pleasing myself.

When's the last time you repented of pleasing yourself? I'm not asking
you that question like in a pointed way. I'm asking myself that
question. Lord, have I recently repented of the fact that so many of my
decisions are made out of wanting to please myself and I want to repent
of everything that's un-Christ like and if Christ didn't please himself
it ought to be said about Santos he didn't please himself either.

The times when he did were forgiven and cleansed in the blood of Jesus
Christ and now he's always seeking only to please God because that's
what it means to follow Jesus. Now, I'm belaboring this point and taking
time with it because it would be a tragedy if I say I was a follower of
Jesus that's what Christian means and then I get to the end of my life
and Jesus shows me what it actually meant to follow him which is here in
his word and the Holy Spirit reveals to us and I realize, man, there
were so many things I didn't follow him. Where, you know, I followed him
with forgiveness of sins and I followed him in, you know, the truths he
showed me about justification and being filled with the Holy Spirit but
then Jesus went over this way in not pleasing himself and me calling
myself spirit filled and forgiven and justified and baptized in water
and all that stuff went this way in pleasing myself and I continued on
my merry way because I didn't read God's word that would have showed me,
no, but Jesus went this way, Santosh he kept quiet in that situation in
the conflict at home and you said something you didn't follow Jesus and
I know for my own life how I can go days, weeks, months even years not
even knowing that I've strayed from following Jesus so far in little
things like this, in our attitudes following Jesus in not pleasing
ourselves let's go back to John 17 like I was saying ultimately Jesus
sought the glory of the Father in everything, that's what drove his life
and he says here in verse 4 I glorified you on the earth having
accomplished the work which you have given me to do Jesus finished the
work that thank you Jesus finished the work that the Father gave him to
do and he says that finishing of the work wasn't so that I could say I
have finished the work the Lord recently peeled back some layers of
selfishness in my life and that's where this is coming from where I
started to see that my desire to be holy and to finish the work that God
placed me on the earth to do was so that I could say at the end of my
life yes Lord I finished the work that you've called me to do and then I
in an imaginary conversation I imagined that I reached the end of my
life yes I was born in sin I lived in sin and I was born again,
translated into the kingdom of light and even then sometimes I fell the
Lord slowly brought me back up and then I followed him and I served him
made myself available to be used by him and finished the work which he
gave me to do or what I thought was what he gave me to do and I imagined
that when I reached the end of my life I came to God and God says okay
Santosh well done now I'm going to send you to hell what would my
response be and I had to pause there for a moment and say well Lord that
doesn't make sense I served you I gave up for you I obeyed I denied
myself when there was that opportunity to lust I didn't lust you know
when there was that opportunity to get angry I didn't get angry and I
did this other thing and I prayed and I fasted who do I sound like the
Pharisee and my mind went back to that story that Jesus told where there
were two people standing and the Pharisee said Father I deserve heaven
God I deserve heaven that's essentially what the Pharisee was saying I
deserve heaven because I've done this I did that other thing look at my
home look at my children look at that other thing and so if God was to
say to me at the end of my life yeah you did all these things I'm going
to still send you to hell what would my response be and in the back of
that same church building was a tax gatherer Jesus said who said Lord
I'm a sinner just can you be merciful to me and I was convicted over the
thought that when I was born I was a sinner and I knew it I didn't know
it right before I was born again I was a sinner and I knew it what have
I become today am I all of a sudden not a sinner I was a sinner when I
was born I was a sinner when I was cleansed now I'm not a sinner I've
got some good works Lord don't treat me like all those other sinners now
bear with me there's an end to this but what the Lord showed me was that
I could think of my pursuit of Christ and my wanting to be like him and
finishing the work that he sent me to do and even perhaps getting there
somehow and thinking Lord look I finished the work that you sent me to
do and I expect to hear well done good and faithful servant and I sort
of straighten my collar because I'm the good and faithful servant that's
not what Jesus was talking about at all and to follow Jesus is to have
this attitude I want to talk about that for a moment because Jesus lived
a perfect life for 33 years pleased the father pleased the father so
much so that a couple of times the father was so excited by how pleasing
his son was to him that he even shouted it from heaven you read it in
Matthew chapter 3 at his baptism and then in Matthew 17 again the father
I picture it like the father was like you guys on earth this is my son
I'm so happy with him I'm well pleased with him and after 33 years of a
