======================================================================== HOW JESUS HONOURED HIS FATHER by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of honoring God by giving Him our best, drawing examples from biblical figures like Abel, Eli, Job, and Abraham who honored God through faith despite their mistakes. It highlights the need to submit to God's authority, seek unity in the church, and avoid meddling in others' affairs. The message encourages believers to follow Jesus' example of obedience and submission to authority, leading to victory over Satan and the building of strong churches and homes. Topics: "Honoring God", "Obedience and Submission" Scripture References: Genesis 4:4, 1 Samuel 2:30, Job 1:1, Hebrews 11:8, Ephesians 6:1, Matthew 8:8, 1 Peter 4:15, Hebrews 12:6, Revelation 3:19, Matthew 4:10, 1 Peter 5:5, 1 Corinthians 12:12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of honoring God by giving Him our best, drawing examples from biblical figures like Abel, Eli, Job, and Abraham who honored God through faith despite their mistakes. It highlights the need to submit to God's authority, seek unity in the church, and avoid meddling in others' affairs. The message encourages believers to follow Jesus' example of obedience and submission to authority, leading to victory over Satan and the building of strong churches and homes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have looked at a number of examples, mostly in the Old Testament, of people who honoured God. We looked at Abel, who gave the best that he had to God. That is a great example for us. There are people who give the best to God, and there are people who give just a little to God. We honour God when we give Him the best of our life. We dishonour God when we give Him something cheap. See, cheap things we give to beggars, some small things. Many people treat God like a beggar. Okay, here, something for you. They honour their children more than they honour God. We saw the danger of Eli honouring his children more than God. And we saw in the life of Job, that if you honour God, you will fear God in your private life. And if we fear God, we will be very careful in so many areas of our life, which other people cannot see. And Job is a great example of that, whom God Himself could give a certificate. And then we saw the life of Abraham, how he honoured God by his faith. And we saw that he was a man who made many mistakes. Mistakes that affected so many other people. But God still used such a man. Because with all his mistakes, he tried to honour God. The reason I showed you his mistakes was to encourage you to believe that God does not use perfect people. The Bible speaks honestly about the failures of Abraham. Moses, David, John the Baptist, Elijah, Peter, Paul. Everybody, their mistakes are written plainly in the scriptures. Why is it written like that? To encourage us that we know that even if you are imperfect and made mistakes, God can use you. To encourage us that we know that even if you are imperfect and made mistakes, God can use you. Paul's many mistakes are written in the Acts of the Apostles. Do you know who wrote the Acts of the Apostles? It was written by Dr. Luke. And Luke was the one who was always travelling with Paul. He was a very close co-worker of Paul. And when he was writing mostly about Paul's life in Acts of the Apostles, Do you know how when you write about somebody who is your respected leader, Do you know how when you write about somebody who is your respected leader, you will never want to write about his weaknesses. You will try to cover his weaknesses and talk about all his good points. That is how most of the biographies of Christian great men are like that. The biographies of Christian great men are like that. When you read about Sadhu Sundar Singh, you will look as if he has never made a mistake. It is not true, but they write only the good points. And like that about everybody. Nobody has the courage to write something bad about a leader whom I respect. So how did Luke write all these things? That Paul and Barnabas had a very sharp disagreement and they separated. It is not just that they separated. They had a sharp disagreement and separated. Why is it written there that Paul made a mistake and circumcised Timothy? That he shaved his head to keep a Jewish head. That he shaved his head to keep a Jewish head. That he paid money to beat up others. That he called a whitewashed mosque and scolded me. How did Luke have the courage to write all these things? Have you thought about this? Luke has written this very strongly. I think it was like this. When Paul knew that Luke is writing this book, Paul said, Luke, I will not allow you to write this unless you write all my faults. So poor Luke had to write his faults. That is the only way. And there I see the tremendous humility of the Apostle Paul. That he said, people must not think that I am a perfect Apostle. They must know that I made so many mistakes. That is why I love to read the stories in the Bible about these men. Because they tell us about the good points and the mistakes. And that encourages us. So Abraham had great faith but he made a lot of mistakes. We saw how Noah honored God. But he also made a mistake. After he was delivered, he got drunk and lay down naked. So all the great men had some small mistakes. In