There is a statement in 1 Samuel chapter
3, which I believe is very relevant to
the time in which we are living.
It says there in the first verse, 1
Samuel 3 and verse 1 and the last
part, word from the Lord was rare in
those days and visions were infrequent.
So that means those were days when hardly
anybody gave a word from the Lord.
Hardly anybody heard a word from the Lord
and spiritual vision was missing.
And that's why the state of affairs among
God's people was like it was described in
the time just before Samuel, which is the
book of Judges.
The reason it was like that was because
word from the Lord was rare.
In Moses' time there was a regular word
from the Lord, but now word from the
Lord was rare and visions were very infrequent.
Now we are living in such a time
and part of the reason is because most
of God's people, believers, are very lazy to
study the scriptures.
I think people among God's people, God's people
studied the scriptures much more 100 years ago,
when we didn't have CDs on the Bible
and tapes and all types of things.
Part of the reason is 100 years ago
there was not so much entertainment available in
the world and even if there was, God's
people never got involved in it.
The people of God would not go to
movies and there was no television.
They had a lot of time together as
families and time to study the word.
We can live like that today if we
want to, but we have to be a
little disciplined and most believers are not disciplined.
Our children are growing up with very little
knowledge of the scriptures and very little desire
to study the scriptures.
That is one of the great tragedies of
our time.
The great God entertainment has taken over the
church.
And as a result of this, we do
not understand what the scripture says when it
refers to certain matters.
Because our understanding of different words is not
from the Bible, but from the dictionary or
from the secular world, because we are not
students of the scriptures.
And so generally speaking I find all over
Christendom, most of Christianity has misunderstood certain words.
And they are important words.
So I want to speak about three misunderstood
words.
The first word is the word believe.
The second is the word worship.
The third is the word church.
What does it mean to believe in God?
What does it mean to worship God?
What does it mean to build a church?
And the way we are going to study
it is by looking at the very first
time that these words occur in the scriptures.
And that is very easy to find out
if you take a concordance.
Anybody can find out the first time the
word believe occurs in the scriptures.
The first time the word worship occurs in
the scriptures.
And the first time the word church occurs
in the scriptures.
So the first time these words occur, they
amazingly, they give us the meaning.
That is one good way to study the
scriptures.
To see which is the first time that
word occurs in the bible.
So we look at believe first.
Because all of us are staking our eternity
on the meaning of the word believe.
Supposing we got the meaning of the word
believe wrong.
All our eternity is at stake.
Because we say salvation is by faith.
And if we have misunderstood faith, then we
have completely missed the road.
Gone astray.
And a lot of people have.
So these are very important words.
Because nowadays everybody talks about faith.
Much more than hundred years ago.
A lot of people talk about worship nowadays.
They don't have a clue what it means
according to the scriptures.
But they think they are worshipping God.
And there is a lot of talk about
the church.
There again most people don't understand.
So the first occurrence of the word believe
is in Genesis 15.
Now all these three are New Testament words.
But they occur in the Old Testament.
At least the first two occur in the
Old Testament.
And the first time the word believe comes
is here.
In Genesis 15 where God tells Abraham.
Don't fear Abraham.
Verse 1.
You are going to have a great reward.
And Abraham says.
What reward are you going to give me?
I don't even have a child.
So what's the use of blessing me materially.
I'll have to give it all to my
servant.
And the word of the Lord came to
him saying.
Verse 4.
Your servant is not going to be your
heir.
But someone that comes forth from your own
body.
Will be your heir.
And then it was night.
God told him to come outside the tent.
And said look up at the sky.
Can you count the stars?
You know we can't count the stars.
There are millions of them.
See if you are able to count them.
So shall your descendants be.
He said that to a man.
Who had no children.
He was 85 years old.
His wife was 75 years old.
They probably married.
Already for 45 years.
And married for 45 years.
No children.
And to such a man.
God says.
Your seed.
Your descendants are going to be like the
stars.
Millions of them.
What would your reaction have been.
If God had said that to you.
You know sometimes when we study the scriptures.
It's good for us to put ourselves.
In the place of that person.
Do that whenever you study the New Testament.
When Jesus speaks to somebody.
Put yourself in that person's place.
And see.
What reply you would give.
So if God told you.
You have been married for 45 years.
You are 85 years old now.
And your wife is 75.
And God says to you.
You are going to have.
Millions of seed like the stars in heaven.
What will you say?
What did Abraham say?
Abraham said.
Amen.
