The early
church faith was, should believers be under the
law or not, it was very difficult for
them because all the apostles were Jews from
childhood, they had been taught to keep the
law and there would be a curse if
you forsook anything in it.
And you know how it is if we
are trained to think in a certain way
from childhood.
Very difficult when you are thirty years old
to give it up.
So it is a tremendous conflict and it's
only because particularly people like Paul stood up
and fought against getting believers back under the
law that the freedom of the gospel was
established in those days.
So the great conflict at that time was
the conflict between grace and law.
I've discovered through the centuries it's been the
same thing about five hundred years ago with
the Protestant Reformation that came up in Europe.
What was the conflict all about?
It was the same thing.
It was law versus grace.
Are we going to be saved by giving
money to the church?
Are you going to get your dead relatives
saved from purgatory by giving money to the
church?
Or is it by grace?
Now in our day, even though we are
in the 21st century, this is the same
conflict and it's amazing how many Christians, born
again Christians, have not understood grace at all.
So I want to share a few things.
First of all I want to show you
a couple of verses in 1 Corinthians chapter
10.
1 Corinthians 10, it says about the Old
Testament, the things that are written in the
Old Testament are written for our instruction.
The examples there it says in verse 6,
these things happened as examples for us.
And again in verse 11, these things happened
as an example, they are written for our
instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages
have come.
Everything written in the Old Testament, and that's
three quarters of our Bible, is written for
our instruction.
But we need to see that the Old
Testament is not, are not laws that we
are to keep.
Then we say, why is it written?
I want to show you another verse.
In Colossians chapter 2, it says here, Colossians
chapter 2 and verse 16, therefore no one
must be your judge in regard to, and
these were some of the Old Testament laws
concerning food and drink.
You know, there was a whole lot of
law in the Old Testament in Leviticus 11
concerning what people could eat, what type of
meat especially people could eat and they could
not eat.
He said, let no one judge you concerning
that today.
Let no one judge you concerning the festivals
and the monthly new moon festivals and the
Sabbath day.
All these things are a shadow of what
is to come.
Now, you know, the shadow of anything on
the ground, whether it's a building or a
man is the exact shape of that building
or that man, but it's not the building,
it's not the man, it's only a shadow.
But the outline of that shadow is a
picture of whatever is causing that shadow.
So in that sense, the things that we
see in the Old Testament, this is a
very important verse, was a shadow of what
was to come.
But the substance belongs to Christ.
It's like if you stand in the sun,
the shadow is not you, but it's an
exact outline of you.
And if you can't see the person, you
look at the shadow, or today we could
say a photograph.
A photograph, in those days they didn't have
photographs, but today a photograph would be a
good illustration of the Old Testament.
A photograph is an exact likeness of a
person, but it's not the person.
And you need the photograph only when you
don't have the person.
And it'd be a very foolish husband who's
looking at his wife's photograph when his wife
is standing there.
It's so simple.
If you love your wife, you carry a
photograph of hers, but you don't need that
when she is there.
The photograph is an exact likeness, but it
is not the person.
So we're not saying that the Old Testament
was wrong, but it's a photograph.
It's not the real person.
It's a shadow.
So when people get occupied with a photograph,
we can say the person is absent.
You may love the person, but if you're
occupied with the photograph, you don't have the
person with you.
And so that's why it's dangerous to not
understand what it means to be delivered from
the law.
You can never be occupied with the person
of Jesus Christ, as long as you're occupied
with his photograph in the law.
And that's why it's important.
So there were some things that the Lord
stressed very strongly.
In the Old Testament, I want to mention
three of them.
First of all, the Sabbath, the second, typing,
and the third was circumcision.
These were very, very important.
All three are mentioned in the book of
Genesis before the law came.
And once the law came in, the Lord
made that very strict.
The law is very strict concerning these three
things that Israel had to keep.
And if these three, which is part of
the law, were a shadow, then it's good
for us to see what do these three
pictures, the fulfillment of which is in Christ.
If you don't see the fulfillment in Christ,
then you'll still be stuck with the photograph.
What's the photograph?
Keeping Saturday as a Sabbath, paying 10%
to God, and circumcision.
And there are a lot of Christians who
are still occupied with the photograph, or the
shadow.
So first of all, we start with the
Sabbath.
We know that in Genesis chapter one, when
God made man on the sixth day, it
says here, he looked at everything, and it
was very good.
That's how the last verse of Genesis ends.
Now, we need to always read the Bible
in context.
One little bit of advice I can give
you concerning Bible study is, never get a
doctrine from a verse.
Most of the cults in the world get
that doctrine from a verse.