the Old Testament, the mistakes were bigger. In the New Testament, the mistakes were not so big. But in the New Testament, the mistakes were not so big. I do not read that Paul got drunk and lay down naked. I do not read that Paul committed adultery with a woman like Bathsheba. In the New Testament, the mistakes were not so serious. But they made mistakes. That is a great encouragement to us. To people who were weak and imperfect. Now I want to show you the example of another person who honored God. And that is the one who never made a mistake. That is Jesus Christ. He is also an example for us. Not to discourage us. But to challenge us to the highest level. All these other examples like Paul and Peter are good. But they are good in the way they show us how they followed Jesus. So we look at Paul. We can learn many things from him. Because he said, follow me. But he said, as I follow Christ. So ultimately we must look at Jesus. And then we should be able to say to our younger brothers and sisters. Follow me. As I follow Christ. See what Jesus said in John chapter 8. People were criticizing him. Verse 48. John 8 verse 48. The Jews said to him. Don't we say rightly. You are a Samaritan and you have a demon. You know in India. Unfortunately we have this caste system. And the high caste people will look down and say. You are a low caste person. That is how the Jews said about the Samaritans. Samaritans were not pure Jews. They got mixed up many generations ago with other people. So the Jews despised them so much. They would not even walk through Samaria. So that is the way they despised the Jews. And the high caste people said. You are not a Jew. You are a low caste Samaritan. Do you know that Jesus was despised like that. They said. You are a low caste Samaritan. Not only that. You have a demon. Has anybody ever told you. You got a demon. Many people have told me. Because they are angry. They were angry with Jesus. Don't be disturbed if people say you got a demon. You know what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10. Matthew gospel chapter 10. He said in verse 24. A disciple is not above his teacher. And a slave is not above his master. It is enough if the disciple becomes like his teacher. And then he says. If they called the head of the house. Prince of devils. How much more. They will call you the members of the family. How do I know that I am a member of the family. According to this verse. Read it again. If they have called the head of the house. Prince of devils. How much more. They will call the members of his family. So how do you know you are a member of Jesus family. According to this verse. That means people will call me by worse names than they call Jesus. They won't call me by nice names. Of course the disciples called Jesus Lord. And God fearing people will respect you naturally. But many other people in other denominations. They may say. You are a false teacher. Your church is all teaching wrong teaching. You got demons. You are led by the devil. Praise the Lord. That means I am a member of Jesus family. So that is what they call Jesus. So don't be disturbed if somebody calls you by that name. Because that only proves that you are a member of Jesus family. So John 8.48 The Jews said you got a demon. And Jesus said. John 8.49 I don't have a demon. But I honor my father. And when I honor my father. You dishonor me. You know when we follow Jesus. And seek to honor God. Other people will dishonor us. Because they can't understand. When we stand for the truth. But Jesus is our example of how to honor God. That is why God sent Jesus to earth as a little baby. So that Jesus can be an example. Not only to grown up people. But even for little children. The small children sitting here. You know that Jesus can be your example. How? When Jesus was a little boy. He obeyed his daddy and mummy. Are you happy to hear that? That Jesus is your example. I sometimes picture that. His mother would call him to do something. Supposing your mother calls you to do something. Most children will say. Wait mummy. I am doing something very important. Particularly if they are playing with their friends. They are playing cricket or something. And their batting turn has come. And Mary says Jesus come. What did Jesus do? Wait mummy. It's my batting turn. I can't come now. I have caught the bat. I have to run now. He dropped the bat and ran away. What did the other boys say? Especially those in his team. Where are you going? Are you mummy's boy or what? They make fun of him. The Bible says I must honour my father and mother. I am going to do it. That's why we must teach our children to obey. The Bible says honour your father and mother. That it will go well with you. That's a clear word. Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6. Verse 2. Honour your father and mother. That it may be well with you. And that you may live long on the earth. So children. Verse 1. Obey your parents. In the Lord. That means the only time you can disobey your parents. Is when they tell you to do something against God. Like some of your parents may say. Bow down to that idol. Then I don't have to obey. Because it says obey your parents in the Lord. Because God is above your parents. But all other things we have to obey. If your parents say leave the cricket bat and come. Here I need some work from you. If your parents say leave the cricket bat and come. Here I need some work from you. You must obey. Why? If a child asks you. Why I should obey you? What is my answer? Show them this verse. That it will go well with you. That you may live long on the earth. I don't want you to die young. I want you to live long. And all the years I want it to go well with you. That is why I am teaching you to obey me. That is how children can honor God. Jesus said I honor my father. My heavenly father. And he did that as a child by obeying his earthly parents. And there is a principle there. The principle is submit to God. Submit to the authority God has placed over you. When we are children. The authority over us is our parents. And there we learn one of the most important lessons in life. To submit to authority. Then we grow up. We go to school. We have to submit to the teacher. We go to the college. We have to submit to the lecturer there. Then we get a job. Then we have to submit to the boss there. We drive a scooter on the road. We have to submit to the rules the police make on the roads. One way don't go this way means you don't go through that way. So always we are submitting to authority. You cannot work in an office if you don't submit to the authority. If you tell your boss I am not going to listen to you. You lose your job the same day. So right from childhood one of the most important ways in which we honor God. Is by submitting to authority. Why is that? Because the first sin in the universe was not murder. The first sin in the universe was not disobedience in the garden of Eden. That is the first sin in the human race. The first sin in the universe was not adultery or theft. The first sin in the universe was not adultery or theft. Genesis 1.1 he made it perfect. Long before he made Adam and Eve he made the angels. He made one person to be the head of all the angels. We don't know his name. But many people call him Lucifer. That's not his real name but we will call him that. Anyway Lucifer was the head of the angels. Everybody was underneath him. He was so good looking. Wise. The best of God's creation. But he was not happy. You think why is he not happy when everybody is subject to him. He said there is one person still above me. God. I want to go above him also. He was not willing to submit to authority. He rebelled against authority. And he gathered a whole lot of angels to rebel against God. And immediately God cast him out of heaven. And in one moment that beautiful angel became the devil. That is how Satan came into the world. God did not create him as evil. He created him perfect. How did he become the devil in one second? By rebellion against authority. That was the first sin in the universe. And that is what he taught Eve in the garden of Eden. Has God told you not to eat from this tree? Don't listen to him. Go against that authority. What a fool Eve was. It is like the snake puts a poison into your body. And kills you. Like that the devil put the poison of rebellion into Eve's heart. That is the poison of the serpent. Rebellion against authority. And Eve obeyed. And she made her husband also rebel against authority. And in that moment, She not only rebelled against God's authority, She rebelled against her husband's authority also. Of course God had made her husband to be her head. When the devil said eat from that tree, She should have said, Just one minute, Let me ask my head. God has given me a head. I will ask him. I will discuss it with him. Then I will tell you. If she had said that, Adam may have been able to put some sense into her head. But how did all the problem of sin come into this universe? Because one woman, Decided not to listen to her husband. Not even to consult him. So rebellion against authority, How sin came in the human race also. Rebellion against God's authority, Who told them not to eat that tree. And rebellion against the human authority, Her husband. So remember, That is the poison of the serpent, That has come from Adam and Eve And all the children, It has come to us. And it has come to our children also. We have to save them from that. See the Bible says in Proverbs, 22 Proverbs 22 verse 15 Proverbs 22 verse 15 There is a nail in the heart of the child. The rod of discipline will remove it from him. There is foolishness in the heart of your child. How to remove it? You have to take a little rod and hit him on the back. From the back there is a connection to the heart. You drive out the foolishness from the heart. You know why God has put a lot of flesh at the back? So that the children don't get hurt. That's why we don't hit on the hand or leg or anything. They get hurt. If you punish them, This is the place where God has put a lot of soft tissue. It's because we love them. The Bible says in Hebrews 12 Have you read this verse? Hebrews chapter 12 Don't Don't Don't regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. Whom the Lord loves, he disciplines. Verse 7 Why does God discipline you? Because you are his son. What son is there whom his father does not discipline? Now I tell you, I am not encouraging you to beat your children. That is almost the last way of doing it. But there are many other ways. For example, you don't permit them to play one day. You have not listened to me. Now you go and sit in your room. You cannot play today. That is also