faithful life of pleasing the father what did Jesus hear his father say
I'm going to send you to hell I'm going to forsake you do you want to
follow Jesus have this attitude which was also in Christ Jesus who when
he heard the father say I'm going to have to forsake you son and I think
Jesus knew this before he came down to the earth but there was some
sense in which here in his humanity fully God and fully man when he when
he was there in Gethsemane which is after what we're reading here in
John 17 and the reality of it that the father would forsake him on the
cross and he would have to be forsaken for those 3 hours on the cross so
that he might repent and become sin who knew no sin that I might be the
righteousness of Christ we're told later righteousness of God 2
Corinthians 5 he became sin he was forsaken by God that's what hell is
forsaken by God and I thought of Jesus but think about following Jesus
right where he goes I want to go and Jesus followed and sought the
father's glory so thoroughly so completely so without any selfishness at
all that when the father said yes you've lived a faithful life I'm going
to send you to hell at the end of it to suffer hell which is much worse
than all the physical suffering that he suffered Jesus wrestled with it
here's why he wrestled with it because for him you know he only sought
the father's glory and for him the father's glory and the father's
presence were always the same thing he gave the father glory by his
unity with his father this is the glory that I've given them that they
may be one as you and I are one that was seeking the father's glory but
for the first time Jesus was facing the situation that the father's
glory was separate from his presence with the father that for the father
to be glorified he would have to forsake his son Jesus he'd never faced
this before and he said this is difficult father how do I pick being one
with you fellowship with you or seeking your glory and there I see how
committed Jesus was to seek his father's glory he says father I seek
your glory alone at any cost I've only come here to glorify your name
and so he says okay lord you can forsake me I'll seek your glory now the
good news is the assurance we have and you must be absolutely certain of
this I don't want to go on too much further before making it clear you
and I will never hear the words I'm going to send you to hell if you're
in Christ Jesus never because he already did it to Jesus that's why
Jesus faced that penalty Jesus faced that penalty he's the only one that
could because he was God and man and so I don't have any doubt I'm not
wondering will God really still send me to hell but there's an attitude
there that we must focus on that's the attitude I want us to meditate on
even as you think about these things that the attitude of Jesus was at
whatever cost I remember reading there's a book that A.W. Toza wrote I
forget which one it is now maybe anyway I don't remember which one he
says lord glorify yourself at my expense send me the bill I won't
complain I won't argue I won't fight against you glorify your name at my
expense this is the attitude of Jesus and yes Jesus had to take it all
the way to the very end where he experienced being forsaken by God that
was his expense what did it cost Jesus to glorify the father hell itself
now yes we know for those of us who are in Christ Jesus he will never
leave us or forsake us he will never allow us to have to face that
extreme expense I won't ever have to face eternal separation from God
because Jesus faced it for me and I am in Christ for those of us who are
in Christ he's already suffered it for us praise God for that but now
here I am on earth and I will face situations that are a little bit less
I mean quite a bit less than the suffering of hell it will be somebody
said something bad about me there is somebody said something bad about
me and then there is hell which is horrible where their worm never dies
and their fire is not quenched the reason I say this is because I have
been convicted about how easily when things don't go my way or I am in a
situation that feels difficult or constraining my tendency in my flesh
is like oh Lord why me why is it always me that's having a problem look
at that other person they seem to have such a wonderful life and my life
is so hard and so difficult and and this and then they are saying this
about me and those other people I never do them any harm and they are
spreading rumors about me and poor me poor me poor me and God says ok I
see that you really aren't interested in me being glorified in your life
and when we pray this prayer Father glorify yourself at my expense
that's another way of saying Ephesians 5 verse 10 I only want to learn
what's pleasing to you glorify your name at my expense and I found that
the Lord if I really mean that prayer will present opportunities in
front of me throughout that day through things that will happen with the
children or my wife or at work or I'll get a text message or I'll get an
email or I'll hear this or I'll hear that or I'll read the news and all
of these things are God planning my life in such a way that he can
answer and fulfill my heart's deepest cry when I said Lord I only want
to be pleasing to you glorify yourself at my expense God said ok I'm
going to take you at your word Santosh now if you really mean it you're