They don't compare it with other verses, and
they don't study the context in which that
verse comes.
So, when the Lord mentions the Sabbath, he
says, first of all, in Genesis 131, another
simple principle in Bible study is, is ignore
the chapter divisions.
Very often, we don't ignore the chapter divisions.
We think one chapter is the conclusion of
a subject.
No.
Very often, the subject goes on into the
next chapter.
The chapter division was only made a few
hundreds of years ago by a man, by
some monk, or somebody who divided up the
chapters and verses, just so that we can
refer to it.
But the original Bible never had any chapters
or verses.
So, don't think that end of a chapter
means end of that subject.
You missed something if you don't read the
next verse of the next chapter.
It's continuing.
Very many times, I have been so blessed
by just reading on into the next chapter,
or when I start reading a chapter, starting
by four or five verses before that, then
I understand the context.
A lot of my doubts get cleared.
So, when you read about the Sabbath, which
is first mentioned in Genesis chapter two, and
verse one onwards, you've got to go back
to the previous chapter to see what's the
context.
The context is, everything was perfect.
God said, everything is very good.
Then, when it was all finished, the seventh
day, God completed his work and rested, verse
two, on the seventh day, all his work
which he had done, and he blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it, because he had
rested.
And that was, of course, man's first day.
Adam, very first day, because he was just
created the previous day.
And that first day was a day of
fellowship with God.
And that's why throughout the world, man recognizes
that even physical rest is required one day
in seven.
If you don't rest one day in seven,
on an average, you're going to have a
breakdown, physical breakdown.
It's just a law.
And if you violate any of God's laws,
you suffer.
You violate spiritual laws, you suffer.
You violate physical laws, you suffer.
And a lot of people have that.
A lot of people have nervous breakdowns, because
they don't follow the simple principle, I need
little rest once a week.
Or, you know, people even in Christian work,
for whom Sunday is a very busy day,
if they don't take one day off a
week sometime, they're going to have a breakdown
too.
So rest is a very important principle physically,
but much more than that is a photograph
of something spiritually.
Now, when we turn to Exodus in chapter
20, you find that the Lord put this
down as one of the commandments in the
law.
All of God's laws were for man's good.
It's the first thing we need to understand.
God never gave any laws which are not
for our good.
And everything that he said, don't make idols,
or don't take the name of the Lord
in vain, or honor your father and mother,
it's all for our good.
And the fourth commandment, Exodus 20 in verse
8, you know, there's a lot of detail
concerning this commandment.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,
you must work for six days, and the
seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord,
you must not do any work.
You or your son or daughter, and don't
let your servants work on that day either.
You got to give rest to your servants
too.
And the reason is, going back to Genesis
chapter one, in six days, the Lord made
heaven and earth, therefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and made it holy.
Now, if you turn to Exodus chapter 31,
you read there, the Lord explaining this, down
in verse 12, Exodus 31 verse 12, it's
very important.
The Lord spoke to Mises saying, speak to
the sons of Israel, you shall surely observe
my Sabbaths, for this is a sign.
Now, this is a very important verse.
The Lord never said concerning any other commandment,
this is a sign.
He didn't say you shall not kill, because
that's a sign.
Or you shall not commit adultery, because that's
a sign.
Or you must honor your father and mother,
because that's a sign.
But concerning one of the ten commandments, he
said, you know, one of those ten commandments
is actually a sign.
A sign, what sort of sign?
It's a sign between me and you, sons
of Israel.
Remember, he's speaking to the sons of Israel,
verse 12, 13, between me and you, sons
of Israel, throughout all your generations, that you
may know that I am the Lord who
sanctifies you.
Two things, one, it's a sign between God
and Israel, the descendants of Israel.
I am not a descendant of Israel.
If you are, you better keep the Sabbath.
I'm not.
I'm a child of God, not a child
of Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It's a sign.
That's why the spiritual Sabbath, which Israel had
to keep, I don't need to keep.
I can light a fire in my house
on the Saturday or Sunday or any day
of the week.
You know, they were not even allowed to
light a fire to cook anything on Saturdays.
So, this is the mistake that a lot
of people make.
They just don't read the Bible carefully, that's
all.
They pick out a verse, and since 99
.9% of Christians don't read the Bible
carefully, some preacher who wants to fool them
can fool them concerning the Sabbath, concerning the
tithe, concerning circumcision, concerning anything.
We are here to set you straight.
It's a sign.
That's why you got to observe the Sabbath.
Secondly, it's a sign to show what?
That you cannot sanctify yourself.
Read that verse, that I am the Lord
who will make you holy.
