(Clip) Having True Humility That Pleases God
True humility is the key to pleasing God and increasing our fellowship with Jesus.
This sermon emphasizes the importance of humility before God, highlighting that true humility is recognizing God's greatness and our own insignificance. It discusses the process of decreasing oneself to zero in God's eyes, akin to John the Baptist's statement of 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' The goal is to walk a path of righteousness that becomes brighter as our pride diminishes, allowing for a closer fellowship with Jesus at the zero level of humility.
Full Transcript
Just like everybody else. This is the secret, my brothers and sisters. This is why Jesus pleased the Father.
He took his position before the Father. Humility is not saying I'm nothing, or hanging your head down, or wearing torn clothes, or none of all that. Humility is the recognition.
God is everything. You and I may have different qualities, but we are zero in his eyes. So God is in the business of bringing us down from 100 to 0. I don't know where you've got so far, but I hope the path of the righteous, it's like the shining light that shines brighter and brighter and brighter, which means the darkness goes away.
What does it mean, the darkness going away? The darkness is our pride, our exaltation. It goes away and the path of the righteous becomes brighter and brighter and brighter, means we become 0 and 0 and 0, like John the Baptist said, he will increase when I decrease. So I pray that all of you will have a blessed year in 2015 where you decrease and come down to 0 quickly.
Let's bow before God in prayer. Please think about what you heard and say, Lord, that's the way I want to go in this new year. Now I want to get to that 0 place where Jesus was.
Your fellowship with Jesus will be better and brighter and more glorious because he's down there at that 0 level. Many of us are far away from him because we have high thoughts. You want to get close to him? Get down to 0. Heavenly Father, help us to be gripped by the truth of God's word, to live according to it.
We humbly ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Secret to Pleasing God
- God's Business is to Bring Us Down
- Decreasing to Increase Fellowship with Jesus
- Get down to 0 to get close to Jesus
- Humility leads to a better relationship with God
Key Quotes
“God is everything. You and I may have different qualities, but we are zero in his eyes.” — Zac Poonen
“What does it mean, the darkness going away? The darkness is our pride, our exaltation.” — Zac Poonen
“Get down to 0 to get close to Jesus.” — Zac Poonen
Application Points
- Recognize your own pride and exaltation, and humbly come down to 0 to increase your fellowship with Jesus.
- Acknowledge God's greatness and your own insignificance to apply this truth in your life.
- Decrease your pride and exaltation to increase your relationship with God.