Then verse 6.
He believed in the Lord.
And that word believe.
Believe is a Hebrew word called Amen.
Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
And we use two Hebrew words in our
English.
Hallelujah and Amen.
Hallelujah means praise the Lord.
Amen.
Most people don't know what it means.
For many people it just means the prayer
is over.
We can open our eyes.
But it means.
It will be so.
You know whenever somebody prays for something.
And you say Amen.
Or somebody preaches something and you say Amen.
You are saying it will be so.
You are expressing faith.
That's why you can't say Amen.
If you don't believe.
That it will be so.
The word Amen.
Amen means I believe that the Lord will
do that.
That's what Abraham said.
God said.
You are going to have seed like the
stars in the heaven.
Abraham said.
Yeah.
Amen.
It will be so.
No questioning.
Nothing like how can that be.
Or have you really thought about it Lord.
I am 85 years old.
No.
Didn't the Lord take that into account.
Didn't the Lord know that this guy was
barren.
Without children for 45 years of marriage or
whatever it is.
It's all taken into account.
When the Lord gives us a promise.
Every factor has been taken into account.
I mean he doesn't have to say.
Oh I didn't realize you are 85.
I forgot that.
No.
He has taken everything into account.
When the Lord gives a promise.
Every factor has been taken into account.
And if we say Amen.
It will be so.
Then we have faith.
That is faith.
So.
Abraham didn't get the child immediately.
He had to wait for about 15 years.
But he got it.
And then through that seed came so many
millions now.
All over the world.
His descendants.
So that word was literally fulfilled.
It wasn't fulfilled in one day or one
week.
But it was fulfilled.
When God says something.
It will definitely be fulfilled.
There is a time frame.
For God's promises to be fulfilled.
Sometimes we are impatient.
And that's where we make a mistake in
relation to faith.
We think we can inherit the promises by
faith.
But notice how this promise is.
Referred to in Hebrews in chapter 6.
In Hebrews chapter 6.
It says here that.
We must not be lazy.
Verse 12.
We must not be sluggish.
But imitators of those who through faith.
And patience.
Inherit the promises.
You cannot inherit the promises with faith.
Faith must be coupled with patience.
To wait for God.
To fulfill.
What he has promised.
And he gives the example of Abraham.
When God told Abraham.
Verse 14.
Surely I will bless you and multiply you.
And so.
Verse 15.
Hebrews 6.15. Having patiently waited.
He obtained the promise.
So.
Faith is coupled with patience.
Many promises God gave to people in the
Old Testament.
They had to wait.
And it was definitely fulfilled in God's time.
Nothing was delayed.
Nothing went beyond God's time.
It says about Jesus in Galatians 4.
That in the fullness of time.
God sent his son.
That means at the exact time.
He was supposed to come.
He was born.
Not one day late.
Not one moment late.
Not one moment too early.
Exactly at the right time.
God does everything exactly at the right time.
But the promise was given 700 years earlier.
That Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
And like that God can give us a
promise.
But we must remember.
There is a time frame for that to
be fulfilled.
We trust him.
If God has promised it.
It will definitely be fulfilled.
And it says here in Genesis 15.
That because Abraham trusted the Lord like this.
It was counted to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15.6 God justified him.
That's another New Testament word.
Abraham was justified by faith.
That means Abraham was declared righteous.
Just because he said Amen.
If God has said it.
It's true.
I'm not going to doubt it.
That's all there is to justification.
Justification by faith means that.
When you come to Romans.
And chapter 4.
The same thing is picked up.
Which Abraham.
The promise given to Abraham.
It says here.
In Romans 4.
In verse 9.
The last part.
We say faith was credited to Abraham.
As righteousness.
And that promise.
You know it says in verse 17.
A father of many nations.
In the presence of God.
Whom he believed.
Even God.
Who gives life to the dead.
Calls into being that which does not exist.
The Lord told him in the last part
of verse 18.
So shall your descendants be.
And what was Abraham's response?
Listen to this.
This is the basis of faith.
Without becoming weak in faith.
He looked at his own body.
As good as dead.
Since he was about 100 years old.
He was actually around 85.
And the deadness of Sarah's womb.
But with respect to the promise of God.
He did not waver in unbelief.
But grew strong in faith.
Giving glory to God.
Faith does not shut its eyes.
To reality.
He doesn't say.
Oh Abraham pretended that his body was very
healthy.
He pretended that he was a young 30
year old man.
That's not faith.
That is stupidity.
