True Humility Means This

You have often heard me say that we can live by one verse. Do you remember what that is? It's in Philippians chapter 2. If you understand it properly, you can live all your life with one verse of Scripture. But you must know the Bible before that. For the rest of your life, one verse is enough. Philippians 2 verse 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus. Whatever the situation. Did somebody hurt you? Have the attitude which is in Christ. Do you want to help somebody? Don't be foolish. Have the attitude which is in Christ. Are you worried about the future? Have the attitude which is in Christ. Are you worried about circumstances? Are you running short of money? Are you without a job? Whatever it is. Any situation in life. The answer is here. Have this attitude which is in Christ. If you want to have that attitude, you must study the Scriptures, especially the Gospels. To see what attitude did Jesus have in different circumstances. It's a wonderful study. To study the life of Jesus in relation to other people, in relation to circumstances. And if you are serious about it, you will discover how He lived. And in the same connection, I have also shown you Matthew 11 and verse 29. Where in the middle Jesus said, He said first of all, 28. Come to Me. And what should I do when I come to Him? Learn from Me. He said in verse 29. Why have you come to Jesus? Is it only to go to Heaven? Is it only to get your sins forgiven? Jesus said, Come to Me. Verse 29. Learn from Me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. And He said that because every human being is basically hard in his heart. They are hard towards their marriage partners. They are hard towards their neighbors. They are hard towards people. They are very soft towards people from whom they want to get some benefit. Otherwise human beings are hard. And Jesus said, Learn from Me to be gentle. And human beings are proud. All human beings. Especially those of you who think you are very humble. You are probably the proudest of the lot. Jesus said, Learn from Me. For I am humble in my heart. Not outside. A lot of people who pretend to be humble on the outside is a lot of garbage. Fit for the trash can. But humble in heart. The only humility that is of value is humility of the heart. You are getting a reputation for humility? Throw it in the trash can. Please do it. Please take me seriously. The reputation some of you have built up in this church for humility, I urge you to throw it in the trash can. And it's worth nothing. Learn from Me to have humility of heart. Which God sees. And that can be a world of difference between humility of the heart and the reputation you get for humility. See the reputation you get for humility depends on the discernment of the other person. People in the world have no discernment and they think some presidents and prime ministers are humble. Wrong. And even Christians, most Christians have not much discernment so they can think you are humble. You are foolish if you take their opinion. Their opinion is worth nothing. Why are you so excited that people think you are humble? Amused and amazed. Do you think they see what's inside your heart? Do you realize that man looks at the outward appearance and God looks at the heart? Learn from Me for I am humble in heart. These are strong exhortations. Learn from Me. It's a school. The Christian life is a school where Jesus is the only professor. He teaches us through the Holy Spirit. And it's not 25 people sitting in a class. It's one-on-one private tuition that He gives to each one of us. And the first thing He wants us to learn is humility of heart. More than knowledge of the Bible. Knowledge of the Bible, purpose of knowledge of scripture is to lead you to humility of heart. Okay. Let this attitude be in you which is in Christ Jesus. Remember that reference, Philippians 2.5. And then remember the second reference, Matthew 11.29. Learn from Me. And a third verse. I want you to remember these three verses always. Even if you don't remember the references. The other is Hebrews 12. And verse 2. Looking unto Jesus. Or as the NESB says, fixing our eyes on Jesus. That means looking away from everything else unto Jesus alone. So, you have three wonderful exhortations. Let this attitude be in you which is in Christ Jesus. And how to discover that? What that attitude was? That's Philippians 2.5. Go to Matthew 11.29. Learn from Me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. Gentleness and humility go together. If you are humble in heart, you will be gentle. If you are not gentle, it's because you are not humble in heart. And the other way around too. And the third is looking unto Jesus. Where can I see Jesus? He is not physically here, but I see Him in the Gospels. And then the Holy Spirit, if I open my life to the Holy Spirit, He will, as Jesus promised, He has disclosed to me certain hidden things in Jesus' private life and attitude. From my knowledge of the Scriptures, He will show me what other people who read the Gospels cannot see. I mean, I'm sure many of you have seen certain things we have taught here, which you never discovered, which are written in the Gospels. There are plain words there, but you didn't see it. And the Holy Spirit comes to show us how we can look unto Jesus and run this race. So learn from me for I am humble in heart. And here it says, fixing our eyes on Jesus who endured the cross. The cross was the most humiliating experience that any human being has been subject to, stripped naked and hung in front of a hill for everybody to laugh at and treated like a criminal. So there the emphasis on, look at Jesus who went to the depth of humility. In Philippians 2 also, it's the same thing. Philippians 2 and verse 5, you've heard me say this many times and I'll repeat it again for the benefit of those who haven't heard it before or if you've heard it 10 times, you need to have heard it 11th time. Have this attitude in yourself. Verse 5, which is in Christ Jesus, who, verse 6 took the first step of humility as God, He became man. Though He was equal with God, He did not grasp on to it. That's the first step. Don't grasp on to some position you think you have or what God gave you. Don't think you're somebody important because you've got some position in the world or in the church or some reputation. He emptied Himself. And then, the second step, as a man, He could have been a king but instead of being a king, He became not only a servant but a bondservant, which is a slave. That's the lowest level of humanity. There's a slave. That is the second step of humility and then you think there's nothing lower than that. But then He went to being crucified on a cross, which is recognized as the punishment for criminals. Though He was not a criminal, He was treated like a criminal and He accepted it without opening His mouth because He did it for us. And there you see the third step of humility and that's why you've heard me say, the secret of the Christian life is humility, humility, humility as we look at Jesus. Not from the dictionary. Looking unto Jesus. And the opposite of that, the opposite, the secret of all sin or the root of all sin rather, is pride, pride, pride. And you see that in Ezekiel in chapter 28. If you understand this root of all sin and the secret of all true holiness, you have understood the most important things in the Christian life, which they won't even teach you in a Bible school. I don't think there's a Bible