Don’t Seek for Praise and Don’t Judge: Zac Poonen (Transcript)

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You take it as seriously as that. I believe you will go to scripture more earnestly and say, Lord, I want something from you. I mean, if you come only by meditating, you do not come by reading, I’ll tell you that.

Those who have the habit of reading long sections, you won’t get it. Please turn with me to one of my favorite passages in this connection, Psalm 1. The book of Psalms begins with this, these three verses. And I believe that applies to really all of scripture.

What does it say, blessed is the man who, not who reads, but who meditates on the law of the Lord. In day and night, verse 2, in God’s word, he meditates day and night, and his delight is in God’s word. I mean, if you can enjoy God’s word, like you enjoy whatever is your favorite food, and say delight is in the law of the Lord, and in that law, he meditates day and night. See, meditation is like chewing and digesting the food we eat.

The Analogy of Digestion

You know that the food we eat and chew and put into our stomach will not strengthen us one bit if it is not digested and converted into all that we need for our body. So there’s a lot of work that goes on while we’re doing nothing almost on the outside, not even realizing that while we’re doing all our other work, something’s going on in our stomach with the food we ate, getting digested and broken down. I don’t know all the medical terms that deal with all that, but finally, it makes me strong. So meditation is like that.

Reading is like eating, say you spend 15, 20 minutes eating, okay, and then some hours it gets digested and broken down into various things in the body. So what I read in the morning, it must be meditated on as and when I get time throughout the day. I want to encourage all of you to develop that practice, because then it’ll make you strong. I’m amazed that so many believers who read the Bible so much, but they don’t seem to develop spiritually.

Something is missing in their life, and I think it is meditation. So first of all, verse one is important, that means you stay away from anything that you know to be sin. That’s another preparation to read the scriptures. If I’m not staying away, it says in verse one, blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, does not stand in the path of sinners, does not sit in the seat of scoffers.

He stays away from sin, from those who scoff at the Bible, from wicked people, and from sinners. They’re described in three categories, those are the advice of wicked people, and the pathway that sinners take, and those who sit and mock at the things of scripture. Stay away from all such people, and then you spend your time delighting in God’s word, and meditating on it, not reading it day and night, maybe you read it only in the morning, but meditating on it day and any time you’re awake at night. I don’t know how many of you sometimes wake up at night, I think all of us have that experience sometimes.

And instead of letting your mind wander here and there, think of some scripture you read in the morning. Yeah, I find I get a lot of revelation when I’m in bed, waking up. So that’s a very, very important three verses, and so if you keep up that habit, you’ll find that continuously God’s word is such a treasure house, it’s like a mine, there are mines that people have dug for gold and diamonds and all that, they’re still mining after a whole century, a whole hundred years they’ve been digging, digging, digging, and there’s still gold down there. And think of that if you read, none of us have read the scriptures for a hundred years, I’ve read it for 65 years, and I find there’s wealth inside it that I still haven’t seen.

The Freshness of God’s Word

So let me share something that came home to my heart afresh, it’s not necessarily something new, but you know, it’s like, don’t ever say, “Oh, I’ve heard that before.” It’s like if your wife puts, or whoever serves you food, puts a plate of whatever you like on the table for your lunch or dinner, you never say, “Well, we had this a few times in the last one year,” you probably had it a hundred times in the last one year, but you still like it. We’re not having a new menu in our dinner every day. Very often the food we eat, anyway, the food I eat, for example, breakfast, lunch and dinner, almost every day is exactly the same, but it’s delicious every day.

It’s healthy and delicious. So don’t ever look at the scripture and say, “Well, we read that before.” There’s tremendous depth and wealth in it. It’s like that food I eat now is going to help me today.

What I read, what I ate yesterday helped me yesterday. So come to the scriptures like that. Don’t ever come to the scriptures saying, “I know that.” See that attitude, you will not grow spiritually.

You will not get anything from the Lord. When you listen to a message, even if you’ve heard it 10 times, say, “Lord, there’s something you want to tell me. That’s why you’re allowing me to hear that for the 11th time, there’s something you want me to get.” Take that attitude and I’ll tell you, you’ll become, it’s a humble attitude and you’ll find an abundant grace that comes into you.

