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  GOD'S ORIGINAL PLAN FOR CHURCH LEADERS
  by Zac Poonen
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of entering into God's
rest, highlighting the need for humility, devotion, and sensitivity to
God's leading. It encourages a deep relationship with God, a reliance on
His guidance, and a focus on glorifying Him in all aspects of life. The
speaker urges listeners to seek the Sabbath rest, to carry the burden of
Christ, and to discern between soul-driven actions and those led by the
Spirit. The goal is to experience the presence and glory of God in all
endeavors, prioritizing meeting with the Lord above all else.

Topics: "God's Rest", "Spiritual Sensitivity"
Scripture References: Matthew 11:28, Psalm 139:23, Mark 9:24, John 14:1, Hebrews 4:9, 1 Corinthians 14:25, Philippians 1:9

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of entering into God's rest,
highlighting the need for humility, devotion, and sensitivity to God's
leading. It encourages a deep relationship with God, a reliance on His
guidance, and a focus on glorifying Him in all aspects of life. The
speaker urges listeners to seek the Sabbath rest, to carry the burden of
Christ, and to discern between soul-driven actions and those led by the
Spirit. The goal is to experience the presence and glory of God in all
endeavors, prioritizing meeting with the Lord above all else.

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CONTENT
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Let's begin with a word of prayer. Lord Jesus, you are the head of the
church and we never want to forget that. We want to recognize you as
Lord in our midst at this time.

We believe you have appointed each one of us to this responsibility. We
don't want to take it for granted. We want to humble ourselves, be more
devoted to you, first of all.

Have the ears of our heart and conscience more sensitized to your voice.
You understand the dangers we are in, Lord, when we are in leadership,
with nobody to correct us, nobody to exhort us. Everybody living in
respect and fear of us.

Preserve us, O Lord, with your Holy Spirit. Move in our hearts in such a
way, not just today, but every single day, that we will lie on our faces
before you at all times, and that we will truly be servants washing
people's feet all our days. Help us this morning and encourage us and
challenge us.

We trust you, Father. We want to be like the branch in the tree,
incapable of producing any fruit apart from a constant and open
dependence upon you all the time. We know that you are more interested
in building the church than any of us are.

Any burden we have is less than 1% of what you have. Help us to share
your burden a little more. Give us more fellowship with your heart.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, brothers.

Good morning, everyone. Praise the Lord. I want to begin with a little
phrase that's found in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 8. Matthew 19 and
verse 8. Here the subject that Jesus was, he was talking to the
Pharisees, and the subject is divorce, but that's not what we're going
to talk about today.

But there's a principle here in a little statement of Jesus, which
applies to many, many areas and to our ministry. When the Pharisees
said, why did Moses command, verse 7, that a woman could be divorced by
giving her a certificate, and Jesus said, Moses never commanded it. He
permitted it, verse 8. That is the first thing we need to see.

It's very easy to misread Scripture, to make a permission into a
command, because it suits us, or to alter a command into a permission.
We have to be careful. But what we need to see here more than that is
what Jesus said.

If you want to know the truth, go back to the beginning. How is it in
God's original plan? So the phrase I have in mind is in the last part of
verse 8, from the beginning, it has not been this way. Please keep that
in mind.

From the beginning, it was not like this. And there was no permission
for Adam to divorce his wife. There were no other women there.

From the beginning, it was not like this. And when we think of building
the church, and we see what's happening in the world around today with
thousands of, tens of thousands of denominations all over the world, and
new ones springing up all the time, and so difficult to distinguish
where something is a cult, and where people are preaching the
commandments of men, the phrase that comes to my mind is, from the
beginning, it was not like this. We're talking about the day of
Pentecost.

We're talking about the first few years after the Holy Spirit was poured
out, and how the early church met. Please remember this phrase, dear
brothers, and try to understand how it was from the beginning. Study
God's word and see how it was from the beginning.

How God chose Paul to lay down certain principles about building the
body of Christ, and he not only taught it in his letters, but he lived
it in his life, particularly in his attitude to money, and the
strictness with which he conducted his oversight of all the churches. He
had this principle, if I seek to please men, I cannot be a servant of
Christ, Galatians 1.10. That's how it was in the beginning. Every true
servant of God had that spirit that Paul had.

If I seek to please men, I cannot be the servant of Christ. I will not
be a second-class servant of Christ, no. I will not be a third-class or
a tenth-class servant.

I will not be a servant of Christ at all if I seek to please one man,
and that could be a fellow elder. If I seek to please a fellow elder,
I'll no longer be a servant of Christ in my church. I will be a servant
of men.

So it's very important to keep this in mind from the beginning. How was
it? What is the attitude of the early apostles who had walked with Jesus
towards their flock? They were very strict. You can see the apostle Paul
when a man fell into adultery in 1 Corinthians 4. Oh, sorry, 1
Corinthians 5. He handed him over to Satan.

Can you think what some carnal Corinthians thought about that? What they
thought about the apostle Paul? And who probably said, Well, yeah, he
slipped up. It's not so serious. It doesn't matter.

But Paul was concerned that the name of the Lord had been so reproached
in Corinth by that man's behavior that he was led by the Holy Spirit,
obviously, because he wrote that. And he says, Put that man outside.
Don't spare him.

He was standing up for the truth. But that's what saved that man, as you
read in 2 Corinthians 2. Not only because Paul was strict, but because
the other disciples and the other people who were serious Christians in
Corinth, and perhaps I think all the church, supported Paul and did not
even visit this man. They shunned him.