Do you know the multitudes of Christians are
trying to make themselves holy?
There are people who come to CFC and
say, oh, I can't live up to that
standard.
Who said you can?
You misunderstood the message.
The first part of the message is, you
cannot make yourself holy.
This is a sign that you may know
that I am the Lord who makes you
holy.
Israel never understood it.
They tried, tried, tried, tried to keep the
law and make themselves holy.
Did they become holy?
No.
They killed the Son of God.
That's how holy they were.
And Christians, I've seen every, I've read all
types of doctrines and teachings on sanctification and
holiness, and I've been into almost all the
groups that preach holiness, and I tell you
the common thread that runs through all of
them is they're all trying to make themselves
holy.
When will Christians learn you cannot make yourself
holy?
It's one of the main lessons of the
Sabbath.
See the photograph and get the reality.
The reality is you can try all your
life, you will not make yourself holy.
You judge yourself, cleanse yourself, you just become
a better Pharisee.
Only God, I am the Lord who makes
you holy.
One of the lessons that God wanted Israel
to learn.
And when God makes me holy, one mark
of it will be, one primary mark, with
that I will never look down on another
person who is not holy.
Because it's the Lord who made me holy.
If I made myself holy, one mark of
it will be, I look down on other
people who have not made themselves holy like
me.
If a person works hard and gets 100
% in some subject, he can be proud
of it.
He can look down on others who didn't
get it.
He can even look down on the fellow
who got 99.
But supposing some guy got zero out of
100, and the teacher gives him 100 grace
marks, what can he be proud of?
That's grace.
A lot of Christians haven't understood it.
They understand it for the great mistakes of
Christians.
Because not only in the 21st century, in
the 1st century, Paul told the Galatians, you
fellows started out by faith.
Now you're going to perfect yourself by works?
How did you get your forgiveness, he said?
How much work did you do to get
forgiveness?
Nothing?
Well, how much work are you going to
do to make yourself holy?
It's God who makes you holy.
But does it mean we got to do
nothing?
Well, let me ask you another question.
Did you have to do nothing to get
forgiveness of sin?
If people had to do nothing, the whole
world would be forgiven.
Why is it only less than 1%
of the world is forgiven?
Because even though forgiveness is free, even though
it's God's work, man has to respond and
accept it by faith, in humility.
It's the same with holiness.
Holiness is God's work.
You're never going to get victory over your
anger or your lust even in a hundred
years by working on it.
But if you come in humility, acknowledging that
you can't make it, God will do it
in you.
I tell you, God will do it in
you.
So, that's the lesson of the Sabbath, a
sign between God and Israel.
Now, it was very, very strict.
I want to show you one example of
what happened in the Old Testament when a
man disobeyed the Sabbath.
Numbers chapter 15.
In Numbers chapter 15, verse 32, we read,
when a man was caught gathering wood on
the Sabbath day, he wasn't lighting a fire.
He was just saying, I'm just collecting some
wood.
I'm not going to cook anything.
Tomorrow, I'll cook.
And they found him just collecting wood.
And they brought in Numbers 15, verse 33,
to Moses and Aaron.
And they didn't know what to do with
him.
I mean, God said those who disobey the
Sabbath must be killed.
What about this man?
He was only collecting wood.
Okay, let's keep him in custody and ask
the Lord.
And the Lord said to Moses, verse 35,
the man must be put to death.
Do you want to still live under the
old covenant?
You got to be crazy to live under
the law.
I don't want to live under the law.
So, all the congregation brought him out, stoned
him to death, just as the Lord commanded.
Boy, am I glad that Jesus delivered me
from that, from the curse of the law.
I never want to go back under that.
I don't even want to try to be
holy by keeping the law.
I tried for years, and it never made
me holy.
It just made me a bit of Pharisee.
But when I understood grace, it made all
the difference.
You know, the Lord was so concerned about
people keeping the Sabbath, he made a Sabbath
for the land also.
He said, once in seven years, every six
years, give the land a rest.
Don't just keep on trying to make more
money out of the land.
I'll bless you.
So, let me turn now to Isaiah 58
before we come to the meaning of it
in the New Testament.
In Isaiah 58, we get a little inkling
of what the meaning of the Sabbath is,
a little more than we already saw.
Isaiah chapter 58, it says here in verse
13, if because of the Sabbath, you
turn your foot from doing your own pleasure,
that means one day a week, the Lord
says, don't do what you want to do.
The businessman wants to make money.
Okay, don't do that once a week.
Okay, six days you go and make money,
but one day a week, don't make money.
You feel like yelling at your wife six
days a week.