one way of punishing them. So there are different ways of punishing them without hitting them. By withdrawing some privilege from them. That they learn that they have to obey their parents. And we have to be careful when we hit them That we don't unnecessarily hurt them. And we must always pray with them. Pray that God will help them to understand That we love them when we discipline them. You know Jesus says in Revelation 3 and 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and I discipline. Have you read that? How do you know Jesus loves you? According to this verse He will reprove you and discipline you. When I was a little child You ask me how do you know Jesus loves you? I say He died for me on the cross. That is the only answer I could give. Today if you ask me the same question How do you know Jesus loves you? I say two reasons. One, Jesus died for me on the cross. Number two, He reproves me and disciplines me. That is what it says here. Those whom I love, I reprove and I discipline. I thank God that Jesus rebukes me, disciplines me. He puts me down in bed with a fever Because last week I spoke some rude words somewhere. And I lie down in bed and say Lord why this fever? And He reminds me Last week I was a little careless In the way I spoke to somebody. I say Lord for one wrong word You give me a fever and put me in bed? He says that is how much I love you. I don't treat everybody like that. Some people do 100 times worse things I leave them alone. But you are a special child of mine. Even small things I will correct you. And I weep And I say Lord Please treat me like this always. Don't spare me even for one small word. I want to be perfect. I want to honor you with every word Every thought, every action of mine. Discipline me so that I can be perfect. God sees that you are offended When he corrects you. He will not correct you again. He says go your way. You can live your useless life I will not correct you. See just like we submit to authority in our home And in the road to the traffic police A policeman says stop Even if you are rushing to catch a train You stop. You submit to authority. Why is it you don't submit to authority in the church? I find Christians will submit to authority in their home They want their children to submit to their authority 100% One policeman says stop, they stop The boss makes them work till 9 o'clock at night They work. But in the church Yeah, who are you? I can do what I like. Those are the people who have got the poison of Satan Rebellion against authority And I have seen people like that It never goes well with them It did not go well with Lucifer When he rebelled against authority It went well with Jesus Because he always submitted to authority He submitted to his father And he submitted to Joseph and Mary at home It goes well with those who honor their father and mother It goes well when you learn to respect authority in the church Because the church is like a bigger family And just like you have father and mother in your home In the church, the father and mother are the elders And what do the father and mother In a good home Exercise their authority for When they tell a child Go to school For whose benefit is that? Not for the parents, for the child I don't want you to be a beggar Go to school and study When they say sit down and finish your homework For whose benefit is that? Eat up those vegetables Whose benefit are they saying that? They are not saying it for themselves They are saying it for the child Always, even the painful things They take the child to the doctor for an injection Which the child does not want And they give the injection Even though the child may cry Why do the parents do that? Why do they spend so much money To give that injection? Always the parents seek The good of the children And that is how a good elder brother is He may be very strict But he is always seeking The good of the people in the church I have been an elder for 38 years in CFC churches And I can stand before God today And say I have always sought The good of the people to whom I have preached Not even for one second Have I sought something for myself Not my honor, not my gain Always the good of the others Just like in my home I took care of my four children In the same way That is how any good elder will be I want to tell you Most of the CFC elders Are like that Everyone may not be like that But most of them are like that And you have to be very thankful That you got some wonderful elders In Tamil Nadu Don't rebel against them It will go badly with you Because the law of God is like that They are seeking for your good And that is how we show the world That we believe in God's principles Of submission to authority You are following the example of Jesus And whenever God wants to give authority to a person To be an elder or something like that He first of all tests him for many years To see if he is willing to submit To some other authority There are some people Who have become Christian leaders Pastors in different churches They have never submitted to any authority They went and studied in some Bible school For three years And twenty two years old They come out and become pastor Where have they submitted to any authority And now they try to exercise authority That is why you have so many useless pastors Who are only interested in money today But a really