And he was left alone outside. There was no foolish believer there who
went and showed some human compassion. And that's why that guy was
saved, as you read in 2 Corinthians 2. It requires a real freedom from
the opinions of men to take a stand in things like this, where the
purity of the church means everything.

And I was going to say a million times more than what people think of
us, and I say not a million times more, but everything where what people
think of us has got zero value. Whether you eat or drink, 1 Corinthians
10, 31, do all for the glory of God. That must be the passion of our
life.

God has appointed me in this church to make sure the glory of God is
always preserved here. And it doesn't matter what anybody thinks of me
when that is concerned. I'm not a politician, I'm not a diplomat, that's
what we've got to say to ourselves.

And if you're working with other elders in your church, and you find one
of them is maybe a bit lenient in a human way, well, then you've got to
be firm, even with that elder. And say, sorry, I don't agree with you. I
love you, brother, but not more than the Lord.

The first commandment is not love one another. That's the second
commandment. The first commandment is you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, all your strength, and all your soul, and all your
mind.

What's left then? It's from that source that love for others flows.
Never, never directly. If it is just from ourselves, we love one
another, there are a lot of people in the world like that.

It will be a club, or a congregation, but not the church. So, remember
this phrase, from the beginning it was not like this. And I pray that we
shall hear the Lord saying that to us many times, so that he corrects
the course.

I remember when I was in the Navy, and if I was on the bridge of the
ship, which is right on top, directing the ship and telling the person
who was steering the ship which way to turn, and you had to keep
watching the compass in those days, and if the ship, you know, because
the waves and the wind can make the ship move away from the direction.
So, initially setting the course did not guarantee that you would reach
your destination. You had to keep correcting it all the time.

And this was such a constant requirement that the Navy required us to be
on the bridge only for four hours. They knew it would be too much of a
strain to go beyond that. Then your watch was over, and somebody took
over.

Because you had to be constantly alert. If you allow the ship to drift
away, you're going to end up somewhere else. There must not even be a
one degree change of direction.

It must be constantly towards the point we are to go, and if the ship
has drifted, then we've got to change direction so that we are pointing
towards our destination. And that's how we are to lead the church
forward. The elders are the captains of the church.

And we have to constantly do a course correction if we find that
something is coming up which is moving the church away. In the
beginning, a few people come together and we're all going in the right
direction. But as more and more people get added to the church, we find
that not everybody has the same vision.

And then some of those people can gradually move others in the church so
that the direction of the church shifts. Certain habits come in. Certain
things that we had given up come back into our lives.

People who had, you know, think of something as serious as this.
Believers in our church who had completely given up pornography go back
to watching it. And they won't tell you about it, but you'll be able to
sense it without their telling you.

If you're in touch with the Lord, you won't know anything about people's
private sins. The Lord does not reveal other people's sins to us. But
you'll see when a person's cooling off, not only in his devotion to
Christ when he's probably becoming a bit hard on others in a human way,
or perhaps becoming very lenient in some areas in a human way, both
drifting to the left or to the right.

You can sense, hey, something is wrong here. I remember in the early
days in CFC Bangalore, I found a brother who was not really seriously
following the Lord. Not one of the elders, but one of the brothers in
the church.

I said to him, after the meeting I walked with him, I put my arm around
him and I said, brother, I want to tell you something. I can't stop you
from falling away from this church or from the Lord. But I'll tell you
something because I watch over your soul.

I'll warn you about it at least a few weeks or months before you
actually fall away. And then, after that, it's up to you. We can do that
when the numbers are small, and I could do that only when the numbers
were small.

When the numbers increase, we need other brothers. Other brothers came
up as elders and they could help me. But this business of shepherding
people is not an easy thing.

We need to distinguish between a brother who's like a sheep that's gone
astray, slipped up sincerely thinking the pasture was this side and
ended up falling over a cliff. That's one type of believer. Drifted
away.

The other type of believer mentioned in Luke 15 is the prodigal son. He
didn't drift away. He rebelled and said, I don't want any more of this
and went away.

And Jesus taught us you've got to distinguish between the sheep that
accidentally went astray and the son who rebelliously went away and
treat them both differently. You've got to go after that lost sheep and
carry it on your shoulder, however inconvenient that may be, and bring
him back. But the other one, you're not to talk to him or send him any
money, let him starve, let him reach the level of the pigs and then
he'll come back.

That's the love of a father. Very few elders have that type of
strictness because they haven't seen what God is like. This is eternal
life that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent.

That's how Jesus was. He could turn around to Peter and say, you are
Petra, a small little stone, but on this rock that you have confessed
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, I will build my church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And Peter, I give you
the keys.

You can open and no man can shut and you can shut and no man can open.
You can bind and it will be bound. What an authority in the presence of
all the disciples.

And one minute later or two minutes later to the same Peter, get behind
me Satan! To the same person. Two minutes later. That's how it was in
the beginning.

He loved Peter so much. It wasn't the wishy-washy type of love that so
many Christians have today. It was a strong love that desired the best
for Peter that wanted him to be a man of God that told him, you are
going to deny me three times before the cock crows and I will not pray
that you will not deny me.

Let me paraphrase Jesus' words. You will deny me and you need to fall
because you are so proud Peter. You think you are the best of these
disciples, but you are not.

You don't realize your weakness and the only way, I've tried every other
way to humble you, but you have not been humbled. Now the only other
way, it's the last resort, the last method that God uses to humble a man
is to allow that person to fall into sin, which God hates so much.
That's not his best method.

It's not even one of his methods. It's the last resort. I've tried every
other way to humble you Peter and you don't succeed then you've got to
fall.