school in the world that teaches what I'm teaching you here. See, this is the origin of Satan. He was the head of the angels and he's mentioned there. Verse 14, Ezekiel 28, 14. You were the anointed cherub, means an angel who covers, covers means who guards the whole of God's property. He was the chief ruler, guarding everything. And the Lord says, I placed you there on the holy mountain of God. And verse 12, middle, you are the seal of perfection. Middle of verse 12, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. Beauty, wisdom, and verse 14, position. And then you were blameless, verse 15, until unrighteousness found in you. And what happened? Verse 17, the root of all sin, first sin that came in the universe, was not an external sin. The first sin that came in the universe was internal in the heart. Verse 17, your heart was lifted up, the head of the angels, millions of years ago, long before Adam was created. Something came in his heart. See, the planets and trees and all, they obey God. They never become proud. There is no pride or humility in them. They are just laws. They live by laws. They automatically do what God created them to do. But the first being that God created with a free will were the angels before he created man. The moment you give someone a free will, there is a possibility of obedience or disobedience, which was not there when he created the planets and the stars and trees and all, which have no free will. So, your heart was lifted up. What was it lifted up with? Three things, I told you. His beauty, his wisdom or knowledge, and his position. Pride in his beauty, pride in his wisdom, pride in his position. The root of all sin, pride, pride, pride. And the root of all holiness, the secret of all holiness is humility, humility, humility. Never, never forget it. And we are all born with this inborn pride, which makes us want to show off that we are one cleverer than others or more good looking than others. Good looking means physically, spiritually, anyway, spiritual beauty, more spiritual. We want to prove that we are more discerning, more spiritual. We want to prove that we are more good looking, more clever than others, or we know more than the Bible than the others. Or we understand the new covenant better than others. And we can say, thank God, we are not like other believers who don't understand the new covenant. It's all pride in the heart. It's so subtle. And the third is our position. We can be proud of the fact that we are elders or recognized as spiritual in a church or that we have a ministry and position. All types of things. Remember this. Pride in our beauty, physical or spiritual. Pride in our knowledge, whether earthly or biblical or spiritual. And third, pride in our position. That's the root of all sin. And that's what makes us fight and quarrel with people. You see, a husband fights with his wife because he thinks he is more spiritual. Many fight because they think they are stronger. I can overcome physical strength and beauty and position. I am the head of this house. Position. That's how all quarrels and fights come. And the same out in the world. Or because they browbeat other people saying, I am cleverer than you. You better not listen. That's how it is in so many cults where one person just forces his view on everybody else and you better accept what I say. And with position and beauty and because a number of actors and actresses have ruined their life because they were physically good looking. Thank God you are not so good looking that you didn't end up in the movie industry and destroy your life. So, we must look for every opportunity or everything in the scripture that helps us to go down and become zero in our own eyes. And I want to say to you that from the time we are converted one of the great works that God seeks to do in your life and mine is to bring us down to zero. Once we reach zero, He can do something for us. Till then He can do nothing. It's like the first miracle that Jesus did. He did not go and I am sure Jesus who knew the future. What was there? He didn't know. So many things He knew would happen in the future. He knew the wine would finish. Why didn't He go before they came to that embarrassing position where it's all over and the cans of wine are all empty? No, He doesn't. He waits till it comes to zero, till the last drop of wine is over and they confess, we have no wine. Now I'll do something for you. I want to say to you, that's the first miracle and there's something, a lesson there that it's very, very difficult for human beings to admit that there's nothing in them that they can do to please God. I always feel there's something in me and also, take this matter of, you can also feel that God chose me because of something in me. Absolute nonsense. There was nothing in you that made God choose you. Oh, maybe you had a little desire after Him. Ah, that's why you don't grow spiritually because you haven't come to zero. You think that there was something in you that made God choose you. If I were to ask you, why did God choose you and not some other members in your own family? You'd say, well, I had a desire towards God. That's exactly why you don't grow spiritually. Because you think there was something in you which makes you a little better than the other people. Why is it you found the truth in CFC which some other Christians haven't found? Because you think, oh, you had a hunger after God. That's why you've come to CFC and you've hardly grown at all. I've seen people sit here for 40 years and they've not grown spiritually. They don't think so. They think they've grown. They've grown in knowledge. But they haven't. They haven't grown spiritually. They haven't grown in humility. The only growth I recognize is humility because that's the only growth Jesus recognizes. And if you guys are not growing in humility, I want to tell you, don't worry about my not recognizing you. God doesn't recognize you. That's serious. But that's the only thing that I value because I say I want to see how much grace God has given a person. That shows me God's estimate of that person. And I know that God gives grace only to the humble. You can think whatever you may like about yourself and have a tremendous amount of Bible knowledge and gifts and ability and all that. But if God doesn't see you're humble, you just will not get grace. And after some time it will become evident to others that you've not got grace even though you yourself think that you've got a lot of grace because you're very active and zealous and doing this and doing that and helping people in the church and knowing the Bible and preaching and all that. Anyone with real spiritual discernment will see you haven't got it. I want to say that and I believe that there are very few people I have met in my life, even among CFC elders in different churches who have spiritual discernment to see through people. And how does our discernment grow? Our discernment grows as we judge ourselves and refuse to judge other people. You judge other people, you'll never grow in discernment. A humble man is always judging himself because he sees, I have not Why does he judge himself? He says, I have not yet become as humble as Jesus Christ. That's why I judge myself every day. And when shall I stop judging myself? The day I become as humble as Jesus Christ, I will stop judging myself. And that day is not going to come until Christ returns. Do you recognize that? God is my witness that I judge myself every single