godly leader Will be one who has gone through Many years of submission to authority God never made me an elder Till I was thirty five and a half years old I was converted when I was nineteen and a half For sixteen years God took me through Submission to various types of authorities Who suppressed me And made so many difficult demands on me And humiliated me And the Lord told me Keep your mouth shut And those were the sixteen years in my life Where God broke me through Submission to authority I did not know why But finally when God gave me authority As an elder Then I knew why God took me through that So if God is today Taking you through Difficult periods of submission To authority Accept it You don't have difficult elders Like I had when I was a young man I don't think any CFC elder Will humiliate you like I did when I was a young man Some of the elders humiliated me When I was a young man But God had to take me Through that difficult path Because then only He could commit authority to me It's not an easy thing To exercise authority You tell me you fathers Is it easy to be a good father Is it easy to be a good mother Very difficult Much easier to be a single sister With no responsibility Much easier to be a young brother With no responsibility But you have three four children at home What a big headache that is It's not easy to have authority And if God has not broken you Through submission to authority You will not be able to exercise authority And the other thing I'll tell you You cannot have authority over Satan If you have not submitted to authority God has given you You know Jesus submitted to authority For thirty years to his mother And for many years to Joseph And then God anointed him with authority And what do you see immediately after that When the devil came He says get away Satan Matthew 4 Immediately the devil runs away How did Jesus have such authority Because for thirty years He had submitted to authority His mother said come here His mother said He came His mother said go He went For thirty years he did that God saw that God said I am well pleased with my son Now I will anoint him with authority Now he tells the devil go The devil goes Because when his mother told him to go He went It's a secret The reason why Many of you are afraid of the devil Why the devil comes into your home And you can't do anything about it You tell him to go But he doesn't go Because in your life you have not submitted to authority And the devil says Jesus I know He submitted to authority Paul I know He submitted to authority Who are you I know all about you Don't let the devil say that to you We can have such authority That when you tell the devil to go He will go I have seen some Pentecostal people Cast out demons They yell and they scream And for half an hour they go on When I was once invited By a brother to go and pray For a demon possessed woman I saw some Pentecostal man there Pulling the hair and shouting I said who has got the demon here Is that woman has got the demon Or this person I said you please remove him Then we will deliver the woman So they took him away And I spoke one word In Jesus name Get out of her He left like that And she was born again Dear brothers and sisters It's not because I am different from you The devil is not afraid of me He is afraid of Jesus who lives in me If Jesus lives in you You can do that The devil should be afraid of you I heard a story in China Many years ago There was a man A great man of God in a village Who would be casting out demons Because the village was full of demon possessed people They would always bring The demon possessed people to his house And one day they brought one person The man of God was not in the house Only his 12 year old son was there They asked where is daddy Daddy has gone somewhere What is the problem There is one demon possessed The 12 year old boy says Bring him here He had seen his father Casting out demons The 12 year old boy says In the name of Jesus go away The man was freed Can the 12 year old boy be afraid of the demon If Jesus is in him He will be afraid If Jesus is not there If you are living in sin in your private life Even if you are 80 years old The devil will ask you who are you Dear brothers and sisters I am not just talking about casting out demons The devil oppresses us in so many ways He can oppress you in your home He can oppress your family You must have authority over the devil In your church The devil will never get power in that church See we have been going in Bangalore for 38 years There are 3 brothers including me Who are elders there We have always been united We have never fought with each other What is the result The devil is never able to come Between us or in the church So what shall I say to all of you Be united with your husband Be united with your wife Then you keep the devil out of your house Be united as elders in your church Then you can drive the devil out of your church And fellowship with other churches of like mind nearby That is how you can help them also We need one another We are one body And the whole body is not in our church There are brothers in that church Who need my help And I have to help them also And I need their help also And there are brothers in that church We all need one another Because we are one body That's why we have conferences like this There are so many