The Purpose of Scripture: Coming to Jesus

So there’s something here that Jesus said in Matthew chapter, sorry, John chapter five. There’s the last nine verses of John chapter five from verse 39 onwards. I think there’s a lot of riches here that I won’t be able to go into the depth of it, but I would encourage you to meditate on it. First of all, verse 39, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but they testify about me and you’re not willing to come to me that you have life.

So here, this is the difference between what we read in Psalm one and in the new covenant. Let’s compare this with what you read in Psalm one. In Psalm one, it says you stay away from sinners and read God’s word and meditate on it day and night. And I didn’t find out that one statement there, but whatever he does will prosper.

Did you notice that in Psalm one? That if you follow what it says there, your life will be so blessed that whatever you do, whatever you do in your life, Psalm one verse three, whatever you do, you will be blessed. You will prosper. So I took that verse very seriously.

I’m sorry. I didn’t find it out when you looked at that verse. When you stay away from the way of sinners and you read God’s word, the promise of the Lord and meditate on it in the way of the promise in Psalm one verse three is whatever you do will prosper. I’ve claimed that for my life.

Personal Testimony of Prosperity

I said, if I’m in a profession, when I was working in the Navy, I felt that I must do excellently in whatever job I did. Every ship I worked on in all the years I was in the Navy, I got an excellent report from my commanding officer. They always gave me top marks and put me right in the top. I was very happy to see that, that all I did was honor God and work faithfully.

Whatever I did in those years in my secular profession, I prospered. And I want to encourage every one of you to believe, I’m not saying you’ll become a millionaire or make a lot of money. That’s not the point. Prospering is spiritually, but at the same time, your earthly prosperity means you’ll have enough for your earthly needs.

I believe that. And I don’t believe that God would allow, ever allow any of his children to starve because he loves us and he loved Jesus and Jesus never starved. So I don’t believe that any of God’s children will ever be in the condition of some homeless person standing on the street ever. Even if he’s a full-time Christian worker, like I’ve been for nearly 60 years, I don’t believe God would ever allow me to end up poverty stricken, even though I don’t take money from people for, I don’t ask people for money.

I don’t, if the, I trust the Lord, just like Jesus trusts the Lord, when people gave Jesus money, he took it. But he didn’t trust in anybody. He didn’t look for any, any money from anyone and he prospered in all his lives. So here it says, these were people who searched the scriptures, the Pharisees, they did somewhat what they was mentioned in Psalm 1 and they thought eternal life is there.

Now we can also feel like that. I read the Bible. I get to know the Bible, but no, it says through the Bible in the new covenant, you must, verse 40, come to me, Jesus said, and then you have life. If you read the Bible and it does not lead you to Jesus, you will have knowledge.

You’ll have something to preach to others, but you will not have life. Our aim in going to the scriptures must, but through it, verse 39 and 40 seem to indicate that as you search the scriptures that will lead you to Christ and thereby you can receive life from him. So that’s the first thing that we need to remember here. The purpose of our reading the scriptures and meditating on it is, that is how we interpret what we read in Psalm 1, whatever he does will prosper.

What is prosperity for us today? That we get more of the life of Jesus, that is the only prosperity worth having. So we come to him and we get life, then I want to move on to verse 41. So here’s something which is very, very important for us to understand.

Not Receiving Glory from Man

I do not receive glory from man. There were a lot of people who were praising Jesus, particularly when he healed the sick or cast out a demon and yeah, you can’t stop people from appreciating you, particularly if you have helped them in some way, or they’ve been blessed through your life. They will praise you, they will appreciate you, but we are not to receive it. I don’t mean you tell them to keep quiet.

What I mean is let it flow over you like water off a duck’s back. Somebody comes and praises you, okay, don’t insult him by saying, “Oh, I don’t receive any honor from you.” Let that be secretly between you and God. Whenever anybody appreciates something you have done, be humble and gracious enough to be thankful for that.