Okay, one day a week, give her a
rest.
Don't yell at her.
Don't do what you want to do.
You want to have fun.
Okay, six days a week, have it.
One day, don't do it.
That's the meaning of the Sabbath.
Don't use my holy day for your personal
advantage and treat the Sabbath as a delight,
a wonderful day, one day in which I'm
not going to do my own will.
And the holy day, day of celebration, and
you're going to honor it.
You're going to refuse to do business as
usual.
You're going to refuse to make money.
You're going to refuse to go here and
there seeking your own pleasure.
And last part of verse 13, you're going
to even refuse saying whatever comes to your
mind.
Six days a week, say whatever comes to
your mind.
One day, something comes to your mind, you
say, I'm not going to say it today.
Today is the Sabbath.
From speaking your own word, expressing your opinion,
telling people what you think about them.
Okay, you told them six days of the
week.
Seventh day, can you just keep quiet?
That's what the Lord told Israel about the
Sabbath.
Just have a little restraint in you.
Don't do what you want like you do
the other six days.
Don't find your own pleasure.
Don't speak your own word.
And do you know the wonderful message of
the new covenant?
Listen, we can live like that every day
of the week.
Is that a burden?
Oh, you mean I can never express my
opinion seven days a week?
I thought there's only one day.
You mean I cannot yell at my wife
even the other six days?
No.
I can't do my own will the other
six days?
No.
Oh, what a burden.
That's what they said in the Old Testament.
That proves that such people are not fit
for heaven.
Because in heaven, they do only the will
of God.
No angel speaks what he likes, or does
what he likes.
You know where people do what they like,
and speak what they like?
Hell.
You have a choice.
God doesn't force anybody to go there.
You want to go there?
Sure.
Do what you like, speak what you like.
You'll go and live all eternity with people
who do what they like, and speak what
they like.
But you want to spend all eternity with
those who don't do what they like, but
do what God likes.
And don't speak what they like, but speak
what God likes.
Prepare yourself for heaven.
That's the Sabbath.
Call it a delight.
Don't call it a burden, it says here.
Are you beginning to understand a little bit
of the Sabbath?
Okay, now let's turn to Hebrews in chapter
4.
Now we are seeing the real person, not
the photograph.
What we saw in the Old Testament was
a photograph.
Here's the real person.
Hebrews chapter 4, it says here, he's speaking
about the Sabbath, and he's connecting it with
entering into Canaan.
In chapter 3, it says here, you must
only see the context.
Context is they did not enter into the
land, verse 19 of chapter 3, because of
their unbelief.
They died in the wilderness.
In those 40 years, they wandered around, verse
17 of chapter 3.
Now, we must also fear, lest we don't
enter Canaan.
There is a Canaan in the New Testament.
It's a life of victory over all the
giants in the land.
A life of holiness.
How shall we enter in?
He connects it.
Did you know that Canaan is connected with
the Sabbath?
He's talking about the Canaan.
Remember, chapter 3 is very clear about those
who came out of Egypt, verse 316, did
not listen, they died in the wilderness, 40
years.
Let us fear, lest a promise given to
us of entering what?
His rest.
His Sabbath.
Canaan, his Sabbath.
And we also had the good news of
the gospel preached to us, but they didn't
enter in, because they didn't have faith.
Why did they not enter in, verse 2?
Because they didn't have faith.
Faith means dependence on God.
They depend on themselves.
And then he connects it with the Sabbath
by saying, in verse 4, he says, somewhere
concerning the seventh day, God rested on the
seventh day from all his works.
You know, when I read a verse like
that, I think of all these people who
can quote verses from the Bible.
Ah, this is this verse, that's that verse.
You know, the book of Hebrews, this chap
says, somewhere, I don't know where it is,
he says that God rested on the seventh
day.
Hey man, that's Genesis chapter 2, don't you
know, don't you even know that?
There's no glory in just knowing where a
reference is.
The question is whether you obey it or
not.
Please remember that.
I find multitudes of Christians, they have competitions
in Christendom, where the commas are and where
the semicolons are, and people get prizes for
it.
The question is obedience.
Obedience is all a deception.
Don't be fooled by all these Bible memory
competitions.
The question is, how much do you obey?
He says, somewhere, somebody said, God, somewhere it's
written that God rested on the seventh day
from all his works.
And then he says here, Joshua verse 8
in the Old Testament did not give them
that rest.
There remains a Sabbath rest for the people
of God.
This is New Testament.
Do you know that God wants you to
enter into a Sabbath rest?
You need to understand what that Sabbath rest
is.
Verse 11, let us be diligent to enter
that rest.