churches represented here We come together because we are of one mind And we seek to fellowship with one another And care for one another And help one another We don't only help people in our own church I don't sit in Bangalore and say I have only got to help the churches in Bangalore No, if God brings us in fellowship with other churches We must help them And we are very happy in Bangalore conference For Tamil Nadu brothers to come and preach In our Bangalore conference Because they can help us That is how we work as a body That is how we honor God Whenever there is division Let me tell you, you honor the devil God says, those who honor me, I will honor If you want God to honor you Seek fellowship with others They may be different from you But they love Jesus If you want to pick faults You can pick fault with anybody The people even found fault with Jesus Why are you healing on the sabbath day Why are you allowing your disciples to pick the grain The holiest man who walked on the cross They found fault with him Why are you sitting and eating with sinners So don't think people won't find fault with you And if you spend your time finding fault with others You will lose authority over satan You will lose authority over satan in your life And in your home And in your church So don't do that Don't waste your time finding fault with other people It says in 1 Peter chapter 4 There are 4 types of people mentioned here 4 types of evil people Just make sure you are not one of these 4 1. Murderer 1 Peter 4 verse 15 2. Thief 3. Evil doer 4. A busy body in other people's matters 5. A busy body in other people's matters That is an area where many believers are evil They always go put their head in things which don't concern them God puts them in the same category as murderers and thieves Before you put your head into something You ask yourself Is this my responsibility Has God given me any responsibility here No Then just keep clear of it Mind your own business Judge yourself Don't judge other people It says in verse 17 Judgement must begin with us first In the household of God We have to judge ourselves Not put our head into other people's affairs A lot of brothers and sisters get into problems Because they put their head into other people's affairs We honour God By submitting to spiritual guidance We honour God By not putting our head into things that don't concern us Before you judge anybody Ask yourself Is this person within my circle For example your own children If two of your children are fighting You can't say I won't judge You have to judge Because they are in your circle If you are working in a factory With 50 workers under you And they have a problem You can't say I won't judge You have to judge Because they are in your circle But you don't have to judge The problem in the next door factory That's not in your circle In the same way If something is happening in that church That is not your business Why do you have to even pass an opinion If you are an elder You have a responsibility All the people in your church That is in your circle So a very simple question Which you must ask yourself Is this person inside my circle In my family In my office Or my church Then I have to judge If I am an elder there But if it is not in my circle Lord There are other people Who have to deal with that Not me And how they deal with it Is not my business I don't have to judge How that elder Or that father Takes care of his children Or that elder deals with his church So many people suffer Because they are Troublesome meddlers In other people's business Honor God By staying inside your circle And don't put your head Into other people's affairs This is how God wants us To live on this earth Then the church Will overcome Satan And that is the type of church We want to build In many parts of Tamil Nadu That is the type of home We want to build We want to train our children To overcome Satan So keep your heart clean Whatever authority God puts over you Submit to it And don't try to be An independent worker There are too many Independent workers In Christianity Who cannot work With anybody Except those who will Obey them like slaves I have met some pastors And elders like that The only people They can work with Is those who will Obey them like slaves They cannot work With people who are Their equals There is something Fundamentally wrong With such a brother I can say to such a person You have not understood The ABC Of the body of Christ The body of Christ Is not found In your local church The body of Christ Is found in many local churches That are building the body And I want to fellowship With every church That is building The body of Christ That's why I have always been Seeking fellowship With those who want To build the body of Christ It's good for God To open our eyes Seek fellowship With Godly people That way we will Honor God Let's pray Heavenly Father Help us to honor you In everything in our life Build strong churches In Tamil Nadu Build strong homes In Tamil Nadu Give us authority Over Satan That he will not be able To enter our homes Or our churches Or our lives We pray in Jesus name Amen ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/qyf3TdYkoBg.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/how-jesus-honoured-his-father/ ========================================================================