If that person is genuinely appreciating, you accept it thankfully, but don’t let it go in. Let it flow over you like water off a duck’s back. I do not receive glory from men. You know, this is a very subtle thing because we all have a tendency to want to be appreciated, to want to receive some credit or approval from others.

I’ll tell you something, you may, you know, babies do it, okay, and those who are Christian babies will do it, but it will limit your spiritual growth, I’ll tell you that. It will limit your spiritual growth if you receive honor from men, but don’t say I don’t want to receive it from you. You listen to it. Like I said, like water flows over a duck’s back and goes away.

I don’t know. I never touched a duck to see it, but I presume that if you touch a duck after pouring water on it, it won’t be wet. See, if you pour water on our hand, it’s wet, but you pour water on a duck, the saying that it’s flowing like water off a duck’s back indicates the duck’s wings don’t get wet. I don’t know why, but that’s the picture of people give you some glory and it just flows out and is not stuck to you, that water doesn’t stick to the duck and the glory must not stick to me.

The Danger of Taking Credit

I must never, never take any credit for anything that I do for, you know, particularly in spiritual life and the spiritual realm, it’s a very serious thing to touch the glory of God because that is the greatest theft we can make. Jesus said, “I do not receive glory from men.” The angels in heaven are praising him all the time, but when he was on earth, he would not receive any glory from men. Today he’s a risen Son of God.

He has every right to receive glory from you and me, from everybody else. When it’s offered to him, they receive it. But when he was on earth, he walked as a man and he’s our example that we also like him and do not receive any glory or credit from him. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 42.

I’ve said this many times that there are many things God will give us. He will give us all that we need for our earthly life. He will give us all that we need for our spiritual life. He will bless us in a hundred and one ways or a thousand and one ways. He’ll give us his love, he’ll give us his nature, he’ll give us everything, but there’s one thing God will never, never give us. Isaiah 42, “I will not give my glory to another person.” In the middle of that verse. And this is the crime, the crime, I call it a crime that many believers have committed.

They have touched the glory of God. They’ve taken credit for what God has done through them. And I use the example of supposing somebody has made a beautiful cake and asked me to, gave it to me to distribute in the church. And I distributed and somebody says, “Brother Zac, what a fantastic cake you made.” And I keep quiet. I’m a thief. I’ve taken credit for what somebody else made. I’m sure you won’t do it.

You’ll immediately say, “No, I didn’t make it. This is made by somebody else. I’m only distributing it.” So remember this, brothers and sisters, whatever you, God may use you in some way to help with a single person, or if you’re a preacher, he may use you to help greater crowds.

But please remember to give the glory to God, never to touch the glory of God. Whatever God has done for you, through you, say, “Lord, I will not touch that glory.” This is very, very important because it’s very subtle, this trying to take a little bit of that credit to ourselves. So that’s the other thing I want you to see in John 5 verse 41. “I do not receive glory from men.” That’s our example. To live as Jesus lived means I will not receive. People can give it.

People praise Jesus like anything. Once they wanted to make him a king, he ran away. He said, “No, no, no, I’m not going to be a king.” So we should stay away from touching the glory of God. It’s so very, very important. Remember that is the first sin that came in the universe when an angel wanted to get the glory that belonged only to God, and that’s how sin came. Okay, I want to move on from there.

The Connection Between Faith and Glory

And further on, he says in verse 44, “How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes only from God?”

So if I receive glory from men, that proves I’m not seeking the glory, the credit that comes from God. That is the serious part of it, that when I receive, I mean, I can’t stop people from appreciating me or praising me, but inwardly, I must not receive it. It’s very, very important. Lord, I will not receive it because I know that you’re the one who did something through me and I want to give all the glory to you.

We have to be very quick to give it immediately. And it says here, one reason why we lack faith. Sometimes, you know, faith is one of the things we sometimes struggle with. Lord, I don’t seem to have faith for this.

Haven’t you ever said that sometimes? I’ve said that sometimes. Lord, I’m asking for something, but I don’t seem to have faith for it. Here is the reason. Listen carefully. Verse 44, “How can you have faith when you commit the crime of receiving glory from one another and don’t seek the glory that comes only from God?” So there are many reasons why we don’t have faith. Even when we don’t read God’s word, Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

So when I read the scripture, if I hear God speaking to me, I can get faith. That’s one way to get faith. And I hope all of us read God’s word and receive what God is saying to us. But beyond that, here’s a way you can lose faith or not have faith at all.