A lot of people tell you to believe.
Something which is not true.
That's not faith.
You remember that story where.
There was a man who was blind.
You read about it in Mark chapter 8.
And Jesus took him out of Bethsaida.
And touched him.
And said can you see?
And he said not very clearly.
I see men like trees.
He couldn't distinguish between a man and a
tree.
When he saw men walking.
They looked like trees walking.
Well you can be sure that such a
man hasn't got proper eyesight.
And when the Lord asked him.
Can you see properly?
He said no.
If it was one of today's Pentecostal preachers.
He would have said.
Don't say no.
Say yes.
Say I've been healed.
Confess that you're healed.
And you'll be healed.
But that would have been a lie.
If he had said.
I can see.
When he could not see.
And lot of people are fooling believers.
Deceiving them.
Bringing them into tremendous problems.
By making them confess a lie.
Saying that's faith.
That's not faith.
If something is not true.
How can you tell a lie?
How can you say I'm healed when I'm
not healed?
And I believe Jesus.
That is the only case where Jesus healed
a person in two stages.
And I believe he did it for our
sake.
To teach us.
That if you're not fully healed.
You don't have to tell a lie.
And the Lord said.
Okay we'll pray for you again.
Can you see now?
Yeah now I can see clearly.
We don't have to say we're healed when
we're not healed.
Because that would be a lie.
And the devil is the father of lies.
And a lot of preachers are encouraging believers.
To tell lies.
To be the mother of lies that the
devil produces.
So don't get into bondage like that.
If you had asked Abraham the next day.
After God gave him this promise.
Have you got millions of children Abraham?
What should he have said?
Yes or no?
No.
But didn't God say yesterday that you're going
to have millions of children?
Yes.
Have you got them yet?
No.
Are you going to get them?
Yeah.
That's different.
So don't you believe this type of false
teaching on faith.
Which has got no foundation in scripture.
Which is just being used by money loving
preachers to deceive others.
Abraham believed God and God said that you're
righteous.
And it says here.
God said, social your descendants be.
He looked at his own body it says.
He contemplated his own body.
Means he considered the state of his own
body.
It's weak.
He considered the state of Sarah's womb.
Dead.
He didn't pretend.
That everything is okay.
But then he looked at God's promise.
God has said, okay.
Then it will be done.
And being fully assured.
Listen to this.
This is faith.
Verse 21.
Being fully assured.
That what God had promised.
Read it.
He had already done.
No.
He was going to do.
He was able to perform.
So faith doesn't mean I have to say
I'm healed when I'm not healed.
Faith doesn't mean I have to say that
I don't feel any pain now when I'm
feeling when I'm full of pain.
That's a lie.
That's saying that God has already done it.
That's not faith.
Abraham was fully assured God will do.
What he has promised.
That's faith.
Therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.
And not for his sake only.
But it's credited to us also.
If I believe in Jesus.
God has raised him from the dead.
That righteousness is put to my account also.
Because we can't come to God just because
our sins are forgiven.
I hope you know that.
If you come to God and say Lord
all my sins are forgiven.
I confess all my sins.
They are cleansed in the blood of Christ.
I'm still not fit enough to come before
God.
Because I still have a corrupt nature.
I haven't got rid of that.
All my sins are forgiven.
That's completely zero now.
But what about this corrupt nature I still
have?
I cannot come before God with that.
And that's why God has not only got
to forgive our sins.
He has to justify us.
That means he has to clothe us with
the righteousness of Christ.
So that we can stand before God.
Otherwise we'd have to stand with that corrupt
nature before God.
We can't stand there.
We'd be burnt out.
So that's why God is to forgive our
sins.
Which deals with our sins.
And then justify us so that our nature
is covered by the righteousness of Christ.
And that is by faith.
And that applies to the things that we
believe God has promised.
For example, there are certain things that we
can have only when Christ comes again.
The Bible says in 1 John 3 verse
2.
We shall be like him when we see
him.
You can never be like Christ till he
comes.
That means there's no human being whose total
personality has become like Christ.
Whose thought life, unconscious, attitudes, everything.
No.
Even the apostle Paul said, I'm not yet
perfect.
So we can pray that God will make
us like Jesus.
But it will be fully fulfilled only when
he comes again.
In the same way, the Bible says that
when Jesus comes.
He will make our body like his body.
It says in the last verse of Philippians
3.
He will transform our weak body into the
body of his glory.
So, I can't expect to have perfect health
in this body.