day. And I've been doing that for many, many years. Because I've seen Jesus and I've seen that I'm so way beneath Him and I want to be like Him. I have no interest in becoming a famous preacher or traveling here and there or having a ministry or anything. I want to be like Jesus. My passion. It's been my passion almost from the beginning of my Christian life. I hope that is your passion. I hope your passion is not to get up and preach. I know many, many brothers in different CFC churches their great desire is to get up and preach. They'll never become like Christ. Not in a hundred million years. Because, I mean anybody can be a preacher. You just got to have a little cleverness and a little knowledge of the Bible and no consideration for others wasting their time. You'll be a preacher. Sure. But if you really want to be a servant of God and God has to back you up with His grace and that requires humility. And that's why I'm telling you these things. I want every single one of you to be useful to God. Not as a preacher but as a useful witness for Christ in your home first of all. In your office and everywhere so that you're like a little lamp that burns brighter and brighter and people can be drawn to Christ. And the only way for that is if you get rid of all this poison. This poison that the devil has put in the human race called pride. Which makes us think too much of ourselves. So everything in the Bible that helps us to go down and recognize we are nothing is of great help. And so I want to show you a few things. One is this verse in Ephesians in chapter 1 We haven't spoken much about the sovereign choice of God. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4 Most of us would think that sometime in our life we chose Christ. That's why we are born again. That's why you are here. Or you chose to come to CFC. I don't know whether you see the element of pride there. It's I. I chose Christ. I found CFC. This big capital I. I remember years ago I had a little card with a big capital I and a big capital C and the words were Lord help me to bend this proud and stiff necked I so that the I gets bent and becomes a C for Christ. Not I but Christ. Help me to bend this proud and stiff necked I. Help me to bow my neck and die beholding him on Calvary who bowed his head for me. Have you learned to bow your head like that and let this proud stiff necked I be bent. If you want to see how strong it is all of you who have children you see the strong will in them who's got a humble submissive child if you've got one like that he's probably retarded and does not know what he's doing but any normal child is proud and stiff necked and all of you parents know what a job it is to break that will so everything that humbles us is good for us and if you really understand this what I'm trying to show you it will really humble you it says in Ephesians 1.4 that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him full stop. In love should actually be the next verse. In love he predestined us to the adoption of sons so he chose us verse 4 and in love he predestined us he chose us to be holy and blameless verse 4 and in love he predestined us to be his sons according to his will not mine that means God chose you not before you were born but before he created Adam when you didn't exist when you were in God's foreknowledge you existed but you didn't exist. Adam was not the human race was not even created and God chose you and that's why my brother, sister, you're here I don't know whether you recognize that that's why some of your relatives are not here don't have any high thoughts about I was zealous and I sought God get rid of that rubbish if you want to really grow spiritually and recognize the sovereign choice of God you say why did he choose me I'll give you that answer in three words I don't know. Why did he choose me? I don't know he did it in love he did it in his sovereign choice but if you have an answer to that I know why he chose me because at a certain time I decided to give up my sin that's why you don't grow spiritually that's exactly why you don't grow spiritually why have people learned to respect you in CFC because I've been very faithful for so many years in CFC I've served, I've not taken any money you could have grown ten times more if you didn't have that attitude I know you've grown but you could have grown ten times more if you didn't have that attitude that you have grown because of this, this, this and this learn something about the sovereign choice of God God chooses whom he desires and he chose you and he didn't choose somebody else you have to leave room for mystery when it comes to God and it's like asking me the other question how can there be three persons but one God throughout the Old Testament it says the Lord our God is one worship him then you come into the New Testament and you discover his Father, Son and Holy Spirit and all are God one God, not three Gods, one God and you ask me how do you explain that my three word answer is a great help I don't know and I don't want to know but in my heart I know him I know the person, I can't explain it if I could explain God I would have to be God myself you think a dog can explain a human being the dog thinks human beings do a lot of stupid things for example we wear clothes and the dogs wonder why you go to school, the dogs wonder why many things like that, dogs can't understand, you know why, because they are dogs let that dog become a human being and they'll understand immediately, a child knows pretty quickly that he must wear clothes knows that he's got to go to school it's a complete change of position from dog to man that you begin to understand otherwise the dog will never understand because it's an animal and we must remember just like an animal cannot understand a man it cannot understand multiplication and square root and calculus and all, no matter how much you train a dog in the same way there are a million billion things about God that you will never know as a man and if you can humble yourself and say that there's very little I know what I know is that God loves me what I know is that God sovereignly chose me, he found nothing in me but why am I a child of God, well I'll tell you eternal ages ago he chose my name, you ask me why, I don't know he just chose me isn't that partial, well go and ask God that I'm not going to explain that, I know that he chose me and I'm so happy that he chose me and I can never be proud of the fact that I'm his child and that person is not, I don't know but he chose me before the foundation of the world that doesn't make you humble, I don't know what will make you humble if you think there's something in you, ok I'll show you another verse Romans chapter 9 see these are truths that sometimes we have not emphasized sufficiently in the church because it can be misunderstood you need to come to a certain maturity and I believe this church has come to that place of maturity to understand this, the sovereign choice of God which has nothing to do with you Romans chapter 9, see it says here about Isaac's two children Romans chapter 9 verse 10 Rebecca when she had conceived twins by our father Isaac, listen to this although the twins were not yet born Romans 9,11 and they had not done anything good or bad so far in order that God's purpose will stand according to his sovereign choice and not according to works but it entirely depends on him who calls it was said to Rebecca your older twin will serve the younger twin and it