How can you have faith? In other words, the reason you don’t have faith, let me paraphrase verse 44. One reason you guys don’t have faith is because you take credit to yourselves. When somebody praises you, you inwardly accept it.

When somebody gives you some glory, you take it inwardly. And you sit down sometimes by yourself and meditate on what all wonderful thoughts people must be having about you, or people think you’re a great saint, or people think you’re a great preacher or great whatever it is, or that you brought up your family so well. There are so many things you can take credit for. And you take credit for it, believe me, you won’t have much faith.

All the people who take glory to themselves, according to this verse, their faith sinks down. The more you receive honor from men, the more faith goes down. It’s a very important verse. So I find I need to remember that.

Why is my faith not strong enough? Question, am I believing God’s word? Am I receiving glory from men? Because the Lord has to say to me, how can you have faith when you’re going around looking for people to honor you, people to appreciate you?

Finish with it. Say, “Lord, I don’t want anybody’s appreciation. I don’t want honor from anybody. I want to live before your face.” I’ll tell you, your whole life will change if you just take this one word seriously, that receiving glory from men decreases your faith. Let me ask you this. Have you ever thought of the connection between receiving glory and the loss of faith? Why haven’t you seen it?

Let me ask you another question. Have you read John’s gospel at least once? You’ve probably read it many times. You’ve read John chapter 5 many times. How is it this verse did not hit you? Verse 44, that the reason I don’t have faith is because I’m looking for honor from other people and receiving honor when they praise me, I accept it and appreciate it. I’ll tell you honestly, I read it many, many times before I saw it. Because we don’t meditate enough.

Let me encourage you, at least from the example of this one verse, to think of how many things that God’s wanted to say to you from his word, you missed out on because you’ve taken it lightly. So that’s very, very important. Lord, from today onwards, I want to seek honor and glory only from you. It says here from the one and only God.

The One and Only God

That’s a lovely expression in the NASB. Seek glory that is from the one and only God. And the meaning I get from that is when you get praise from somebody else, you’re treating him like a God. That’s the second thing you get out of that verse.

You’re treating that person like God when you receive his honor. Somebody praises you and you’re so happy about it because you treated him like God. But here it says the one and only God. Why did he have to tell the Jews? They only believe in one God in any case. But why did he have to say you receive honor from the one and only God? I think the implication is that if you receive honor from people, you’re treating them like your God. You want them to appreciate you.

And I say, “Oh, thank you very much for appreciating me.” He’s your God. He’s your God. No, I will not make anyone my God except the one in heaven, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s my one and only God. And he’s the only one from whom I will receive credit, honor, appreciation. Determine that. I’m going to labor that point.

I wish I could just emphasize that for the next half an hour. But it’s so important that you do not receive or accept or look for any credit or honor from anyone. And please remember what I said today. That if you do that, you’re treating that person like your God. It’s that serious. Okay. Now the other thing I want to say here is, it says here in the next verse, verse 45. “Do not think that I will accuse you.”

The Danger of Accusation

Because there’s one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you have set your goal. See, this is the other thing you have to be very careful about. Inwardly accusing people. Jesus said, “I’m not going to accuse you.” When he said Moses, Moses means God’s word. You guys are reading God’s word. God’s word accuses you. But I don’t think I will accuse you before the Father.

We can speak God’s word strongly. But it must never be in the spirit of accusation. This can come very subtly. I know because I’ve been preaching for years. I know. See, supposing you know that somebody is doing something wrong. And you get a chance to preach God’s word in your church. You can preach God’s word in such a way that your aim is to accuse that person.

You’re hoping that guy will hear. You’re accusing him. No. You don’t deserve to represent God by preaching his word if that is in your mind. I’m not to be an accuser when you get into the pulpit. Or when you share the word even if you’re not in the pulpit. And you share the word with anyone. Even one on one.