That will humble you. Satan has desired to sift you and allow Satan to
do that so that you fall. And boy, Peter, when you come back after that,
you will be another man.

You'll never lift up your head again thinking you are somebody. You'll
bring 3,000 people to Christ with a 15-minute sermon and not just
anybody, 3,000 of the most difficult people to convert, Jews. Try
converting one Jew today.

3,000 converted with a 15-minute sermon and when Peter, when people come
up to you and say, your fellow disciples come to you Peter and say, wow
Peter what a wonderful word that was you'll shake your head and say I
know what I did six weeks ago when my Savior was being tried. He never
forgot that for the rest of his life. And sometimes God will allow
something like that to happen to us where it may look as if God did not
stand with us at that time when we fell so deeply.

Sometimes he may reveal it to others like in Peter's case, like in
David's case. I've noticed in some cases God will not allow anybody to
know about your fault. I asked the Lord about this once.

I said, Lord why is it? I know two believers. I know personally what
happened. Both fell into exactly the same sin and it was pretty serious.

And Lord you exposed one and you did not expose the other. They were
both servants of God. One was publicly humiliated because his failure
and sin was exposed.

The other was never humiliated. Lord I want to learn your ways. Eternal
life is to know you and your ways.

And the Lord told me, and this was many many years ago because one was
humble and the other was proud. And I never forgot that, what the Lord
showed me. This was way back in the early days of CFC's 1975 or
something or 77 or something like that.

And I saw how much God values humility because that is the
characteristic of his son. The primary characteristic of his son which
he said to others, learn from me for I am humble of heart. That God
values that so highly that he gives grace to everyone who humbles
himself and will even cover up the person's failure permanently.

So that not even in eternity in heaven will anybody know where that
wonderful servant of God fell. That is God's way. And God hates pride so
much that even if the man is God's greatest servant, he will expose him.

This is light and darkness. Humility and pride. They are two opposites.

From the beginning that's how sin came. When you think of from the
beginning, that phrase, from the beginning before Adam sin came through
pride. Like the Lord tells the anointed angel who became the devil in
Ezekiel 28 your heart was lifted up.

Turn for a moment there please, Ezekiel and chapter 28. Can an anointed
person lose the anointing? Yes. How did the first anointed person the
first anointed person in the universe the anointed cherub, verse 14 you
were the anointed cherub verse 12, you had the seal of perfection full
of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Anointed cherub how did he lose it? He could not submit to authority.
That's all. He wanted to be something himself.

If God can receive worship, why can't I? And it says here verse 17, your
heart was lifted up because of your beauty your wisdom and your
position. Today you apply that your heart was lifted up because people
see you are so Christ-like in your conduct you are so anointed in your
ministry and you have such Bible knowledge Wow! You can even quote the
Greek and the Hebrew and nobody sees it. Everybody in your church sits
in awe of you the great man of God who's got such a Christ-like life
who's brought up his children so well who knows the scripture so well
and whose every message of his is challenging and a blessing to us and
you meditate on all that Oh yeah, the devil will allow you to meditate
on it he wants you to and you lift your face from the ground from the
dust just a little bit in the beginning but it's just a matter of time
before you are no longer washing the feet of the disciples Now, be
careful dear brothers a number of times in Isaiah we find this phrase
coming You know, Isaiah chapter 40 onwards is really, it's very
interesting Isaiah's got 66 chapters just like I mean, that wasn't
divine inspiration, the division of the chapters but I think there was
something, the sovereignty of God there 66 chapters are like the 66
books of the Bible and Isaiah, the first 39 chapters are really old
covenant stuff and the next 27 chapters like the 27 books of the New
Testament are new covenant stuff from Isaiah 42-66 and Isaiah 40 is
about John the Baptist and that's the beginning of the new covenant and
then a number of times in Isaiah in those chapters, you read this
expression Isaiah 42-1 for example Behold my servant in whom my soul
delights, I put my spirit upon him that's a prophetic reference to Jesus
Christ but when it says behold my servant it means look carefully at my
servant that's how we are to be servants look carefully at my capital S
servant, we are not capital S servants we are small s but look at my
capital S servant, the Lord says my soul delighted in him twice I said
about him, God says this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased
don't ever compare him with Moses or Elijah or anybody else this is my
son, listen to him that's what they heard on the Mount of
Transfiguration behold my servant and so many wonderful things, if you
take all those places where that comes up you know, verse 2, Isaiah 42-2
he will not cry out or raise his voice or make his voice heard in the
street that's not the way, he did not impress people with loudness and
shouting and frequent hallelujahs and occasional bursting out into
tongues and all that that's not how he impressed people, it's all these
modern gimmicks that today's preachers have, don't ever admire any of
them steer clear of them behold the first servant he will not cry out or
raise his voice, there was a an anointing in him, in Jesus that did not
need to do anything spectacular the Holy Spirit moved in a way that
people were convicted there are some wonderful things about this servant
verse 3, he was very tender with the bruised reeds in his congregation,
in his church, in his group there are bruised reeds in our churches and
there are rebellious prodigal sons and you need to have discernment to
distinguish one from the other we've got to break the prodigal sons but
not the bruised reed, and if you don't know how to distinguish that, if
you have one policy we must be gentle and kind to everybody, you'll
never be a servant of God, Jesus knew how to deal with a 5 times
divorced Samaritan woman and you read that passage in John 4 when he
said to her, you've had 5 husbands and the one you're living with is not
even your husband she knew it was true, she said you're a prophet that
didn't puff Jesus up and don't let it puff you up if anybody calls you a
prophet and then she changed the subject she said, you know your people
say we must worship in Jerusalem but we say it must be in Samaria she
was changing the subject from that awkward questioning about her
marriage relationships and I see this wonderful spirit of Christ he did
not say hey hang on, hang on, let's talk about who you're sleeping with
he left it that is wisdom he would not break a bruised reed we need to
know where to be silent not to embarrass a person I believe I'll see
that woman in heaven I don't have any doubt about it that day itself God
used her to bring the Samaritans out to meet him God's ways are not our
ways he would not break a bruised reed but you know to be like that you
have to be always sensitive to the Holy Spirit if you think, yeah yeah I
have enough experience many a time I fall on my face before God and I
say Lord 45 years ago you filled me with the Holy Spirit and you filled
me again and again but I don't know the more I come closer to God the
more I discover how little I know and how much of unconscious un-Christ
like things there are in my flesh and I need to work out my salvation
from every day it's very important for us to live before God's face like
that always challenged by the example of John who walked with Jesus for
65 years filled with the Spirit the one on whose breast he leaned at the
Last Supper when he sees him in Revelation 1 he falls at his feet, no
question of leaning on his breast now falls at his feet like a dead man
and that's where we must be all the time and then the Lord anointed him
and gave him words for every single church according to the need of each
church and he'll give you too the word for your church according to the
need of your church which may be different from the need of some other
church but you'll get it only if you're on your face before the Lord and
the Lord even gave him a word for the elders of each church and gave him
a vision of heaven and gave him a vision of the future he was so
overwhelmed by the presence of God I was speaking the other day at the
NCCF meeting how you read that John towards the end of Revelation you
read he fell down and worshipped the angel he was going to do it twice
first in chapter 19 and later on in chapter 21 and you and I wouldn't do
that would you? You wouldn't worship any man we've got our doctrine
right so right that we could even correct the mighty apostle John John
that's not what you're supposed to do don't you know it says in
Colossians what Paul wrote that we're not to worship angels specifically
says that and here you go doing that you can correct people's doctrines
which are slightly wrong but you may not experience the overwhelming
sense of God's presence that John experienced and I want to say there
could be people whose doctrines are slightly wrong compared to the
correct doctrines we have in our churches and yet those brothers may be
so much more living in the presence of God than we who crossed our T's
and dotted our I's so that we don't make any mistake in Indian doctrine
beware of that.