is written Jacob I loved but Esau I hated that means compared to Jacob, God doesn't hate anyone but he hates sinners of course, Jacob I loved but Esau I hated and then of course immediately the clever person maybe there are some clever people sitting here, question, what's that? that's injustice, well that's what it says in the next verse what shall we say then? you say there is injustice with God? there is no injustice with God is there? are you accusing God of being unjust? saying he chooses one twin and not the other inside the womb itself before they have done anything good or bad that before you were born, before you did anything good or bad he chose you? why in the world? some of you were born in non-Christian families, why in the world did God choose you? there are millions of others born in Christian families whom he has not chosen the sovereign choice of God, God has a right because he created this universe to do what he likes if you want a God whom you can explain completely that God will be a human being that's how so many religions have come up all the Gods of religions are human beings and even those who say that who cannot explain the three persons in one God so they say, you know what, some Christians say this Jesus is in himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit Lord, Jesus Christ, Lord is Father, Jesus is Son Christ is anointed, Holy Spirit, is one person why do they explain it like that? because their human mind says, I must be able to explain it it's a dog saying, well, I'm trying to explain square root and he tries and tries and finds some stupid explanation and he thinks there's an explanation he doesn't have a clue, that's exactly what you must remember whenever you think you can explain the trinity think of a dog trying to explain square root or calculus he can't do it, neither can you leave room for mystery, I always tell people, leave room for mystery when it comes to God and the same way here, sovereign choice of God leave room for mystery you may say, well, does that cancel out that whosoever believes will be saved? No, it doesn't both are true, God's truth two truths, like parallel lines I don't know whether you know the mathematical definition of parallel lines the layman's definition of parallel lines like the parallel lines on a railway track are two lines that never meet that is a layman's definition but if you go to a mathematician and ask him what is the definition of a parallel line he'll say, parallel lines are those two lines that meet at infinity that is the accurate mathematical definition of parallel lines so two truths that meet only in the infinite God my finite mind will never be able to explain the sovereign choice of God and yet, whosoever believes will be saved hey, this looks like contradiction to my mind, like a dog can't understand a man, I can't understand it but I believe it and I feel that it's possible that most of us have only believed one side of it which is correct, one parallel line I chose Christ, whoever believes will be saved I repented and I believed, true but if you don't accept the other parallel line that God sovereignly chooses you will never be truly humble, you'll always have a little bit of pride in you that you chose God or you are what you are because of certain decisions you made or because you judge yourself and you did this and you did that and you denied yourself here and you gave up that and you gave up this which is all true, there's only one parallel line I'm trying to emphasize the other parallel line today to bring a balance in us, it's not eliminating this I'm not saying knock out this railway line so that we run the train on this one track no, or one line, you need both but I'm saying some of you guys have not laid the other line and so the train's not moving as it should you only laid one line which is necessary here's the other one God sovereignly chose you before you were even born just like Esau, why was Jacob chosen? tell me a reason, before they were born, before they did anything bad or good and before you did anything bad or good, God just chose you that's what he's trying to say here and then you say there's injustice with God, you wonder why didn't he choose that guy or some relative of yours, I say I don't know then you say God is unjust, no there can never be injustice with God I mean there's a lot of foolishness in our heads if we try to imagine to judge God himself, to wonder whether he's injustice I'll tell you another thing, our sense of justice is also so limited it's like a drop in the ocean God's wisdom is like an ocean and my wisdom is like a drop and I'm trying to fathom God's wisdom I've got to humble myself he says well, supposing God says like he said to Moses I'm going to have mercy on whom I'm going to have mercy and I'm going to have compassion on whom I'm going to have compassion so then it doesn't depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy can you accept that statement? it had nothing to do with your choosing or your running God just decided to have mercy on you remember that my brother, sister all your life it will really humble you and it will make you grow in grace it has helped me tremendously in my life I'm telling you the truth to recognize many times when I wake up in the morning God sovereignly chose me it's not got to do with my choice it says in verse 17 the scripture says to Pharaoh I raised you up with a purpose God's telling Pharaoh, you know why I allowed you to come up and become Pharaoh in Egypt? to demonstrate my power in you to humble you to crush you to bury you under the Red Sea and the truth of that will be known all over the world for the next thousands of years this is something that happened 3,500 years ago all over the world 3,500 years people have heard that how God humbled Pharaoh and buried him and his army under the Red Sea I chose you for that purpose to demonstrate my power so that my name will be proclaimed throughout the whole earth and you say, boy, you mean God does things like that? He certainly does don't accuse God of injustice, you're not the judge of God God is the judge that is another area where you find many Christians sometimes try to judge God they say, how can God do this? how can he allow this? how can he allow those wicked people to prosper? and this sincere God-fearing man is suffering or how is it I prayed and he didn't answer, aha that itself shows arrogant pride I did what Jesus said I asked in Jesus' name, I prayed and he didn't heal me who in the world do you think you are, my brother, sister? you haven't become small enough you say, I prayed in faith well, you'd really have real faith if you're small enough what you have is not faith you're too big in your mind to have faith you think you're somebody so it says in verse 18 so God has mercy on whomever he desires and he hardens whomever he desires can you accept that? I can it's the other parallel line they meet at infinity, they don't meet in my finite mind they will never meet in my finite mind I'll never be able to explain it all my life I wonder if I'll be able to explain it even in eternity because I'm not going to be infinite in eternity I'll be like Jesus, but I will not be infinite no so I don't need to explain it I know it is true there are many things even in the earth I can't explain but I know it's true you know, when I've studied a little bit about the wonders of the working of the human body the heart, the blood vessels and the different nerves and so many