Remember, in those days Jesus said, Moses is the one who accuses you. But if you turn with me to Revelation in chapter 12. This is a very important verse that’s come to my heart many, many, many times. Revelation in chapter 12.

The Devil’s Titles

The devil is given two titles here. Please remember that. One title is the middle of verse 9. Revelation 12 verse 9 middle. He is the deceiver of the whole world. There is not a single person on earth who escapes his deception. Except those who submit to God’s word and are filled with the Holy Spirit. He is called number one the deceiver of the whole world in the middle of verse 9.

I have to be careful of deception. He deceives through preachers. He deceives through people who come very close to you and become very friendly with you. The devil is the master of deception. That’s why we have to be very careful even when we hear God’s word. I don’t know how many of you have the habit of listening to so many preachers on YouTube. There are so many preachers on YouTube now. And some Christians have the habit of listening to this person and that person and the other person.

And they get thoroughly confused. Please be very, very discerning in listening to preachers nowadays. If a man is after your money you can be absolutely sure he’s a deceiver. That’s the number one mark of a deceiver. That he’s after your money and he wants to subtly get something from you. Anyway, the devil is the deceiver of the whole world. But the title he’s given in relation to believers is in verse 10. The middle of verse 10.

He is the accuser of believers. He tries to deceive believers too. But more than that he accuses believers to God. So the picture I get here is that when you do something wrong that the devil can see. He immediately accuses you to God. Now the devil, there are three things the devil cannot see in us. He cannot see our thoughts. He cannot see our attitudes to people. And he cannot see our motives. So those areas he cannot accuse us because he doesn’t know. Nobody knows. Even your wife or husband doesn’t know your thoughts and attitudes and motives.

They can become evident by something you do or say. Something you may, sometimes you may say something or do something that makes evident that you got a wrong attitude towards someone. That’s different. But if you don’t say anything and you keep quiet. Nobody can see the wrong attitude you have towards somebody.

The other thing the devil doesn’t know the motive with which you’re doing something. If you know all the factors you can know what motive this person is doing this way. Otherwise motive and attitude and thoughts are areas the devil cannot see. But things that he does see, he accuses. And sometimes it’s a false accusation. But when he goes before God, it cannot be a false accusation. He accuses them before God day and night.

So that’s a verse that we have to take heed to because when I see somebody doing something wrong, a believer. Let’s say some believer in a church. You find that they’re doing something wrong or saying something wrong or dressed in a very gaudy worldly way or something. You say you’re more modest in your dressing and that lady is more stylish or gaudy.

There’s a tendency in us to criticize. But let me tell you before you did it, the devil already did it to God. He accused, you’re going behind the devil. He’s already accused that person to God. Now you’re saying I also joined the devil. That’s come to me very strongly that when I accuse a child of God, I’m holding hands with Satan. Because Satan says, “Great, give me your hand. Let’s accuse him together.”

Did you realize that? That when you speak evil of another brother, the devil cannot tell a lie to God. Let’s say he accuses them before God day and night. Do you think the devil can go to God and tell some lies about me? No. He cannot tell a single lie to God. He knows what I did somewhere which other believers may not know. Maybe I did something in secret or I said something somewhere and the devil picks it up.

Joining Hands with the Devil

You see what he said? You see, that was not the truth. That was a lie that he said. And if I happen to know it, and I also say that, I’ve joined hands with the devil.

So the opposite of that is what Jesus does when he sees we do something wrong. He’s called in 1 John 2:1, our advocate, our attorney. Now, when you hire somebody as an advocate in a court case, he’s going to defend you. In a court, there’s a judge, there’s an accuser, and there’s an advocate.

The accuser in the court, think of a court. The judge is sitting there in the seat, and somebody’s got something against you, comes as an accuser on one side, and you hire an advocate to fight for you on the other side. So think of these three people on a court, the judge, the accuser, and the advocate. It’s exactly the same at God’s throne.

God is the judge, the devil is the accuser, and Jesus is the advocate. And here is the person standing in front of God, some believer who did something wrong or said something wrong or dressed in a bad way or did something foolish or stupid. Now think of the court. Think of the court scene.