So how do we enter that rest?
Verse 10, the one who has entered into
this Sabbath, this is the real person, not
the photograph, has rested from his own works,
just like God did from his.
What was God trying to teach by resting
on the Sabbath days?
Not because he was tired.
I mean, he just spoke about six sentences.
How do you get tired by speaking six
sentences?
I mean, we're not tired by speaking six
sentences.
How could God get tired?
He's not tired.
He was teaching man, you've got to stop
working if you want to enter my Sabbath.
He who has rested from his own works,
we need to understand that.
Let's take, first of all, the matter of
forgiveness of sins.
There are multitudes of people in the world
today who are working to get forgiveness of
sins.
They go on pilgrimages to get forgiveness of
sins.
They roll on the ground to get forgiveness
of sins.
They shave their head to get forgiveness of
sins.
They poke themselves to get forgiveness of sins.
They give money to God.
They do so many things to get forgiveness
of sins.
They just don't get it.
They got a rest from that and saying,
all the things I can do in all
my life will never forgive one of my
sins.
I've got to receive it freely.
Christ died, and that's very difficult for a
proud man to accept something like that.
If you want to understand that, it's like
supposing you give a king, a king who
did something for you.
You give him a tip, okay, here's ten
rupees for helping me.
Well, what do you think the king will
do?
Ten rupees, even a million rupees is nothing
for a king because of pride.
He cannot receive anything free.
Man is basically proud.
He cannot receive anything free even from God.
He wants to do something because then he
can get some credit.
Then he can boast over somebody else.
And that's why the vast majority of people
don't understand free forgiveness through the death of
Christ.
Now most of us here, I hope all
of us, but most of us have understood
forgiveness is free.
You know what a mistake we make is
that we don't realize that holiness comes exactly
the same way.
I turn to God and I say, God,
I tried for years to make myself holy.
I didn't succeed.
It's exactly like those disciples said, Lord, we
tried all night to catch fish.
We didn't even catch one.
You got to do something for us.
The Lord said, sure.
And he filled their boat with fish and
he filled my life with holiness.
If I have come to the end of
myself, you ask how long does it take
to become holy?
That depends on how long it takes for
you to come to the end of yourself.
How long will it take for you to
say, Lord, I want to die.
I want to really die to myself.
I've told you sometimes, take a fast from
expressing your opinion for one week.
Are you able to keep it?
I say it's difficult to keep it for
one day.
We are not willing to die.
Okay, then keep working.
You'll never become holy.
It says here, you can enter into the
rest only when you stop from your own
works.
You say, Lord, I give up.
Even in Christian work, it's like that.
Remember the story of Mary and Martha?
Martha was busy, busy, busy cooking whatever there
was, chapatis or whatever she was making for
the Lord and thirteen, twelve hungry disciples working,
working, working and Mary was just sitting and
listening.
She was at rest.
Martha was all agitated, sweating on the outside,
agitated on the inside and comes and criticizes
Mary to the Lord and the Lord says
to Martha, the problem is with you.
I don't want all your work.
Have you ever heard that?
Now, as human beings, if we went into
that house, we would say, boy, what a
spiritual woman Martha is.
She's not even listening to the message.
She's just working, working, working, working, cooking food
for all these thirteen hungry people.
And look at this lazy sister of hers
sitting there.
But the Lord has a different opinion, completely
different from stupid man's opinion.
He says, Martha, the problem is with Martha.
She has not understood one single thing about
God's ways.
There is a difference between being under law
and under grace.
Does it mean that we are under grace,
we don't do anything?
No.
We listen and then we go out and
do something and we accomplish more in a
little time than years of working, doing our
own thing.
Just like the disciples.
Under the law, they worked twelve hours, got
no fish.
Under grace, in one moment, their boat was
full.
That's God's way.
So, to enter into the Sabbath means my
life has come to rest.
This is the Sabbath and I can live
in it seven days a week, not doing
my own will, not speaking what I want
to speak.
Choose this way, my dear brothers and sisters.
It's the most wonderful life you can ever
live, where before you go and express your
opinion to somebody, you say, Lord, do you
want me to say that?
Do you want me to say that to
my husband, or my wife, or that brother,
or that sister?
I can think of numerous times in my
life where I wanted to go and say
something to a brother and God said no.
Fine, I won't be like Martha running around.
I'll just sit and listen.
It's a wonderful life.
Does it mean we accomplish nothing?
No.
I believe that I'll discover in eternity that
listening to God and doing what he said,
I accomplished a lot more in his service
than if I had spent the last 40
years just doing what I wanted to do.