When the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4.
That the outward man decays.
2 Corinthians 4 verse 16.
I mean that's scripture.
The outward man decays.
But the inner man is being renewed.
No matter how much I pray for a
full head of hair, I won't get it.
No matter how much faith I may have.
But I will get it when Jesus comes.
Believe you me.
You won't recognize me that day.
My hair will be black.
And I won't be wearing glasses either.
You really won't recognize me.
Because my vision will be corrected.
But it will all be when Christ comes
again.
Don't ask for it before.
And live in a world of imagination and
delusion.
You know, supposing you say, Lord you said,
anything you ask for I'll give you.
I want all mosquitoes to be destroyed in
Bangalore.
I trust you with faith.
It's not going to happen.
No matter how much you believe.
The world is under a curse and the
curse will be lifted.
Only when Jesus comes again.
So, it's like praying the lion should not
be wild.
And the snake should not be poisonous.
And there should not be thorns.
We got to be realistic.
We got to compare scripture with scripture.
You can ask for anything in my name.
But the world is under a curse.
The outer man decays.
Keep all these verses in scripture at the
back of your mind.
Before you try to claim something in faith.
Otherwise you live in a world of unreality.
Like a lot of people are doing right
now.
And being deceived.
But there are certain other promises.
You know, like I told you, there's a
time frame for God's promises.
Certain things are when He comes again.
There won't be any wild animals when Christ
comes again.
There won't be any mosquitoes, snakes, cockroaches, all
that.
Nothing is going to...
that's ever going to be harmful or it's
going to exist then.
We're going to have perfect bodies.
But until then, we have to wait.
But there are certain other promises that we
can have right now.
For example, when it says in Romans 6
.14 that sin shall not have dominion over
you.
That's for now.
That's not for when Christ comes again.
It doesn't say when Christ comes, then sin
will stop ruling over you.
Right now, you're under grace.
You can have dominion over sin.
Sin cannot rule over you.
If you're under grace.
That's for now.
So the things that we must claim now,
we must claim now.
Lord, I can wait for a perfect body.
I'm not praying that I should have a
body without any aches or pains.
No.
But I'm praying that I have a body
in which I don't sin.
That's more important.
I'm praying.
It doesn't matter if my vision is weak.
That's okay.
I wear glasses, but my vision should not
be lustful.
That's what I'm praying.
It's alright if there's no hair in my
head, but there shouldn't be dirty thoughts inside
my head.
That's what I'm more interested in.
It's a question of what you're looking for.
Sin shall not rule over you.
That's for now.
And if you say, Amen, like Abraham.
Yes, you may not get victory over sin
tomorrow, but you keep saying, Amen, I guarantee,
it will take place in your life.
That's how it took place in my life.
I said, Amen, and then took a long
time.
I was still defeated.
Defeated like Abraham, waiting, waiting, waiting.
86 years old, no child.
87 years old, no child.
88 years old, no child.
89 years old, no child.
But he said, Amen.
God has set my seat.
And one day he got a child.
It'll be like that in your life.
If you say, Amen to God's promises.
Lord, I believe.
It says, in 2 Peter 1, that God
has given us everything pertaining to life and
godliness.
Verse 3.
Everything necessary to live a godly life has
been given us by God.
We say, Amen.
Everything necessary for life on this earth has
been given to us.
Not for luxury, but for life.
God has given.
And we say, Amen, and He'll take care
of it.
When the Bible says, when Jesus said, Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these earthly necessities of yours
will be added to you.
You say, Yes, it will be so.
You know, our bodies will be healthier if
we live by faith.
So much of our sickness and gloom comes
because we don't trust these things which God
has said.
We don't say, Amen.
You know, it says in 2 Corinthians 1
.20, that all the promises of God are
Yes in Christ Jesus.
But they never become ours.
I'm paraphrasing it.
Until we say, Amen.
Have you read that verse?
2 Corinthians 1.20. All the promises of
God are Yes in Christ.
And then we add our Amen and then
God is glorified by those promises being fulfilled.
It's like, if somebody gives you a check
for 100,000 rupees, signed by a millionaire,
and you take it to the bank to
cash it.
You know what they'll ask you to do?
Sign on the reverse.
Put your signature there.
They will not give you the cash without
your signing on the reverse.
That's how it is.
Here are the promises of God.
Jesus Christ has signed it with your name
there.
That's for you.
Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places for
you.
But you don't get it.
Till you write at the back, Amen.
It will be mine.