God is listening. And the accuser is saying, he did this, she did this, and they behaved like this. And Jesus says, “I shed my blood for them. Forgive them.” They repented of it. Forgive them. Now, the question that comes to you, brother, sister, is whose side are you going to take in the court? You can keep quiet if you like.

That’s okay. That’s better than accusing. But the best would be that if you see somebody has done something wrong, just to pray for them. Even just a brief one-minute prayer. It doesn’t take long, not even one minute. Just a few sentences. You saw some brother or sister doing or saying something wrong. How long does it take to make a quick prayer for that person?

Lord, I feel that was wrong with that person. Please forgive him. I want to pray for him and encourage him and help him. Maybe he’s under some pressure. I don’t know. Always try and think of some excuse for that brother. That not to find somebody to criticize. Maybe he’s under some pressure, which I don’t know of.

So, Lord, be merciful to him. So, this aspect of being merciful is not. Satan has got zero mercy. Zero mercy. And God is full of mercy. And all of us are somewhere in between these two. So, we need to move more and more closer to God. One mark of moving closer to God is that we don’t accuse people so much.

And we are more merciful towards them and pray for them. This is what Jesus said in John 6. Don’t think I will accuse you. And we should be able to also say that. That I will never accuse anybody. I may not pray for them, but at least I will not accuse them. The best is if you would pray for somebody that did something wrong that you saw. The worst would be if you accused them.

God’s Mercy and Judgment

So, that’s the first thing I want you to notice here. Do not think that I will accuse you. So, mercy is a very great quality that God has. God is very strict. And he is very merciful too. And I remember years ago, you probably heard me give this example from Isaiah 61. Before I go to Isaiah 61. Yeah, let’s go to Isaiah 61, right.

Isaiah chapter 61. This is the word that Jesus quoted in his first sermon in the Nazareth. Did you know that? The very first sermon that Jesus preached. Isaiah 61. Verse 1. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted” and so on. And here is mercy and judgment together in verse 2.

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord or the year of God’s mercy. And the day of judgment. So, look at verse 2 as having two statements. Mercy and judgment. And Jesus came to, was anointed by God, it says here. To proclaim two things. The favorable year of the Lord. And the day of vengeance of our God.

So, when you read that, did you see a proportion there? Let me read it like this. I have come, verse 2, to proclaim 365 days of favor and mercy. And one day of judgment. Did you see the proportion now? 365 is to 1. I have come to proclaim 365 days of the Lord’s favor and mercy. And one day of judgment.

Now, when you turn, Jesus quoted that verse in his first sermon in Nazareth in Luke chapter 4. If you turn that for a moment. Luke chapter 4. He came to Nazareth. It was the first sermon he preached in Nazareth. He had been there for 30 years. Never preached a sermon. But he got up one day in Nazareth.

They asked him to speak. And he took the scroll. And he turned and turned and turned until he came to Isaiah 61. He located that. And then he said, he found verse 17. Luke 4:17. He found the place where it is written. This is Isaiah 61:1, what we read. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” And verse 19. “To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” He stopped in the middle of that verse.

And he closed the book. Did you notice that? Why didn’t he say the rest of that verse? The day of judgment and vengeance of our God. No, he had not come to proclaim that. That will come 2,000 years later. One day he will come to proclaim. So you notice that that verse in Isaiah 61 was split up into two parts. And Jesus spoke only the first part. And he left out the second part. Because that was going to be fulfilled only in his second coming.

So Isaiah 61:2 had two parts. And it says Jesus read up to the first part of verse 2 and closed the book. I like that. He closed the book and gave it back. And sat down. Luke 4:20. Close the book. I’ve only come to proclaim favor. Favor. That is the day we are living into. We are living in the 365 days of favor. The favorable year.

All these 2,000 years are the favorable year of the Lord. The day of vengeance will come when Christ comes. So we can put it like this. Mercy and judgment.