I'll tell you, I'm extremely happy that I
didn't just do what I wanted to do.
I'd have been a very frustrated, miserable person
today like a lot of Christian workers are.
Learn to enter into the Sabbath rest.
The second thing is concerning typing.
Now that also is back in the Old
Testament.
Who was the first person who promised to
give a tithe to God?
It was not Abraham, by the way.
It was Jacob.
That's right.
The first person who promised to give a
tithe to God was Jacob.
Abraham gave 10% of what he...
I don't think it was even his own
money, by the way.
He brought all those goods from Sodom which
was captured.
You read in Genesis 14, he brought all
of that.
And Melchizedek the priest said, you know, actually
God gave you all that.
And he said, okay, take it.
It wasn't his money in any case.
And when King of Sodom told Abraham, take
this, he said, no, I'm not going to
take it.
I don't want it.
I've got God.
I don't want your tithe.
Something like Paul, you know.
I don't want anything.
Okay.
In Genesis 28, we read of Jacob saying
in verse 20.
Very interesting to see.
And this is the basis on which a
lot of typing and preaching is going on
today.
Verse 20, if God will be with me,
number one, he's going to keep me safe
on my journey, number two.
And he'll give me food to eat, number
three.
And he'll give me clothes to wear, number
four.
And he brings me back in one piece
to my father's house, number five.
Okay.
If he does all that, this God will
be my God and I'll...
Of everything that God gives me, I'll at
least give 10% back to him.
It's like paying income tax to the government.
If you pay me my salary, you give
me a correct salary, I'll pay your tax.
Tell me, is that the relationship of a
husband and wife or some business transaction?
What do you think?
You want to fast and pray and find
out the answer to that?
This is where typing is mentioned first in
the Old Testament.
A man does a business transaction with God.
You want 10% God?
Sure, I'll give it to you.
But make sure you make me rich, give
me a car, give me a house, clear
my debts, do all that.
You want to go back under the law?
Amazing.
How many people want to go back under
the law?
Okay.
Now let me show you something amazing thing
in the New Testament, on the Old Testament
about type.
Numbers chapter 18 is a very interesting passage.
A lot of preachers today say we are
the Levites.
The equivalent of the Old Testament Levites today,
we are God's servants.
And do you know that the Levites were
supported by the type of God's people?
That's right.
God gave a law in the Old Testament
that one tribe out of 12 must not
work.
They must only do God's work.
They must not work in the fields.
They must not do anything.
They must do God's work and the other
11 tribes must support this one tribe.
In fact, you know what God did?
He split up one of the tribes of
Joseph into two tribes called Manasseh and Ephraim
and made them 12 tribes and said, keep
the Levites out of this altogether.
They won't even be counted in the 12
tribes.
That's why in the list of tribes you
won't find Levi.
Because tribe of Joseph was split up into
two.
And yet these 12 tribes supporting the tribe
of Levi who was supposed to be just
the priests.
And you read that in Numbers chapter 18
in verse 20.
The Lord said to Aaron, this is the
number one principle for Levites.
What is that?
You must have no inheritance in the land.
So whenever any preacher tells you, I'm a
Levite, ask him whether he owns any property.
OK?
And you can immediately tell him he's not
a Levite.
He's a crook.
Because Levites are not supposed to own any
property.
You shall have no inheritance, no portion.
The Lord says, I am your portion.
A Levite did not own one inch of
land anywhere in the world.
So any preacher today or pastor who says
he's the equivalent of that Levite who needs
your type, he's a liar if he owns
property.
To the sons of Levi, what have I
given as their inheritance?
Verse 21.
The type.
Why did they get the type as an
inheritance?
Because they didn't have any property.
They have to live.
And they were not allowed to plow the
field.
They were not allowed to do anything.
So they had to get the type in
return for all the service which they performed.
And the sons of Israel shall not come
near the tent, but the Levites can perform
the service.
And this is a perpetual statute.
Verse 24.
For the type of the sons of Israel,
which they offer as an offering to the
Lord, I have given to the Levites as
an inheritance because they are to have no
inheritance among sons of Israel.
You know, just in case you didn't hear
it properly the first time, he repeats it
the second time.
It's amazing.
As I told you, people who don't know
the scriptures get deceived.
So you have to present an offering to
the Lord.
Verse 28.
From your types and give it to the
Aaron, the priest.
And out of all the gifts you present,
the best must go to them.
And you shall say, listen to this.
You give the best to the Levites from
your type because you've got 90 percent.
You're giving only 10 percent to God to
them.
OK.
Now I want to turn to another passage
in Deuteronomy.
And before we go there, I want to
show you another thing.