Like the Lord asked the blind people, Do
you believe that I can do this for
you?
Sin shall not have dominion over you.
Do you believe I can do this for
you?
You say, Yes Lord, Amen.
It is not a question of Abraham.
You know the Lord telling Abraham, Can you
go and do some exercise and get physically
fit and try and have a child?
No.
Do you believe that I can do this
for you?
Abraham said, Amen.
Any amount of exercise I do is not
going to produce any children.
And it's not a question of, Can you
grit your teeth?
Can you determine that you will not sin
from now on?
No.
The Lord says, Can you believe that I
will write my laws in your mind and
in your heart and I will cause you
to walk in my statutes?
That's an amazing verse.
I don't know whether you all know that
lovely verse in Ezekiel 36 which says, Ezekiel
36 and verse 26, I will put a
new spirit within you.
Verse 27, Ezekiel 36, 27, I will put
my spirit within you and the result of
being filled with the Holy Spirit is, I
will make you walk according to my laws
and you will automatically be very careful to
keep my commandments.
It's not a question of, you should walk.
That was old covenant.
Or, you must do this.
You must not do that.
No.
I will make you do it.
Do you believe that?
See, many of us have struggled and struggled
and struggled to do what God says, let
me do it.
Let me do it in you.
I will cause you to walk in my
statutes.
I will, you will become careful to keep
my commandments.
Lord, I believe.
You see how important it is to study
the scriptures?
Not once did Jesus tell us that faith
was to make money or faith was to
get a better house or a better chariot
or any such thing like you hear today.
It was to live a godly life.
It was to overcome sin.
That's what he encouraged us to have faith
for.
Faith comes by hearing.
It says in Romans 10, 17 and hearing
by the word of Christ.
The word of Christ is the New Testament.
And if you read the New Testament you
get the promises of God there and you
hear and you believe.
If you don't read the New Testament you
will not know the promises of God.
And you'll remain ignorant and you'll be a
spiritual pauper.
You'll miss out on what God has for
you in your earthly life.
I would encourage you to study the New
Testament and put your signature and say Amen
to the promises of God which are all
signed by Jesus Christ.
Well, there's a lot more that I could
say on that but I want to go
to the next two words.
The word worship occurs for the first time
in Genesis chapter 22.
You know when Abraham was asked to offer
up his son Isaac the Lord told him
take your son, your only son whom you
love.
Genesis 22.2 Why did he emphasize like
that?
Take your son, your only son whom you
love.
He was emphasizing Abraham, I know Isaac is
the most precious possession you have on earth.
I know you love him even more than
you love Sarah.
He was in the old covenant so it
was okay.
In the new covenant you must love your
wife more than you love your son.
But he wasn't living in that life in
those days.
He loved his son more than anyone on
earth.
He loved and God could have asked him
for anything on earth he would have given
up but Isaac was the most precious possession
he had and God told him to give
him up.
And God didn't tell him to give him
up immediately.
He could have told him just go around
the corner of that mountain behind you and
offer Isaac.
He didn't say that.
Take him to Mount Moriah which was three
days journey.
Why three days journey?
Because God doesn't want you to take a
decision in a hurry.
God doesn't want you to say, come on
quickly decide.
That's the devil.
God says take time to think about it.
Sit down and count the cost is what
Jesus said.
Don't be in a hurry to say, yes
Lord I want to do it.
Think about it.
Do you know what it's going to cost
you?
To do it before you say yes and
raise your hand and all that.
Abraham, I'm not going to force you to
offer up Isaac.
You think about it.
On the spur of the moment you may
just say yes and go and offer him
and afterwards you may regret it.
So take three days to walk all alone.
Walk and think about it for three days.
He walked and walked and walked and walked
and walked.
What do you think he was thinking about?
Is it worth it serving a God like
this?
Who asks me for the dearest thing on
earth?
And he says yes.
It is.
Verse 4 Genesis 22, 4.
On the third day he saw Mount Moriah
and Abraham said to his young men this
is the first time the word worship occurs
verse 5.
Stay here with the donkey.
I and Isaac will go up there and
we will worship and return to you.
Do you know what he called that action?
Worship.
And because he was going to worship he
did not want any of these friends to
come along to see what a fantastic sacrifice
he was making for God.
Oh what a lust there is to want
other people to see us when we make
some sacrifice for God.
We want other people to know about it.
We want other people to recognize that we
are so dedicated.
He said no.
This is all alone between me and God.