going to face some difficult trials you're going to experience failure
you're going to experience disappointment that thing you wanted so badly
I'm not going to let you have it that other thing you were afraid of
happening to you is going to happen to you and that other thing that you
wanted everything you had it all lined up and then something came and
messed it up as they say in the world when all hell breaks loose we
shouldn't use the word hell lightly because hell is a very very serious
thing and so I don't even use that phrase because nothing on earth is
ever close to all hell really breaking loose if all hell really breaks
loose there's no hope for us there's no mercy in hell there's no
repentance in hell it's over forever and ever so but nothing else I use
that term because a lot of people use that well you know all hell broke
loose what does that mean that oh everything went bad if Murphy's law if
something could have gone wrong it did that's the kind of day I had and
in those days oh dear brothers and sisters can we see a father who says
I want to glorify my name through your life and you won't regret it in
eternity the life that will be the most that will have been the most
successful the most useful to God is the life that was given to him
completely that he might be glorified at whatever expense where my
feelings don't even matter turn to Philippians chapter 2 Jesus
exemplified this life look at that verse I just mentioned earlier
Philippians 2 begin reading in verse 5 have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus attitude remember not actions not words
attitude who although he existed in the form of God verse 6 did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself my
margin says laid aside his privileges that's the literal meaning there I
think another translation says made himself of no reputation have this
attitude which was also in Christ Jesus who made himself not the father
made him he made himself of no reputation that means he says Lord I
don't want a reputation because today we have a version of Christianity
Christendom that where Christianity is a platform to promote your gifts
and your abilities where you copy the motivational speakers and preach
sermons based on those abilities you copy the musicians of the world and
how they play their songs and you make your Christian songs sound just
like it where you can't tell the difference sometimes you listen to
Christian radio and you're like sounds just like that other worldly song
I hear in the radio when I go to the restaurant to the grocery store
what's the difference they're seeking a reputation here in the world
they want to be popular most number of likes most number of followers
most number of views and this spirit is creeping into Christendom not
creeping it's overtaking Christendom sadly crept in 100 years ago I
think maybe 75 years ago and there weren't godly watchmen in those
churches to notice the spirit that was creeping into the church the
spirit of the world and the music and the fashion and the interests and
what captivated people's hearts and they weren't there to chase out
those spirits like Jude warned us to and now it's become where that's
what most of Christendom is like and here we are god calling us calling
all of us not just here in this church but all over the world to repent
to have the attitude that was in Christ Jesus that essentially was this
making myself of no reputation laying aside my privileges you know we
live in a day and age where everything is about privileges your
privileges taken away from you people are talking about guns being taken
away my privileges you know that Jesus laid aside his privileges you
think that that gun that people want to take away is that anything
compared to the seat of the throne of heaven where Jesus laid aside his
privilege and we have a false version of Christendom in this country
especially that thinks that Christianity is to hold on to my gun rights
and my other rights Jesus laid aside his privileges now don't take it
the wrong way if the lord gives you a conviction about something stand
to it but let it not be in this sense of self entitlement and
empowerment that I have a right to because I'm an American citizen all
you have to do is travel to some third world country and your concept of
rights and privileges will go out the door and read the book of Acts
what rights and privileges did they have under emperor Nero and so don't
fall for the fake the false religion in this country that's called
Christianity but he laid aside his privileges made himself of no
reputation that's what it means when he emptied himself and you know
discrimination discrimination is an evil evil thing people all over the
world suffered including in this country but you know Jesus was more
discriminated than anybody ever has been discriminated against and yet
he never once complained about it he didn't march down the streets of
Jerusalem discriminating saying against discrimination from the Romans
you never see him once doing that he chose to be a part of the
discrimination he chose to lay aside his privileges have this attitude
which was also in Christ Jesus who emptied himself taking the form of a
bond servant and you see this I want you to see the graph of Jesus life
as it were he starts out there, Jesus life didn't start in the manger or
even in Mary's womb this journey of emptying himself started in the