I don't mind if I discover when I stand before the Lord that some of my
understanding of minor doctrines was in error won't disturb me at all
minor ones if I dwelt in the presence of God every day and was
overwhelmed by that day by day seek that my dear brothers it doesn't
matter if you make a little mistake like John did he fell down to
worship an angel and the thing is he was so overwhelmed by the presence
of God that he didn't even think what he was doing you know when Paul
says I'm the chief of sinners we know that's what we should be saying
but we say that because we know that's what we should be saying as
humble people but Paul didn't say that oh I've got to say something
humble so I will say I'm the chief of sinners, no he was so overwhelmed
by the holiness of God that he spontaneously said Christ Jesus came to
save sinners of whom I am chief he's writing scripture and he just wrote
it that was not a calculated statement to impress anybody or to say what
is right he was so convinced of the reality of it, God doesn't give us
that type of revelation often and I hope you've got it at least once
there have been a few occasions in my life I mean theoretically I know
all the time every day I'm the chief of sinners I'm glad to say it but
there have been a few occasions in my life when I've been so overwhelmed
by the presence of God that I really felt in my heart I must be the
greatest sinner in the whole world there cannot be anyone worse than me
mercifully we don't have that too often otherwise we'd get discouraged
but I hope you've experienced that at least once or twice. You know when
Isaiah saw the glory of God nobody had to tell him hey listen you know
what you're supposed to say? Woe is me for I am a sinner that was not a
verse he found somewhere in Deuteronomy, Moses said it and so I better
say it too no it was the spontaneous result of his being taken up with
the presence of God I don't think Isaiah had that experience frequently
maybe once maybe John also his experience of seeing Christ like that was
not every day but if you have never had in our life anything of that
type of overwhelming sense of the presence, now let me explain I'm not
talking about some light or some of these things that Pentecostals speak
about I'm not talking about all that rubbish I'm not talking about
angels and light and all it's, you don't need any of that you can be
fooled by light the devil comes as an angel of light so that's not what
I'm talking about but a sense of God's presence that makes you put your
face in the dust I find for myself one of the best times to do that is
early morning or if I wake up in the middle of the night, those are some
of my most precious times, alone with God, the whole world is asleep my
wife is asleep it's just God and me, it's almost impossible to get a
time like that at any other time even when you don't have children like
in my case at home, but there all alone with God take some of those
times, precious times you will not suffer if you lose an hour of sleep,
I'll tell you that you'll be blessed, in the presence of God, to be
overwhelmed, you can't manufacture it, no don't try to manufacture it
tomorrow morning, it won't work you say Lord, it's you know the rule is
this Jeremiah 29 13, one of my favorite verses you shall seek me with
all your heart and you will find me and that law applies to everyone you
seek the Lord with all your heart and you'll find him, you don't have to
manufacture anything, you will experience what Isaiah experienced, what
John experienced and it will make you a humbler and a more effective
servant of God, you will have the word of the Lord in your mouth you
will experience what it says in 1 Peter and chapter 4 1 Peter 4 and
verse 11, whoever speaks, let him speak as if God himself is speaking,
is that a greater challenge than that for your sermons, I stand in awe
when I read that verse, when you stand up there or nowadays when you sit
in a zoom meeting and speak and people listen to you, it must be as
though God himself is speaking, who is sufficient for these things, like
the apostle says some time ago, God gave me a revelation, years ago, on
what gold, silver and precious stones was to build with gold, silver and
precious stones and what wood, hay and straw was, what are the three
things which are gold, silver and precious stones and what are the three
things which are wood, hay and straw and God gave me that revelation,
actually while I was in the middle of a message, from Romans 11, the
last verse, from God through God and to God are all things and the Lord
showed me that is gold, silver and precious stones whatever in your life
originates in God, from God is done through God's power, the power of
the Holy Spirit and is done for the glory of God, from God, through God,
to God that's that will be gold, silver and precious stones for all
eternity in the day of judgment, the fire can never burn that up, but
what is from man what originates in your bright, clever mind bright
ideas, what you read in some book, what you heard some preacher you
admire did, you try to imitate him from man through man, you've studied
hard you've worked hard and I'm not saying we should not prepare our
messages, sure a lot of people who don't prepare what they have to say
end up wasting people's time wandering from subject to subject and
boring people but it must be through the power of the Holy Spirit from
man, through man means through my own cleverness and ultimately to man,
to man means I congratulate myself at the end of it, wow that was a good
message I preached, right from man, through man, to man it will be one
day, however good that message was it will be wood, hay and straw burnt
up for all eternity, so 1 Peter 4 we see the same thing repeated here if
you look carefully from God, through God to God, whoever speaks it
doesn't matter who you are, however you've been a Christian for 50 years
or you've been a Christian for 2 years, you're serving God today, you're
preaching the word, whoever speaks it must be from God, speak as though
God himself is speaking and it must be done through God, verse 11, 1
Peter 4 11, by the strength God supplies and it must be to God, so that
God may be glorified in all things, the words of Peter agree with in
line with Paul's words in Romans 11 36, let me go back to another thing,
we saw that expression from the beginning, it was not like this, turn
with me to Genesis chapter 1 in Genesis chapter 1 we read of we're