things inside the body as I've read and studied a little bit about it I'm amazed that I have lived up to this age I say I should have probably died at one week all these things are functioning so perfectly and we eat so many things that are not good for us we get hurt in so many ways and still we are alive today have you ever wondered about how miraculously your body works and restores things which are damaged it's to me a wonder the human body it humbles me I don't take anything for granted he has mercy on me, he has mercy and he hardens me then of course the clever man will say in verse 19 Romans 9.19, why does he find fault then? why does he find fault with somebody? why does he send somebody to hell? I'll give you the answer to that not in I don't know, I'll give you another answer why does God send somebody to hell? after hardening him, you want the answer? here it is, Romans 9.20, a very good answer who are you to answer back to God? got it? who are you to answer back to God? that's the answer, just in case you wanted to know remember that all your life remember Romans 9.20 who are you to question God? my dear brothers and sisters I'm very serious I'm absolutely convinced this is one of the main reasons why many Christians have not grown their study of the Bible is to question God to try and explain all of God when God is a mystery and you know, perhaps you don't know or some of you do know in theological, which is Bible study in the way among Christians there are two among, you know there are Protestants and Catholics I know, but in doctrine there are two main groups among Christians one, those they call themselves Calvinists who the sovereignty of God is the main thing what I'm saying here it's one parallel line of the railway track and the opposite are the Armenians these guys followed Calvin and they're the one who emphasized the free will of man and there have been great men of God on both sides of this but there was a very godly man who said the truth does not lie in one extreme neither does it lie in the other extreme much less does it lie in the middle it's not by joining both these parallel lines together in the middle and make one track, that's not it either the truth lies in both extremes held at the same time leaving those parallel lines without trying to join them saying, they will never meet in my mind parallel lines meet only in infinity only an infinite all-wise God can explain how he sovereignly chooses people and how he gives man free will to choose I cannot explain it I'll tell you, almost all of Christendom is divided into one of these two some will say, I chose and I accepted Christ and that's it that's a very good one line of the railway track but you haven't got it all and if you don't have the other, your train will not run the way it should and then there are the people on the other side who say, well, God sovereignly chose me and those are the people who believe, once saved, always saved it doesn't matter how I live because God sovereignly chose me and he chose me before eternity and I'm saved and all that and the one day they stand before the Lord they'll discover that God never chose them at all they just imagined and the proof of it was they lived in sin so the devil is determined to fool both people all scripture is inspired by God and given to us that the man of God may be perfect Paul told Timothy at the end of his life he said in 2 Timothy 2 rightly divide the word of God be diligent, study hard to rightly divide the word of God so many people are twisting it ok, another thing here in Romans 9 you say, who are you to answer back to God? Romans 9.20, the thing that is being molded cannot say to the molder, why did you make me like this? and one more answer to your question why did God choose me and not some other member in my family or somebody else why did God bring me here and some others are not here who are gone into a wayward type of Christianity why did some people come here and then fall away and go away because they thought the message was too strong it's not in my hands, you may think it's in the hands of the elders let me tell you once and for all it is not in the hands of the elders not at all they may do certain things but ultimately it's not in the hands of any elder God is the one who decides he hardens somebody verse 9.18 and he has mercy on somebody some who have mercy continue on in humility and some who get hardened think too much of themselves and fall away I've seen that happen in many CFC churches I don't question it, I say God is the one, I am not God and here is another answer, verse 21 doesn't the potter have a right over the clay to make one from the same lump of clay mud, to make one vessel for honor, another vessel for common use there are potters who make very expensive carved designs with clay they put some color into it and these very expensive vessels that are sold for thousands of rupees and then there is that other mud pot made from the same clay which people drink a little tea from in North India and throw it away worth nothing you see that in the railway stations in North India clay cups, the same mud is another beautiful vessel that costs thousands of rupees because so much work has gone into it colored and beautiful and the Holy Spirit says doesn't the potter have a right to make one vessel like this, another vessel like that so if you are one vessel whom God has made in a special way can you imagine a stupid vessel thinking that I made myself like this no always remember the potter and the clay whenever you try to compare yourself with another believer or a believer in some other church the potter makes the clay in whichever way he makes it you know, many times I have expressed in different messages that I believe a person like Mother Teresa will be way ahead of me in the kingdom of God because she had a lovely heart of love for Jesus Christ and there are many Catholic converts who have been very disturbed with me, with that statement because they say, they have told me this they say, how can you teach this she worshipped Mary and she said the Rosary and all types of things I said to them, my dear brother those are all problems with the head she did not understand doctrine properly but her heart was ten times better than mine in devotion to Jesus her sacrifice was probably thousand times more than mine and yours her service for people she probably did a hundred times more than any of us sitting here for Jesus and she always used to say there is place in my throne of my heart only for one person, Jesus Christ she said that, she wrote it down, not Mary and like that, there are other people who may have slightly different doctrines from us we can think that salvation is in a doctrine it is not if there is a doctrine that should lead to life it isn't a doctrine but you haven't understood that doctrine properly that's the problem, we think we have understood it in our head and therefore we are right see all the arguments between people about doctrine is in the head level that's why people get angry when they discuss something you can never get me angry in discussing a doctrine because I realize it's not at that level I've had people come to my house and argue with me and I say no, I'm not going to argue you can believe what you like, you can believe I'm a heretic if you like I will not argue with you, I never argue with all the people who have called me heretic and false teacher and all, no, because I say it's head to head it's got nothing to