The Lord told the Levites something.
This is a very important verse, which is
also forgotten.
The Lord spoke to Moses saying, verse 25,
speak to the Levites, tell them now.
He told the sons of Israel to give
the types to the Levites.
Now tell the Levites.
When you take from the sons of Israel
the type which I've given you, you must
present an offering from it.
A type of the type.
Anybody teach you that?
Type of the type.
It's there in the Bible.
The Levites were told, hey, you fellas, don't
think you've got the type, you can just
live off that.
You've got to take 10 percent from that
and give it also.
Type of the type.
Now, this is very interesting because you'll see
in a moment what I'm coming to.
Deuteronomy chapter 12, we read in verse 17,
you must not eat the type within your
gates.
How can you eat your type?
But, verse 18, you can eat your type
before the Lord.
So, you know, part of that type you
could eat yourself.
Nobody told you that.
Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 23, verse 22 first,
you must tithe all the produce from what
you sow.
You see, the tithe in those days was
what they grew in their fields.
Take 10 percent of whatever you grow in
the field, including what you have in your
farm, the cattle and all that.
And you can eat it.
Verse 23, in the presence of the Lord.
And if the distance, verse 24, is so
great, that means if your house is very
far from Jerusalem and you can't bring all
that type down there.
OK, convert it all into money.
Verse 25, and take the money in your
hand.
And when you go to the place the
Lord chooses, Jerusalem, spend the money or whatever
your heart desires, oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink,
and eat with that type in the presence
of the Lord.
You believe God is a good God?
I believe that.
God's saying, you know, you know why I'm
telling you fellas to give the tithe?
Numbers, Deuteronomy 14 and it says in verse
23, you must learn to fear the Lord
your God always.
Or as the Living Bible puts it, to
teach you to put God first.
As soon as they gathered in their crops
from the field, they had to recognize God
gave me this.
I want to put you first, Lord.
Here's something for you.
This is yours.
And they take it and they can eat
part of it.
They were expressing, do you think God doesn't
eat meat or wheat or any such thing?
What's He going to do with it?
He doesn't need money either.
So much of deception concerning this teaching.
Wait till the preachers hear this message and
you'll see how angry they get.
Numbers chapter 26 and verse 12.
When you have finished paying all the tithe,
in the third year, the year of tithing,
who are you to give it to?
Give it to the Levite, to the stranger,
to the orphan, to the widow, to poor
people.
You could eat, but you had to share
it with people who didn't have enough, like
the Levite and the strangers and the widows
and the orphans.
This was the principle.
It wasn't just, oh, go and give it
all to God's servant out there.
Even in the Old Testament, it wasn't like
that.
God was teaching them to be concerned for
the poor.
Now, I want you to turn to Malachi
now, the favorite chapter of preachers.
Favorite verse, Malachi 3.
Bring your tithe into the storehouse, lest a
curse come upon you.
I want you to see something about the
book of Malachi, which you have probably never
seen till today.
You know what?
Listen to this.
Malachi 1.1. The word of the Lord
to Israel through Malachi.
All the prophets spoke to God's people.
They didn't speak to the other nations, except
occasionally, mostly to God's people.
And one more thing, even Jeremiah, Isaiah, Malachi,
when they spoke to God's people, they primarily
spoke to the leaders, to the priests, prophets,
princes.
He said, you fellas, you fellas, you fellas,
you're doing it wrong.
It's not only in Malachi, right through the
Old Testament prophets.
Now listen.
Who is he speaking to in Malachi?
Do you know the whole book is for
the priests?
Listen.
Verse 6.
The son honors his father, the servant his
master.
Where is my respect?
Says the Lord.
O priests who despise my name.
He's talking to the priests, the Levites.
I'm talking to you fellas, you Levites.
Then he says all these things.
You present something blind and this, that and
the other and all that type of stuff.
Again, chapter 2, verse 1.
This commandment is for you, O priests.
To the priests, he says, in chapter 3,
verse 10.
Bring your tithe to the storehouse.
You're not tithing the tithe.
It's not spoken to God's people.
This is one of the great deceptions.
People who take one verse, they produce a
cult.
A tithing cult just like any other cult.
A word written to the priests.
The Levites.
It's all about the priests.
You fellas are not faithful to your wife,
he says in verse, chapter 2, verse 14
and many other things.
I'm going to cleanse all of you so
that, you know that, see for example, in
verse 3 of chapter 3.
God is going to sit as a smelter
and purifier of silver.
What for?
The sons of Levi will be purified.
Who is he speaking to?
The sons of Levi, the priests.
Then he says to them, bring your tithes.