talking about from the beginning what Jesus said, from the beginning it
was like this when God made man in the beginning he created man in his
own image, Genesis 1 26 and 27, and he gave him authority, it says in
verse 28, see what God said to Adam directly be fruitful unto Eve, Adam
multiply fill the earth and rule God's given you elders authority to
rule as a servant over the church rule over the fish the birds, every
living thing I have given you everything something like God said to you,
I appoint you as an elder in this church, something like that and the
day you were appointed as an elder verse 31, it was very good, it was I
hope it still is you were a humble brother that day when you were
appointed as an elder you really felt you didn't deserve it it was very
good, I hope it is still like that today but the secret of remaining
there, in that position always, is what happens on the 7th day after you
hear all these wonderful things, I've given you authority and everything
is under your feet, and everything is good, not only good, very good,
Genesis 1 31 then the Lord says, ok now I don't want you to go out and
work for me, hang on there's a lot of work to be done in the garden in
the church, but that can wait the 7th day, Genesis 2 verse 2 how was it
in the beginning he completed his work and he rested, and that was
Adam's first day like the very first verse of Genesis, in the beginning
God four words, in the beginning God Adam was also taught in your work,
in the beginning God, not the church not the ministry not the sermon you
have to preach not the people you have to shepherd in the beginning God
so Adam you got to spend one day with me this is the difference between
law and grace in law, you work for 6 days and then you have a sabbath in
grace, you begin with a sabbath on the very first day, one day you shall
rest and that rest will continue in your spirit throughout the remaining
6 days as you work those who work under the law is different, they work
without any rest for 6 days and struggle with bitterness and complaints
and grumbling all types of things that's not the way the work in the
garden can wait Adam you got to have a relationship with me and that's
what I want you to spend the next 24 hours I want to put something into
your mind that should characterize you not just for these 24 hours of
the seventh day but all your life live in my presence, all your work
must be done from this position of a sabbath rest that's why Jesus spoke
so much about this rest very important words, I think some of Jesus'
most important words were in Matthew chapter 11 from the beginning it
was this way Matthew 11 verse 28 come to me all who are weary and heavy
laden and I will give you I'll bring you into the sabbath rest which God
wanted Adam to have that verse is quoted so much to unbelievers but
Jesus spoke this to his disciples, his disciples who need to come to him
and find rest and I tell you today it is elders who need to come to him
and find rest because many are weary and heavy laden with so many
burdens, some of them they shouldn't be carrying, so many things on
their mind some are thinking how to make a little more money here and
there, that's their burden some are worried about this anxiety and the
other anxiety, to be concerned is ok, to be concerned about our children
is ok, but to be anxious about them is not, be anxious for nothing be
concerned sure, there's a need to distinguish between concern and
anxiety you're not a good father if you're not concerned for your
children, but you're not a good child of God if you're anxious about
them, be anxious for nothing make your request known to God come to me,
there is no other place where you can get that rest psychology will
teach you to find rest in some technique or training your mind to think
on certain things and there's so many things psychology teaches, I've
often I preached a message on this once it's there on YouTube, how music
money and psychology have replaced the Holy Spirit you can go to YouTube
and listen to it sometime, music, money and psychology have replaced the
Holy Spirit, so make sure that your rest is not a rest that comes
through psychology but that comes as a result of coming to Jesus, come
to me and I will give you rest it's not by some technique of training
your mind to think in certain directions or any such thing it's not by
physical exercise or any of this rubbish, it's by coming to Jesus and I
will give you rest, all the other rest will disappear we need to keep
coming to him all the time again and again and again and again and
that's not all if you want this rest, he expands on it take my yoke upon
you I love that, I always am encouraged by that there are two pictures
that I love in my mind one is, which I often use the branch in the tree,
without me you can do nothing as the branch remains in the tree and
produces fruit almost effortlessly, when I look at Jesus' life I don't
find him struggling to do a miracle or struggling to preach a sermon or
struggling even to feed 5000 people I mean, if he tried to do it without
God calling him of course he would be struggling, but when he knew he
was called to do something, he wasn't struggling the only time he
struggled was when he had to face hell for three hours for my sake, then
he struggled because he had to break fellowship with the Father not
because he was not willing to suffer hell for me he'd gladly go a
million times there because he loved me so much but Father you mean my
fellowship with you will be broken for three hours, and the angels come
and say but Lord, it'll be restored I know it'll be restored, but I
don't want my fellowship with my Father to be broken even for one second
that's why he was troubled I heard that more than 40 years ago, once in
prayer the Lord showed me what Jesus went through in Gethsemane and I
said Lord, make me like that make me like that, I don't want to be a
great preacher I don't want to be an elder I don't want to plant
churches those are all secondary to me, I want a fellowship with my
Father I want a fellowship with you in such a way that I don't want to
break that fellowship even for one second I want that spirit you had in
Gethsemane which you had all through your life isn't there any other
way? he had to sweat great drops of blood and the only reason he
accepted it finally, that break of fellowship was because he loved you
and me no other reason so, I like that I have to stay like the branch,
always dependent no branch is struggling to produce fruit nowhere in the