do with the head head to head, I know, I can argue with somebody and win the argument what have I proved? I've proved that I'm cleverer than you, number one I know more of the Bible than you I'm not interested in proving that to anybody that's why I don't argue because I'm not interested in showing that I know the Bible better than you I'll show you verses and you don't know the Bible enough to show me verses it's a matter of the heart and how do you compare two hearts? I can't I can see by their life, by their fruit, you shall know them what their heart is like so when I look at the fruit in a person's life, I know what's going on in his heart and that's why you find so many people who sit in CFC, who believe the same doctrine but completely different levels of spiritual life why is that? Because it's got nothing to do with the head it's got to do with the heart remember that man looks at the outward appearance, looks at the head, God looks at the heart very very important so this is a truth that I found great comfort in God has got every right over the potter as a potter over the clay he can do what he likes two equally wholehearted people, he can make one more prominent than the other insignificant and unknown it's his choice equally wholehearted and one day when Christ comes again, both will get the same reward even though one was world famous and the other was not even known outside his own village so what? but the humble person accepts that, he's not interested in being world famous he says Lord, I want to be great in the sight of the Lord like the angel told Zachariah you're going to have a son who's going to be great in the sight of the Lord it's one of my favorite phrases great in the sight of the Lord long for that my brothers and sisters not great in the eyes of CFC or its elders or Zach Poonen or any of that trash great in the eyes of the Lord make that your longing and the passion of your heart what the angel told Zachariah in Luke chapter 1 great in the sight of the Lord God has every right to make one for honor and one for dishonor so, once we understand that I believe we will see something in the life of Jesus too in another aspect of humility, this is one the other thing I want to show you which helps us to be humble one is the sovereign choice of God which is where we begin your your life did not actually begin when you were born again it was way back in eternity when God chose you before you existed I believe that and that brings great comfort to me in times of pressure or trial or has God forsaken me, no he hasn't he knew me before Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 I believe that and it's brought great rest into my heart when different things happen God allows various things to happen to give us an education everything every single thing big and small that's happened in my life has happened because God wanted to give me an education and to give me a ministry to bless other people who may go through similar problems I thought of that when I was when I've been sick, I've told you at times when some doctor made a mistake and I had a pain in my hand before I got married and another doctor said there's no cure for it and the Lord said forgive that man who made that mistake, I forgave him immediately and I was healed what one doctor neurosurgeon said this will remain with the rest of your life it went off immediately forgiveness, I tell you I have a feeling there are people here who have a problem because you have not forgiven somebody that's the reason and 10,000 injections and pills will not heal you just forgive you know if I didn't forgive that doctor who made that mistake I could have gone through so many surgeries and this and that and tablets and what not and I'd be still suffering with it today and that's not the only time, there are doctors who made mistakes in my body even after that and I've always forgiven and I've been perfectly healthy forgiveness has got a tremendous power to heal I'll tell you that, ask yourself today is there somebody who hurt you you have not forgiven he will not suffer, you will suffer, God will not forgive you but you say brother Zach, you said the other day that Jesus said if your brother comes to you and says I repent then forgive him, no that's different, I'm talking about fellowship there if you're talking about fellowship definitely if a person lives in a repentant state in a church he can't have fellowship but you've got to still forgive him there is a forgiveness that does not involve fellowship that is with unbelievers and carnal Christians like Jesus hung on the cross and he forgave without even their asking forgiveness he said father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing and many many, there may be believers like that with whom you have no relationship, no fellowship, you must forgive them instantly, even before they ask you as soon as you hear about it, somebody spoke against you somebody did something, forgive immediately, don't even wait don't even wait till you discover what happened, forgive I've always done that and I've been a very happy man but there are people who don't resolve things in a church I forgive them in my heart but I have no fellowship with them how can you have fellowship when you don't walk in the light the Bible says if we walk in the light we have fellowship if I walk in the light with you and you walk in the light with me, we have fellowship but if you don't walk in the light I'll still forgive you whatever way you hurt me, I'll forgive you, but I can't have fellowship the Bible itself says I can't have fellowship that's the meaning of that other passage in Luke 17.4 or in Matthew 18 he said speak to your brother if he sins because you want to have fellowship with him, that's why you speak to him and he doesn't listen to you, you still want to have fellowship with him, you take some elders with you and speak to him, he still doesn't listen to you and finally you tell the church and he doesn't bother about the church he leaves the church, ok what to do, have I forgiven him? yes, because in the same chapter he goes down to say in the end of that chapter you've got to forgive him from your heart but have I fellowship with him? zero see it's this balance always which many people don't understand they take one truth and exalt that and they forget the other, it's always grace or truth you need grace and truth to see the glory of God you need the sovereignty of God and the free will of man together to see how God chooses so here's another thing about Jesus which I want to show you learning from Jesus, learn from me for I am humble in heart where do I see the humility of heart of Jesus let me show you one example in John chapter 5, think of this when you heard me quote John 15 5 without Christ I can do nothing, we've got that verse up there without Christ I can do nothing very important verse, that's why we've got it up there at the back of the screen I mean on the curtain without me you can do nothing, have you understood that then we can understand the other truth on the other side, with Christ I can do everything see what Jesus says in John 5 19, very important truth where was his humility seen his humility is seen in the son can do nothing of himself unless he first sees the father doing it whatever the father does, the son does in the same manner and he goes on from that to say because whatever I do I'll bungle up something if I do something without seeing the father doing it therefore verse 