Worship is something you do all alone between
you and God.
And I'll tell you this worship is not
having a praise meeting.
Today a lot of people use the word
worship in a way that it is never
used in the Bible even once.
Can you believe that?
Can you believe that Christians are using the
word worship in a way that's never used
in the Bible even once.
How is that?
You haven't read the Bible.
Most Christians blindly imitate what somebody else says.
Oh they call it that.
We call it that.
They never check up with the scriptures to
see is that what the Bible says?
I decided long ago I'm not just going
to swallow what everybody says.
The whole world may say something.
Is it in the Bible?
Otherwise why in the world do we say
this is the word of God?
Today people gather together on Sunday morning to
praise the Lord and to thank the Lord
which is excellent but they call it worship.
It's not worship.
It's not a worship meeting.
It's a praising meeting.
It's a thanksgiving meeting.
Very good.
Excellent.
But a lot of people are fooling themselves
that they are worshiping when they haven't worshiped
at all.
They have praised the Lord.
That's right.
It says in Hebrews 13.15 the sacrifice
of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to his name, very necessary.
It says God is pleased with such sacrifices
it says in Hebrews 13.
The sacrifice of praise.
Oh there are so many things that Christians
do and say which are tradition.
We think it's only the Roman Catholics who
got tradition.
Every group has got its traditions.
You'll never have a tradition if you study
the scriptures.
That's for sure.
Your traditions will disappear.
I think of a lot of Christians who
talk to God as Yahweh.
Jehovah.
It's like one of my sons coming up
to me one day and saying, Mr. Poonen.
Mr. Poonen?
What happened son?
That is my name.
I know it's my name.
That's not how I expect him to call
me.
I go to God and say Jehovah.
Jehovah?
Jesus said call him father.
You understand?
But how many Christians understand that?
Only those who have read the Bible.
Not a single New Testament saint ever called
him Jehovah.
These 20th century people who do that, they
don't read the Bible.
I don't do it.
Just like I don't expect my children to
call me Mr. Poonen even though that's my
name.
I call God Dad.
Because Jesus told me to do that.
I respect Jesus' words.
I take it more seriously than most Christians
do.
I can give you examples like this.
So many.
Worship.
Where in the New Testament does it say
if we come and sing and clap and
raise our hands that's worshiping God?
Not in a single place.
You know what worship is?
It is offering to God that which is
most precious in your life.
Offering everything.
Falling down before Him and saying You are
everything to me God.
Do you think all these people who clap
and shout and praise for one hour on
Sunday morning are saying that?
Oh no!
But they imagine that they have worship.
You see how important words are.
Otherwise we will be deceived.
Jesus said to the woman of Samaria in
John chapter 4 John chapter 4 he said
when the woman asked him in verse 20
where should we worship?
Jesus said it's not a question of here
or there.
An hour is coming verse 21 when neither
in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you
worship the Father.
You worship what you don't know.
We worship what we know.
But an hour is coming and now is
when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth.
Verse 25 23 For the Father seeks for
such people to be His worshipers.
God is a spirit those who worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Everything in the Old Testament was soulless.
Body and soul.
There are three parts to man.
Body soul, spirit.
Just like the Old Testament tabernacle had outer
court, holy place, most holy place and the
most holy place was veiled off.
Nobody could go there.
Meaning that we could only use our body
and soul in praising or if you want
to call it worship, worshiping God.
It was not worship in the spirit because
the way was not open till Jesus died
and the veil was rent.
Then you could go into the most holy
place.
Then you could worship in spirit.
And you know in the outer court there
was a lot of noise, killing animals and
yelling and shouting and animals screaming and all
that.
And then you go to the holy place,
it's a little quieter but still there's the
incense and there's prayer and people moving around,
serving.
But when you go to the most holy
place, it is silence.
It's God and you.
I personally find that the best and easiest
place for me to worship God is when
I'm all alone.
It's very difficult to worship with other people
around.
I can praise I love to praise God
with the church.
I love to thank God in the midst
of the saints but worship like Abraham I
like to be alone because then I know
whether I mean what I am doing when
I fall on my face before God.
You know you see again and again in
scripture Job fell on his face and worshipped
God.
The first book of scripture and the last
book of scripture, Revelation, you read that people
fell on their face and worshipped God.
Always you see Abraham fell on his face
and worshipped God.
They fall down, they bow their heads before
God and that's why I'm so much against
this pushing people back where they show their
feet to God.
You and I know that if somebody shows
you their feet, it's an insult.