Living in the Year of Mercy

And we are living in the year of mercy. And so whenever we see something wrong. That somebody did. Or we feel there is some mistake in someone. Here is the devil ready to accuse. And here is the Lord ready to show mercy. And these 2 things are brought together. Mercy and judgment in the letter Paul writes. In the letters of James. James writes in James chapter 2. James chapter 2. In verse 12 and 13. James chapter 2 verse 12 and 13. You must speak and act in such a way. As those who are going to be judged by the law of liberty. The law of freedom. But if you don’t allow yourself to be led by that law of mercy. Then one day. Verse 13. God’s judgment will be merciless. Those who have shown no mercy. The day of vengeance will come down pretty hard on that person.

But in this day and age. Mercy must triumph over judgment. That’s a great phrase. Which I encourage all of you to keep in your mind always. Whenever you see someone doing something wrong. Or something you feel like criticizing. Think of this phrase. Let mercy triumph over judgment in my heart.

Whenever you’re tempted to criticize. Think of this phrase. Lord I want mercy to triumph over judgment in my heart. My natural tendency as a child of Adam is to judge. That was wrong. Why did he do that? And we even go further. And say yes I know why he did that. Because he had a wrong motive. How do you know? Can you read his thoughts and attitudes?

You assume. Very often what we assume. We act as if it’s knowledge. It’s assumption. So if you want to assume. Assume something good. Rather than something evil. Assume. Yeah maybe there was a good motive. Why he did that. Or why he went there. That’s the meaning of let mercy. Triumph over judgment. In other words. Whenever I see some brother doing something wrong. There’s the devil ready to accuse.

There is Jesus ready to plead for him as an advocate. And here I am in the court. Watching this happening. And there are two forces. Fighting for power in my heart. Mercy and judgment. Who’s gonna win? Here it says. Let mercy triumph over judgment. You find my brother sister. You will grow spiritually much quicker. If you let mercy triumph over judgment.

Responsibility and Judgment

If you have responsibility in a situation. Then you have to deal with it. For example if you’re a father. And two of your children are fighting or doing something wrong. I’m not saying you should not judge them. I’m not saying you should not correct them. Of course you should. Because you have a responsibility there.

Like if you’re a judge in a court. A believer could sometimes be a judge in a court. He can’t just keep quiet about that. He has to say I’ve got to act here. Because I’m in a court. And I have to act in judgment. Or supposing you’re the in charge of an office. You’re the one with authority.

You can’t just overlook and forgive everything that’s gone wrong. Because you’ve been given a responsibility in that office to take charge. So you have to take action. Maybe sometimes punish somebody.

Dismiss somebody. Yeah. I remember I had to do that in the Navy. That you know discipline in the Navy is so strict. I’ll give you an example. The principle of discipline they taught emphasized in the Navy to such an extent. That whenever a junior sailor passed by you who was a Naval officer. They had to salute you.

Every time. He’s coming down the road and you’re going this way down the road. He’s just crossing the road. He has to salute you and you have to return the salute. Now five minutes later he passes by you again. He has to salute you again. That was the law. And if he passes by you 20 times a day he’s got to salute you 20 times a day.

That is how discipline is maintained in the Armed Forces. And I have to respond in saluting. And the officers were taught that if that sailor does not do it. You got to pull him up. Come here. Why didn’t you salute me? So what should I do as a Christian? I was a Christian in the Navy.

Responsibility and Discipline

And I had to settle this matter. And here’s this guy who comes by me and he doesn’t salute me. I have to call him up. Why do I have to call him up? Because the Navy had put two stripes on my shoulder. And made me an officer. And those two stripes on my shoulder was telling me you have a responsibility to maintain discipline in the Navy.

So I’m not personally a Zac Poonen. I’m not bothered whether he salutes me or not. But when I’m a Lieutenant Zac Poonen. I have to maintain discipline there. I have to act as — Because I’m paid for that. I’m paid to maintain discipline in the Navy. So however reluctant I was to do it. I had to call him up and say. “Why didn’t you salute?” He’d say “Sorry I didn’t see you.” And he’s telling a lie.

I say “Okay forget it.” Mercy triumphs over judgment as far as possible. But I have to pull him up. So we have to do that with children. We can’t ignore something wrong that a child does. We must be strict. But I’m talking about people over who we have no responsibility at all. Why do you judge them?