world does a branch struggle to produce fruit, it's effortless struggle
is when it's not properly connected to the tree the sap is not properly
flowing, then there's a struggle and the other picture which I have in
my mind is this the yoke, I mean if you've been in farms in India I
don't know whether you can see it now in the United States but in India,
many places two bullocks, two oxen under a yoke ploughing together it's
a beautiful picture perfectly going, ploughing the field walking
together, together, together I don't think they started like that, all
oxen had to be trained they don't like, horses have to be tamed oxen
have to be trained and that is a very common sight in Israel that's why
Jesus used that example take my yoke upon you, do you see those two oxen
how they keep step and go and what a perfect furrow they've made and
ploughed the field you can do that if you allow my yoke to be upon you,
you're not going to do this alone no, we're doing it together but you're
not the boss you can't turn when you like or slow down when you like or
run ahead, no you can't, you've got to keep pace with me and you've got
to go in the same direction, you've got to be sensitive every time I
turn, you've got to turn with me, this is the senior ox telling the
junior ox my yoke is on you, remember if I quicken my pace, you've got
to quicken your pace you can't lag behind there, if I slow down you
can't run ahead, you've got to keep pace with me and be sensitive to my
slightest move to the left or right, this is the meaning of take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, you're not the teacher don't live as if you
don't have a teacher learn from me be sensitive in your conscience, oh
how important it is to be sensitive in your conscience, you say can we
know like that, you can know it I'll tell you, if you're sensitive to
sin if you're sensitive to the smallest sin if you're willing to
apologize to your wife as soon as you spoke one unkind word, not angry
word one unkind word, one you apologize, I'm sorry I shouldn't have
spoken like that, I tell you you'll be amazed how God begins to speak to
your conscience when he sees you're so sensitive when you're willing to
go to a younger brother and apologize, when you're willing to go to a
younger brother to restore fellowship, when you feel he's offended
you'll be amazed to see how God will reveal his will to you in his mind
it's worth it, humbling yourself God gives his grace to the humble, I'm
not saying you humble yourself in order to get something from God, the
moment you do something for reward it's gone, you'll ruin the whole
thing so don't follow what I'm saying then I can get something from God,
no go to God and say Lord I don't want anything I just want to humble
myself because that's the right thing to do not for any reward, I'm not
trying to do bargain with God, if I humble myself will you do this for
me no, no, no because it is the right thing to do learn from me for I am
humble in heart how is he, he says in John chapter 5 verse 19 I don't do
anything myself, I keep listening to the father and I'm prompted by him
I remember reading in the biography of Hudson Taylor, that great man of
God who went to China trusting God for all his needs, not only for his
needs but the needs of many missionaries in China it's quite something
to live so many thousands of miles away from people who are supporting
you financially and to care not only for you but for all the other
missionaries there amazing man and there was a lot of need for finances
there and he trusted God for it I remember one story which is something
like this there was a desperate need for some money in the mission you
know that constant need for money in mission work and Hudson Taylor was
praying Lord you know we need this by tomorrow or in a couple of days
and we don't have anything right now to meet that need and just before
that need had to be met an envelope arrived with a check the next day,
amazing answer to prayer but the thing is there were no flights in those
days that mail had been posted three months ago in England and came by
ship that's the miracle there and here is Hudson Taylor praying and
already three months ago got it before they call I will answer to arrive
just in time to answer his prayer but Hudson Taylor says, this is what I
remember him saying he says in my younger days it's as though God showed
me clearly this is what you got to do yeah do this, do this but he says
as I have grown older I feel I am in a fog I don't know what to do one
would think that's a sign of backsliding it's a sign of maturity I found
exactly the same I remember in my early days as a Christian even in the
early days when I was serving God specific direction, do this from
scripture, do this, do that even when I had to get married or leave the
Navy to serve, clear word, do this, do that or go somewhere, when should
I take my train to go back here, this date and now I don't see a word
sometimes I, Lord give me a word and I open the Bible, I get nothing in
the olden days I used to get it it doesn't leave me like that now then I
remember Hudson Taylor's words and the picture the Lord gave me was when
a child is 2 or 3 years old, you tell him brush your teeth, change your
clothes time to go to bed, take a shower every little thing when that
child becomes 20 years old you tell him almost nothing he has come to
know his father's mind so the mark of maturity is not specific every
little thing God tells you when Jesus says the son can do nothing except
what he sees the father do it's not that the father is dictating things
from heaven when you are young, yes, brush your teeth change your
clothes, go to bed but as you grow up, less and less and less and when
you are 20 years old, your mind is so renewed Romans 12.2 that you don't
hear the perfect will of God, but you prove Romans 12.2, you yourself
prove it have you seen Romans 12.2 the mind is so conformed conformed to
the will of God that you prove you yourself evaluate 2 or 3 courses of
action and say this is it whereas when you are younger you have to hear
God saying, no, go and brush your teeth now no, don't wear this shirt
wear this one but not now, you look at 3 shirts and say I think I'll
wear this, you haven't heard any word you prove the perfect will of God,
that's a mark of maturity behold my servant this is how we are to live,
dear brothers and this is how we can live in the Sabbath rest of God at
all times this is very important come to me, learn from me for I am