30 I will do nothing on my own initiative you know what initiative means, something that starts with me that means I don't consult anybody I do it on my own, Jesus said I never do it I always consult my father not always asking but a spontaneous life which you know like the branch in the tree always dependent dependent dependent dependent without always asking just constant dependence, nothing on its own initiative branch saying I don't produce a single fruit on my own I lean on the tree, the tree produces the fruit that's what Jesus is saying this is his humility, I can do nothing of myself you've heard me many times quote the example of Jesus you know that man whom Peter and John healed Acts chapter 3, lame man it says he was lame from childhood and for 40 years he'd been lame and they'd been laying him at the door of the temple for so many years, can you imagine the number of times Jesus walked by him, walked by that same man at the beautiful gate of the temple and he would stretch out his hand to Jesus and say give me some money and Jesus did not say silver and gold I have none like Peter he told Judas give him some money next day he comes same man says Judas give him some money for three and a half years Judas give him some money give him some money, why didn't you heal him the father said no we have the idea that oh somebody is sick I must have compassion and heal him Jesus did not act on compassion and you and I must not act on compassion if you want to follow Jesus on hearing the will of the father I have given money to people out of compassion which I have regretted it looked like compassion, it's like helping the prodigal son who is far away from the father's house and I keep on feeding him and he never goes back to his father's house is that an act of compassion, it's an act of stupidity let that fellow suffer, let him eat what the pigs are eating until he repents and goes back to his father's house that is divine wisdom that's what I learned about God there in that story God is so loving that he wants his son back to him in fellowship with him so he does not send him money he does not send him food packets stupid Christians will go and give him food packets and money to make sure the fellow goes to hell but God loves him so much he doesn't want him to go to hell so he does not send him food packets, he does not send him money how many Christians have that wisdom? I find very very few because they do things in their own initiative Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the father but no no no I don't have to wait for it to proceed from the father, I can do things on my own I've studied the Bible enough, I'm a mature Christian I've got compassion, I want to help this person, ok go ahead I'll tell you when Christ comes again we will see how many problems we caused among God's people with our not seeking God to know whether what I should do in this case because we are so proud, why do I have to consult God, I know all the rules I live by rules, that is going back under the law Jesus never lived by the law, he lived by when you are hungry if you have power to turn stones into bread can you turn stones into bread? Yeah, if you are a human being yes, Jesus said no, I've got power to turn stones into bread but I will not use that power, I'll use it to bless others he used it to help 5000 people to multiply bread, but when it came to himself father, what do you say, no and even there the father said, he asked the father the father said yeah, make for them, and he made bread for them he lived by the father, so this man is laid at the gate of the temple, if Jesus had healed him he would have got up and walked and maybe one or two people would have got converted and then when Peter and John came by later, there was nobody there but when Peter and John healed him you read later on in the next chapter that 5000 people got converted, imagine Jesus could have spoiled that, by doing something out of human compassion I've got power, let me heal him right now that's a classic example so, that's one mark of Jesus' humility I have the power to heal this man father, shall I do it, and the father says no let me give you another example which is even more striking you know the story where it's just in the same John chapter 5 earlier Jesus went to a sheep pool called Bethesda, and these lay a multitude of people who were verse 3, sick, blind, lame, withered how many do you think is a multitude, will you call 10 people a multitude, will you call 15 people a multitude, a multitude means must be at least 100 people there minimum crowding around this lake where or this pool where once once in a while an angel would come stir the waters and the first person who jumped in would be healed, and immediately a clever person says why did God heal only the first person you know the answer to that who are you oh man to answer back to God, got it please remember that answer whenever you have a question about why God does some things in a certain way why didn't God heal my child, why did that child die get the answer in Romans 9 who are you oh man to answer back to God take your position as a human being ok, there was this man who had been ill for 38 years, verse 5 and Jesus goes there and asks him do you want to get well he said I have nobody to help me, Jesus get up pick up your pallet and walk and immediately verse 9 you got to use your imagination a bit shut your eyes and imagine the pool of Bethesda hundreds of people hanging around the pool it's not a big one square mile area, it's a small pool all these people crowding around and Jesus coming there and they hear him talking to this man, they all know him lying there for 38 years, get up and walk and all these people hear him they see him getting up and walking what would you do if you were one of those blind lame people there tell me, you'd say hey Jesus I'm here too I know I'd do that Jesus walks away, doesn't he have compassion for all the other multitude of people like these people who help the prodigal son and the pigs farm doesn't Jesus have compassion doesn't he have power why does he leave them all there, sick who are you oh man, to question God why didn't he do it, I'll give you the answer he had no word from the father to heal those hundred people he never felt he had the power the power was with the father, the son can do later on he explains it, in the same chapter he explains it in verse 19 I can do nothing unless the father tells me to do it and the father told me to heal one man I healed him and the rest of the people I didn't heal, have you seen the connection between verse 19 and what happened in the pool of Bethesda, that is the answer to what happened earlier in that chapter the son can do nothing of himself that's his humility today there are so many healers who say I've got the power to heal I'm going to heal all of you come on the hoaxes that go on, they have not understood John chapter 5 if there was one person who had the power to heal everyone it was Jesus and there were times when it says he healed all of them because he heard the father and here's the time when he healed one out of a hundred most people don't understand that this was the greatest healer who walked on this earth humility, humility, humility I can do nothing I will not do anything without the father prompting me the greatest men of God I have known on earth are not the greatest preachers no it's the ones who have always had this attitude even if they don't say it let me pray about