You know that.
What would you think if somebody lifts up
the sole of his feet and shows it
to you?
What do you think of a man who
falls down and shows his feet to God?
The devil is making fools of Christians left
right and center.
And everybody is going for it.
And the devil sits back and laughs, look
at these fellows insulting God by showing him
their feet.
Never in the Bible do you see it.
The ungodly Roman soldiers fell backwards when they
saw Jesus.
But the men of God, Job, Abraham, everybody,
they fell and put their head down before
God and worshipped.
They were surrendering everything.
They were saying, Lord you are more precious
to me than anything on this earth.
So I'll tell you how you can worship.
You must make a list.
Either in your mind or on a piece
of paper of all the things that are
most precious to you on earth.
Absolutely top.
Most, most, most valuable and sacrificed to God.
Lord, I give them up.
Then you have worshipped.
If you haven't done that and you come
and clap your hands on Sunday morning and
clap and sing.
Well, it's good.
But don't imagine you have worshipped.
You haven't worshipped at all.
If it's your job you love, it means
a lot to you, your career, good.
But if it means to you more than
God, then you're not a worshipper.
I'm not saying you won't go to heaven.
I'm just saying you're not a worshipper at
all.
Don't fool yourself.
I'll tell you that.
No matter how much you clap your hands
and shout, you're not a worshipper.
Don't fool yourself.
If your family means more to you than
God, your son, your daughter means more to
you than God, good.
But don't think you're a worshipper.
Don't fool yourself.
Your reputation, if that means a lot to
you, somebody insulted you and you get so
hurt that you keep a bitterness against that
person.
Oh, brother, sister, you're not a worshipper.
You're a godless carnal, perhaps a Christian, perhaps
not even a Christian.
Certainly not a worshipper.
How can a man who's offended because somebody
insulted him be a worshipper?
He's worshipping his reputation.
He's worshipping his name.
His prayer is, our father in heaven, hallowed
be my name.
That's his prayer.
How can such a person ever imagine that
he's a worshipper?
Christendom may fool you, but you hear the
truth tonight.
A worshipper is one who has given up
that which is most precious in his life
at the feet of the Lord and said,
Lord, I want to say to you, you
are more precious to me than anything on
this earth.
If you can say like the psalmist said
in Psalm 73, verse 25, Whom have I
in heaven but thee?
And there's nothing on earth I desire beside
thee.
Psalm 73, 25.
That is real worship.
To go to heaven and say, well, I
only got you, Lord.
Well, that's easy.
That's like these cabinet ministers who join the
BJP when they are in power and join
the Congress when they are in power and
join the Janata Dal when they are in
power.
Go to heaven and say, oh God, I
desire only you.
But what about here on earth?
The psalmist said, I desire, just like in
heaven, I desire no one but Jesus.
I won't be running after money in heaven.
I won't be bothered about my reputation or
my family or anything in heaven.
I'm just like that on earth.
Lord, I desire only you.
In addition to you, if you give me
a few things, I take them.
If you don't give me, that's perfectly okay.
If I've got you, I'm happy.
That is a worshipper.
If you're looking for a comfortable life, brother,
you're not a worshipper.
God may give it to you, but if
that means something to you, it's not a
question of having things.
It's a question of whether it means something
to you.
Do you know, there are demands we have
in our life.
We expect that God must do certain things
for me.
Such a man cannot be a worshipper.
I must keep my Isaac.
Okay.
Then you're not a worshipper.
That's all I'm saying.
Anything on earth which is precious, if I
haven't yielded it to God, I am not
a worshipper.
No.
If you say, Lord, you've got to make
life easy for me.
You must give me a good boss, a
very pleasant submissive wife, very obedient children.
Supposing God doesn't give you either of those
three.
Any of those three.
You have a grudge against God.
You're not a worshipper.
Far from it.
A worshipper is one who has no demands.
And I tell you, such people get the
best.
Because God adds all the other things to
them.
So I would encourage you, be a worshipper.
Get alone with God.
Go through that list of all the things
that mean something to you.
Your name, your reputation, all that.
And say, Lord, it's all yours.
I don't put anything above you.
And then the third word, the church.
Jesus used it for the first time.
First time it occurs in the Bible is
in Matthew chapter 16.
Or in verse 18.
Where Jesus said, On this rock I will
build my church.
That rock is what Peter had just confessed.
In verse 16, Peter said, You are the
Christ, the son of the living God.
And Jesus said, that's right.