humble and gentle humility is in our relationship with God and
gentleness is in our relationship with others learn from me humility and
gentleness now don't try to get the dictionary meaning of either word
the dictionary word of humility meaning of humility is not what Jesus is
talking about is Jesus' humility the same with gentleness Jesus was the
gentlest man on earth when he took a whip and chased all the sheep out
and turned the tables of the money changers there was no man as gentle
as he was on the earth because he was humble first the glory of God
burned in him such a passion for the glory of God that he didn't care
for the opinions of men he didn't whip the people, no, no, no he was
gentle, he whipped the sheep don't misunderstand, he did not use the
whip on any man he doesn't use it today and we must not use it either he
never used the whip on a man learn from me how I am humble and how I am
gentle in heart and when you do that in Matthew 11, 29, you will enter
into the sabbath that Adam entered into before he could work for me
that's Matthew 11, 29 you will enter into that same sabbath and live
before me and then when you go out, that is the seventh day on the
eighth day Adam went out into the garden to work, and then when you go
out Matthew 11, 30, you will find that my yoke is very easy and doing my
work is a very light burden there's nothing heavy about it, it's not a
burden to serve the Lord at all, I've seen pastors and missionaries in
India who served the Lord 20, 30 years, who got so many complaints
against their co-workers they look such disgruntled people and feel that
God's placed heavy burdens on them, I've done this and that and the
other and feel God has let them down I've been serving the Lord full
time for 54 years I have no complaints I'm the happiest person of all
supremely happy, and I'm not trying to impress anyone it's the absolute
truth Proverbs 14, 14 in the Living Bible, the godly man's life is
exciting it certainly is, it has been for me you will find rest, you
live in the sabbath you live in the presence of God my yoke is easy if
you find the yoke is heavy, it is not the yoke of Jesus you've taken
some other yoke upon you dear brothers let me speak plainly from the
beginning, how was it with Adam how was it with the apostles on the day
of Pentecost, do you find it difficult to work with one of your co-
workers Peter and John were the biggest opposites personality wise Peter
was the extrovert, quick to jump into the sea if Jesus was on the shore
John was the person, hey hang on let's row the boat to the shore and
meet him Peter was the one who said if everybody denies you, I'm not
going to deny you John was not so sure but after the day of Pentecost,
the very next thing you see is Acts 3, 1 Peter and John walking to it in
the temple to pray and healing the blind man healing the lame man that's
what happens when the yoke is on our neck it's easy to live and work
with others turn with me to Hebrews in chapter 4 please take this word
very seriously Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 9 Hebrews 4, 9 there remains
a sabbath rest for the people of God have you entered into it? there
remains a sabbath rest go back to the beginning, what Adam experienced
before he served the Lord the sabbath rest in which Jesus spoke about in
Matthew 11, 28-30 which makes his yoke easy and his burden light that
sabbath rest is for you and me how do you know whether you have entered
into it? verse 10 the one who has entered this rest has seized from his
own works he doesn't have any bright ideas that he can glory in he rests
from his works just like God did from his on the seventh day therefore,
verse 11 let us all be diligent to enter into that rest, it's not
automatic because some will fall and fail because of their human
strength and they need to be broken like Peter and they need the word of
God verse 12 to come and divide all their soulish activity all their
soulish way of serving God their soulish passion as an elder to do
things for God the word of God is to come and separate all that so that
you can enter into rest there are so many stimulations of the mind and
the emotions, which is the soul which today Christians think are the
moving of the Holy Spirit it's not only in Pentecostal charismatic
circles it can be in our midst too maybe not with shoutings and
hallelujahs but with clever thoughts and expressions just as much the
moving of the soul as those excited stirrings among charismatics the
word of God is to divide between soul and spirit when it is of the
spirit you cannot take any credit for it that's for sure if you can take
credit for what you've done it's pretty much certain that it's of the
soul it's from man through man and through man it'll perish one day
it'll be burnt up but if it is of God you cannot even touch it it's like
I use the illustration of if somebody baked a cake and you happen to go
around distributing it to the friends who came and somebody turns around
to you and says oh brother Zach that is a fantastic cake you cooked you
made or you baked you won't take the credit for it I'm just distributing
what somebody else made if your work and the word you share is all from
God that's exactly how you'll be the cake was baked by somebody else I'm
only distributing it and it won't be a pious humble statement you make
you'll be really convinced about it when you distribute that cake you
know very well you didn't bake it you have no doubt in your mind about
it it'll be exactly the same when you got a word from God you have
absolutely no doubt in your mind that you didn't bake that there remains
a rest for God's people Hebrews 4.1 let us fear let us fear the apostle
doesn't say you must fear however senior an apostle he may be he
includes himself let us fear lest this promise is given to us of
entering his rest and some of you miss it throughout your life tragedy
are you only living to go to heaven when you die no it shouldn't be like
that for any of us my dear brothers I plead with you make John 17.4 your
goal when you come to the end of your life to say father I have finished
the work you gave me to do that's what Jesus said at the end of his life
in John 17.4 father I have finished I have glorified you by finishing
the work you gave me to do there's one way you can glorify God finish
the work God gave you to do and forget about other things whether you
finish them or not is not important Paul could say that at the end of