it let me pray about it now that's a very pious thing to say I know let's pray about it, it's a very sanctified holy thing that people say but I mean an attitude where they say shall I do it? let me pray about it should I help this person? let me pray about it most people don't do that because they are so full of themselves they say I've got the money, I've got the resources, I'm going to help that person ok go ahead, that's because you're not spiritual Jesus was spiritual, he said I won't do anything I know all these people need healing, but if the father says no I say no, that's it and I see today also so many people are sick I prayed for some people who are healed, I prayed for many other people who are not healed I don't know why I don't question God, not at all dear brothers and sisters, here we see the humility of Jesus Jesus says learn from me in everything learn that man lives by every word that proceeds from God's mouth that is one of the greatest lessons to learn and it is the first, listen to this the first spoken word in Jesus' ministry man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and that's how Jesus lived all his life and the humble man recognizes that that is why I've said for years brothers and sisters, develop the habit of listening listening, listening learn to listen to God from early morning when you get up learn to listen to God and keep that listening ear throughout we don't do it perfectly but if we practice, practice more and more we'll develop it more and more one last verse, Isaiah chapter 50 you know this verse, I've quoted it often Isaiah 50 verse 4 Isaiah chapter 50 and verse 4, speaking about Jesus very clearly speaking about Jesus, prophecy about Jesus the Father, the Lord has given me the tongue of a disciple to know the right word to give to a person in need how to know the right word to give to a person in need whether in a sermon when you're preaching to a hundred people or when you're speaking to one person, one on one in personal conversation you have to have a ear that listens see the latter part here is the secret, morning by morning he wakes me up God wakes me up and the reason he wakes me up in the morning first of all is to listen to him as a disciple and not that I shut my ear after five minutes throughout the day, man shall live by what he hears from God listen, listen, listen, listen suddenly one person who is weary comes to me, I have the word for him later on I have another person who comes who is weary I have a word for him somebody phones me up with a question I have a word for him wouldn't you like to live like that? wouldn't you like to live like that? to be a blessing to everyone you meet and you talk to and hear develop the habit of listening humble yourself God is almighty, I'm zero I want to walk like Jesus who decided never to do anything by himself you say my life is very stunted no, in the beginning it looked like that but over a period of time the prompting will become clearer, the voice of God will become clearer and clearer in you and then a question comes, shall I do nothing by common sense? no the Bible says if you see your brother hungry don't say praise the Lord, may God take care of you, no give him food, but if you are listening to God sometimes you may have a prompting don't give him so much money, just give him a little bit listen to that, that's what I mean by all means let's help one another but dear brothers and sisters there is a lot of foolish helping I have travelled this country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari from Gujarat to Mizoram and Nagaland all across and I have seen one thing in these 50 years, 60 years I have travelled a lot of Christian work has ruined by amount of money that has been dumped here from other countries missionaries and preachers who come with loads of money just helping here and there, yeah they are doing a lot of good they can report back there, it has destroyed the work of God and given a bad name to Christianity among non-Christians that's why from the beginning in CFC we decided to do it differently when it came to money we would not ask anybody for money and we are very careful in using money I am sorry to say there are people in CFC because there is a lot of money here, they lavishly spend it that shows how they don't know God at all don't know, oh there is money, let's use it that's the language of Judas Iscariot not the language of Jesus why did he go and sleep under the Mount of Olives when nobody invited him to his house in Jerusalem in Luke 7.53, John 7.53 and John 8.1 didn't Judas Iscariot have enough money couldn't he have gone and lived in an inn oh there is money in the bag, let me go and stay in some 5 star inn and I have come here to preach no, he would not use God's money in a wasteful way learn from him all of you who have some responsibility to spend money in CFC please learn from Jesus how to spend God's money how would you spend your own money that's the way we should spend God's money too I find a lot of carelessness there some who were very careful earlier on have become careless now they are going downwards instead of going upwards to become more like Christ they are becoming more like the world amazing, money has become their God sad, let's wake up Jesus says learn from me it's all got to do with humility of heart I want to hear what God is saying there we see Jesus' humility, I will do nothing I can do nothing, as I hear I do and that's why in three and a half years he could finish the work and say, father I finished the work you gave me to do did you heal all those people in Bethesda? No, I didn't heal all of them but I finished the work you gave me to do he didn't say, Lord I have done 10,000 things for you no, that's what we say, I have done 10,000 things for you but you don't finish the work the father gave you to do that's the important thing I want to finish the work the father gave me to do I don't want to travel the world and boast I have been here, been there, been nothing there is a work God plans for me and I will know it day by day I won't know the whole future and I will not boast over the past but day by day I will know what the father wants me to do and I want to do that and come to the end of my life and say, father many years I lived in stupidity but from the time I got an understanding, I tried to do your work and I finished the work you gave me to do I hope at least from today, after you hear this message you will wake up every day and say Lord today I want to live, listening to you it may take many years for me to develop my ears to listen because I have not done it so far but I want to live a useful life I want to be humble enough to say, I don't know sometimes what to do is it possible for somebody here to take this message and go to an extreme and do nothing, quite likely that's also possible, so be careful let's pray heavenly father, we know that relationship with you is a mystery so many Christians think they can explain it all like 2 plus 2 is 4, it's not that easy I know help us to humble ourselves and leave room for mystery in our relationship with you and yet to know that you are a loving father who eagerly desires to lead us and guide us every day help us Lord to learn humility from Jesus and to avoid the way of pride and arrogance that makes us think we can do anything for you we can do nothing we lean on you Lord, help us we pray never to forget the lessons you teach us all the days of our life we pray in Jesus name, Amen