On this rock, which you have just confessed,
Peter, on that rock I will build my
church.
The church is built on the foundation of
Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.
The thing I want you to notice here
is that it is Jesus who builds his
church.
None of us can build his church.
A church built by man will be destroyed.
Jesus said, I will build my church.
And the mark of the church that Jesus
builds is also here.
The gates of Hades will not overpower it.
The gates of Hades will not be able
to overcome it.
That means all the powers of spiritual death.
Hades is the place of the dead.
And it's referring to the forces, you know,
gates for the strongholds in those days.
The forces of spiritual death.
When they come against the church, they will
not be able to overpower the church which
Jesus builds.
The church that man builds will be overpowered
by the forces of spiritual death.
Overpowered by jealousy.
You know, people within it will be jealous
of one another.
The elders won't get along with each other.
They'll fight with each other.
One will try to show, I am better
than the other.
One will try to show I can preach
better than the other.
One can sing better than the other.
One can do this, that or the other.
There'll be competition.
There'll be jealousy.
There'll be strife.
There'll be backbiting.
There'll be gossiping.
Those are marks of people who don't belong
to the church that Jesus built.
Those are marks in your life.
I want to say you're not part of
the church Jesus is building.
Jesus is building a church today.
And that church is all over the world.
There's a lot of them.
A lot of people in that church have
already gone to heaven in the last 2000
years.
Some are living on the earth and they're
not found in my group or your group
or any other group here and there.
But one mark of the church which Jesus
built.
The church is not a building.
It's not a denomination.
It's people like the bricks in a building.
People like the members of a body.
One person, another person, another person.
People whom the Lord, who have trusted in
the Lord, who have worshipped Him, who have
faith and who worship God gathers these people
who believe and who have worshipped and builds
them into a church.
So the first two words lead on to
this third word.
The church.
I want to be a part of that
church.
I want to be a part of the
church against which the gates of Hades will
never prevail.
I say Lord build that church.
Build.
Build me into that church.
I want to be a part of it.
I want to be a part of your
body.
And if I allow the Lord to do
His work in me, I'll tell you one
mark of it is that the gates of
hell will not be able to prevail against
you.
Satan will not be able to get a
hold on your life.
And the wonderful thing is when you are
blessed like that, your children will be blessed.
Your grandchildren will be blessed.
The seed of the righteous is blessed.
It's a wonderful thing.
It's a wonderful heritage to have a godly
father.
It's a wonderful heritage to have a godly
mother.
You don't know what a tremendous blessing comes
upon your children.
That they can also find their way into
this church that Jesus is building.
The gates of hell, the powers of death,
the powers of jealousy, backbiting, criticism, accusation.
All of that cannot overpower this church.
What a longing we should have that the
Lord should build this church.
And when we meet together as a local
church, our desire is that we should be
an expression of that in our locality.
Here is a church.
Yeah, there are a lot of people sitting
around there who are sitting on the outer
edges who are not really become a part
of this wonderful body.
But in the middle of it all, there
are some who are being built together.
I picture it like when God picked up
all the mud to make Adam.
Piled up a lot of mud there.
Took some of it and made a man
and breathed into it.
That man walked away and the rest of
the mud was still lying there.
From that same mud only he made this
man.
And I think it's like that when God
gathers a lot of people to build the
body of Jesus Christ.
Gathers them all in a room or in
a hall, meets regularly and builds.
Those who want to be built get built.
One day Jesus will come and the body
will walk away.
Some of them will still be sitting here.
Because they didn't want to be built.
They didn't worship.
They didn't yield.
They didn't trust.
And they missed the opportunity to be part
of the greatest building work that God has
ever done.
You and I have that privilege today.
Let's bow before God in prayer.
Let's bow our heads before the Lord.
Let's take seriously the words that we have
heard this evening.
Say Lord, I want to trust in you.
I want to believe.
I want to be a worshipper.
I want to be a part of the
church which you are building.
Yes Lord, I know that Satan will have
no power over me.
Thank you.
I know you're going to bless me and
you're going to bless my family and my
children.
Thank you Lord.
This is the way I want to go
all the days of my life.
It doesn't matter to me if other people
in the church want to go another way.
They are welcome to go.
I'm not here to judge them.
But I don't want to go that way.
I've decided to follow Jesus.
I'm going to go this way Lord.
I'm taking it seriously from now on.
Thank you Father.
Help us to walk in the light we
have received today.
We pray in Jesus name.
Amen.