his life even though Paul messed up 30 years of his life doing things
that none of us have ever done murdering Christians and imprisoning them
in spite of the fact he messed up 30 years of his life in the remaining
37 years he completed the work the father gave him to do that's our
encouragement that even if we have messed up many years of our life the
time comes in our life when we turn wholeheartedly to him in repentance
we can still finish the work given us to do repentance is the secret
never stop repenting that is my advice to you God is my witness every
day of my life I repent I don't miss a single day I repent every day of
my life and I will continue doing it until Christ comes again and I'll
tell you why one simple reason I have not yet become completely like
Jesus Christ that's why I need to repent because I have this hope in me
that I will be like him one day I purify myself as he is pure which
means I repent every day that's what John says in 1 John 3 verses 2 and
3 so there is a promise of entering into his rest let's not miss it in
the illustration of the Israelites not entering Canaan is used here they
missed it because they didn't believe that God would do it for them they
trusted in their own strength the branch in the tree I cannot produce
I've been in the tree for 50 years but I can't produce any fruit even
today I'm as helpless today as I was the first day I bore fruit we never
become so senior that we're not dependent on God like the first day in
our life think of the branch and think of the yoke keep these pictures
in mind always in our meetings let me add one more word 1 Corinthians 14
all of us are involved in church meetings and we really want to do our
best I believe all of you brothers I respect every single one of you I
know you all and I respect every single one of you and I say that this
is what we should desire in all of our meetings 1 Corinthians 14 that at
the end of a meeting people should spiritually speaking verse 25 fall on
their face and worship God and say hey God is here God was certainly
there in our midst in today's meeting that was a wonderful sermon oh I
didn't understand I never saw that interpretation in that verse don't
let that excite you that's human cleverness oh that was a fresh
interpretation of that verse thank you very much that's not what we
glory in those are clever minds all your cleverness cannot bring the
presence of God into a meeting and that's what ultimately matters not
what people thought of your message brothers, throw that in the trash
can did they meet with Jesus even if it was after you finished preaching
somebody else shared and that's when they met with Jesus praise the Lord
it wasn't through your fantastic message it was through that other
brother who got up and spoke for two minutes oh wonderful I want people
to meet with the Lord when they go away from the meeting we met with the
Lord, the Lord was here that is the only meeting that we can say from my
earliest days somehow I had a burden to build a new covenant church I
mean almost from before I left the Navy when I read the New Testament I
found the new church is so different from what I saw in Christendom when
I was 24 years old I never experienced it for the next 10 years but it
was in my heart like a baby I carried in the womb for a long time before
it came to birth but you have to carry something as a burden in your
heart for it to really be fulfilled it's very different when you inherit
something you know people have worked hard to build up a fortune it's
different from those who inherited something you inherit something you
don't value it as much as your dad who worked hard to get that fortune
it's the same here and my desire I said Lord what is the mark of a new
covenant church and I studied the pattern that you don't have pastors
you have elders and the meeting is like this different people must share
not just one person all these things and the Lord said it's not these
this is a pattern the tabernacle was there with the pattern and yet you
read in Ezekiel the glory had departed the pattern was there every bit
of that tabernacle was exactly the way it was yet even Eli's time they
knew that Ichabod the glory had gone there are many churches with the
correct pattern where Ichabod is written over it the glory has gone what
is it? It's not the pattern of the meetings whether you have a song
first or a song hymn and a message and then another song that's alright
you do it whatever way you like but at the end of it people fall on
their face and their heart and say I met with the Lord maybe it was a
pastor who preached did they meet with the Lord? yeah I believe in
pattern I believe the tabernacle must be exactly down to the last detail
as God has commanded it but that's not the main thing for me the main
thing is the glory if the glory has departed what's the use of glory in
the fact that the boards and the curtains are all the correct shape and
the correct color? Never! I never want a glory in that I want to see is
the glory of God here brother? or did we follow a particular pattern a
CFC pattern? Trash glory of God coveted if you seek me with all your
heart you will find me that's what we should long for let me conclude
with one verse in Philippians I don't have much time to talk about this
Philippians chapter 1 and verse 9 Paul says the Philippians are
wonderful Christians he says in verse 3 I thank God for my remembrance
of you for your participation in the gospel they were the only church
that sent money to Paul to support him and he says I have you in my
heart and with this wonderful church he says I am praying something for
you verse 9 you guys really love one another that's great but I pray
that your love will abound more and more in discernment love without
discernment is not very profitable it can hinder the work of God many
people think love is a great thing yeah? your gas tank must be full of
love but wisdom discernment must be in the driver's seat very important
let wisdom and discernment drive the car a car where the gas tank is
full of love you can be full of love but if you don't have wisdom and
discernment you will still hinder the work of God in your life and in
your home and in your church I pray that your love will grow in real
knowledge of God and all discernment

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/uXaOGt1dANI.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/gods-original-plan-for-church-leaders/
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