You’re nothing to do. They were nothing to do with you. That brother or sister has done something wrong. If you can help them, help them. But otherwise brother, sister. Just leave them alone. Don’t have an opinion about them. If you’re an elder, you must have an opinion about every person in your church.

Let me tell you that straight. If you’re an elder brother, you must have an opinion about everybody in your church. Otherwise you’re failing. Like your father and mother must have an opinion of every one of their children.

Is one child a liar? Oh you better do something about that. Is one child a rebel? You better do something about that. You must have an opinion about every child if you’re a parent. You must have an opinion of everybody who works under you in an office. But otherwise, in areas where I don’t have responsibility, even in the church, you’re not an elder. You don’t have to have an opinion about everybody.

Let mercy triumph over judgment. So we’re not to be accusers. We are not to judge people. We’re not to judge. We’re not to accuse. We’re to be merciful. Okay, let me show you one more passage and then I’ll close. James chapter 4.

Speaking Against Others

James 4:11. James 4:11. “Do not speak against one another, brothers.” Because if you speak against a brother, are you listening carefully? If you speak against a brother or a sister, or judge your brother or sister, two things. If you speak against your brother or sister or judge your brother or sister, you’re speaking against the law of God.

But if you judge the law of God, you’re not doing the law but judging it. Now I don’t, I’ll tell you honestly, I don’t understand this verse fully. I can’t explain it to you all. How am I judging the law when I speak against a brother?

Perhaps it’s the law which says don’t judge. I’m judging that law. I’m saying I don’t accept it. That’s the only way I can understand it. If you speak against a brother, you judge a brother, you’re speaking against the law. You’re not just speaking against that brother. When you speak against a brother, you’re judging the law. What is the law?

The law which says judge not. I’m speaking against it. So I have to be careful about speaking against the law because if you judge the law, then you’re not, verse 11, you’re not doing the law but a judge. There is only one judge, verse 12.

Only one judge. Let’s never forget that. This is a very important thing, my brothers and sisters, because I’ll tell you, we tend to judge others, I’ll tell you, in the areas in which we are very strong. We all have strong areas and weak areas.

For example, if you’re very disciplined in your eating habits, very, very disciplined, you don’t eat too much and you just control yourself and your body is slim and fit, you have a tendency to judge somebody who’s just eating too much because that’s your strong point. Or you’re very orderly and neat in the way you keep your table and your house and everything else. You have a tendency to judge somebody else who is a bit chaotic in the way they keep their house. We tend to judge people in the area where we are strong.

If you’re a glutton yourself, you’ll never judge another glutton. If your home, you keep your home as an absolute mess, you will not judge another person whose home is a mess. Ask yourself, don’t you judge others in the area where you yourself are strong? You’re very disciplined in some area, you tend to judge others saying, why isn’t he disciplined?

Maybe you brought up your children well and you criticize the other person for not bringing up his children well. Brother, it’s very dangerous. Be thankful if your children grew up well. It’s God’s mercy.

Avoiding Self-Credit

Don’t ever take credit for it. I’ve often said, “Lord, never in my life will I take credit for the way I brought up my children. It is your work. Never in my life will I take credit for any church.”

The church is yours. It’s not mine. I may be some leader there, but it’s not me. Be very, very careful of taking credit for something over which you have responsibility, your family or your church or something else, because then you’ll tend to judge other people.

Be merciful. I’m not saying you’ve got to agree with those Babylonian churches or those Babylonian pastors. Just let them mind their own business. You are not their judge. Now, if you are called to be a prophetic preacher from the pulpit, then you may have to expose certain things clearly. But 99% of people in the church are not called to be prophetic preachers. So they don’t have to speak about it. They don’t even have an opinion about it.

Let the prophetic preachers prophesy from the pulpit what they want. You steer clear of it. There’s a little bit of humble advice I would give all of you. And since you follow it, I think you’ll see a world of difference in your life within the next one year.

Give it a year. You know, like the doctors say, take this tablet for one year regularly and see if your health does not improve. So some of the things I said today, you take it seriously for the next one year. Next year, this time, you’ll be a better person. God bless you.

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