heavens we read here, this is actually where Jesus life on earth begins
as it were, it says he didn't consider equality with God a thing to be
grasped so it started in his attitude while he was there in heaven while
the angels were busy singing his praises in his mind he starts to have
this attitude which he always had but he says I'm going to start going
down I'm going to step down step down step down step down, step down
sometimes you read about elders who are asked to step down and they're
all upset, why are you asking me to step down they haven't seen Jesus if
you're ever given a ministry and then you're asked to step down read
Ephesians 2 verse 6 and say Lord Jesus you step down I want to step down
I want to know where else I can step down if it is what will bring you
greater glory God and I remember some time ago some people in this
church said Santosh needs to step down as an elder in this church I said
yes Lord if you want me to step down I will I'm not here to be an elder,
I want where Jesus is not an eldership position or pastor or all these
things Lord do you want me to step down is that where you're leading me
I want to be there I'll run there Lord, I really meant it he stepped
down took the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of
men like I talked about earlier the speck of a speck of a speck of a
speck of a speck in the likeness of men and so this is bondservant is
pretty low man is low bondservant is even lower than that and then you
found him as a man and each step of Jesus life was a little more of the
father telling him hey I need you to step down again I know you stepped
down yesterday Jesus but step down again okay father it will bring you
more glory okay I'll step down, go lower and I I'm challenged by this
because I think I'm a little bit more unselfish today than I was say 4
years ago maybe 3 or 4 years ago and it's easy for me to start to think
I'm a pretty unselfish person you know like I've said in the past too I
thought I was unselfish so I got married then I realized I'm quite
selfish I thought I was unselfish so I had children and then God said I
need to really rid him of unselfishness I'm going to give him 6 6 times
he's got to and even after that I realized I'm still so selfish and
that's when I realized Lord I haven't seen your unselfishness I want it
where if the father said Jesus I need you to step down he said okay yep
I'll step down which is exactly the opposite of what's going on in the
world and sadly even in Christendom where people are trying to step up
climbing the ladder the corporate ladder and the Christendom ladder take
both around the world he being found in appearance as a man the father
said I need you to humble yourself a little bit more and die okay yeah
I'll die and here the first death he's talking about just a normal death
even for Jesus to die a normal death let's say Jesus died of old age do
you realize how much he had to have stepped down him who had life in the
very beginning nobody created him he was with the father from the very
beginning he couldn't die there was no death in him he had to step down
so much to becoming obedient to the father showing him how to step down
again step down again Jesus there was no father what is all this step
down step down step down 33 years of stepping down again no and now you
and I when we are asked to step down or go humble myself a little bit
more we struggle with it we haven't seen the glory of Jesus humility he
stepped down and became obedient to the point of death any death would
have been a significant step down for Jesus and then the writer of Paul
says even death on the cross not just a death like death on the cross
painful and the mocking and the horrible thing that it is we don't have
crucifixion these days that's why we don't know it even the death
chamber the electric chair is sort of honorable they give you a nice big
meal at the end of it Jesus didn't have any what would you like to order
can you imagine Pilate saying hey what would you like to order as your
last meal criminals are treated with respect today Jesus wasn't even
death on a cross and then it didn't stop there even being forsaken by
his father where the one that he had experienced fellowship with all his
existence forsook him this is what it means to follow Jesus and so I'll
end there I think we've heard enough I want to follow Jesus I don't want
to just lie about following Jesus I don't want to say I've decided to
follow Jesus no turning back and then the father Jesus show me I'm going
this way I'm going down I want like Peter to see Jesus cross that he
took up on this earth he'll never have to take up a cross again I want
to see Jesus while I'm sitting there in my home with my family and see
the cross that Jesus took up and Jesus saying Santosh are you going to
follow me I'm going this way I don't know about you you can defend
yourself you can continue that argument with your spouse or you can try
to justify yourself and you can not ask for forgiveness you can choose
not apologizing but this is the way I'm going I'm stepping down one more
time will you follow me what joy we will have when we see him this is
what it means to be united with him Amen Amen

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/OfGkvfhiFVg.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/santosh-poonen/letting-god-glorify-himself-at-our-expense/
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