You're robbing me.
You got the tithes from the people and
you did not give 10% of those
tithes to me, the Lord says.
So that is the whole teaching of the
Old Testament on tithe.
Now when Jesus came, he spoke to the
Pharisees in Matthew 23.
You must tithe because they were under the
law.
But when he spoke to his disciples, he
said, in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 8.
He never said a word about tithing to
his disciples.
Never.
Because they were under the new covenant.
He told them something else.
He said, give.
Matthew 10 and 8.
Freely you received.
Really give.
In other words, how did God give you?
In the same way that God gave you,
give to others.
Bless them.
He said also in Acts chapter 20 and
verse 35, the words of Jesus in Acts
20 verse 35.
It is more blessed to give than to
receive.
Jesus never spoke about tithing.
Because tithing deals with percentages.
He spoke about giving.
Giving deals with attitudes.
God loves a cheerful giver.
Says in 2 Corinthians 9, the apostles understood
it.
When Ananias did not give all his sale
price of the house, Peter told him, listen,
you didn't have to give anything.
When you didn't sell the house, it was
yours.
After you sold the money, the house was
yours.
Why do you have to pretend?
Why do you have to be a hypocrite?
Let's turn to Luke chapter 6, where Jesus
spoke very clearly about this.
Luke chapter 6.
And he's speaking here about those who are
blessed.
And, you know, he says here about those
upon whom there's a woe.
Verse 24, woe to you who are rich,
for you are receiving your comfort in full.
To the disciples, he said, turning to his
disciples, verse 20, blessed are you who are
poor.
And then he said, woe to you who
are rich.
So what should you do if unfortunately you're
rich?
I'll tell you.
Give.
Luke 6, 38.
Give.
And it'll be given to you, so that
you can bless people who are poorer than
you.
That is the fundamental principle of the New
Testament.
Give, God will give you, so that you
can give to the poor.
Not so that you can spend it all
on yourself.
That's the big mistake of today's preaching.
And what are we to give?
It says here in verse 38, give.
Let's see the context.
Remember the principle of Bible study I told
you in the beginning?
Is he talking about money?
Is he talking about money like a lot
of preachers quote that verse?
No.
What is he talking about?
He's talking about forgiveness.
Be merciful.
Verse 36.
Don't judge.
Don't condemn.
Pardon.
Give that, he says in verse 38.
So what are we supposed to give to
other people?
First of all, forgiveness.
Have you given forgiveness to everybody?
If you haven't, it's no use giving money
to God.
Have you stopped judging other people?
If you haven't given them mercy, don't give
money to God.
You'll never hear this anywhere else.
That's the truth of scripture.
Learn to give to people generously, because God
has forgiven you so much, forgive them.
God's been merciful to you, show mercy to
them.
2 Corinthians chapter 9.
2 Corinthians chapter 9, it says here concerning
giving.
A wonderful passage, 2 Corinthians chapter 9.
It says here in verse 6, another favorite
passage of preachers, but they don't tell you
the context.
He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.
He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.
Everyone must do as he has purposed in
his heart, not because he's forced by somebody,
by some preacher, not under compulsion.
God loves a cheerful giver.
And then, listen to this, God will make
all grace abound towards you, so that you
always have enough.
And then, verse 10, he who supplies seed
to the sower, bread for food, will multiply
your harvest, so that you can be enriched.
Verse 11, so that you can be liberal
towards other people.
Isn't that what I said?
Let me read this to you in the
message Bible.
This most generous God who gives seed to
the farmer.
You heard about seed faith?
Okay, here it is.
Seed becomes bread for your meal, so he
gives you something which you can give away.
Which results in those people getting full-formed
lives, and you become wealthy in every way,
so that you can be generous in every
way.
Have you ever heard that?
That God blesses you financially, so that you
can bless poor people.
That's how I've lived for nearly 30 years.
I tell you, in the work that I
do to support myself and my family for
the last 30 years, God has blessed me
abundantly.
There's no doubt about it.
And what should I do with that?
That can enable me to serve other people
in India freely, without taking my train fare
from them when I travel, without taking any
gift from them when I travel to these
villages.
That's exactly why God blessed me.
He didn't bless me so that I can
live comfortably and take more money from all
these poor people.
No, that's a deception.
That's the meaning.
God blesses you extravagantly, so that you can
have something to give away to other poor
people, so that they can grow, have full
-formed lives, robust in God.
You become wealthy in every way, so that
you can be generous in every way.
This is how Jesus taught us to give.
Now lastly, circumcision.
Philippians 3 verse 3 says, Circumcision is a
symbol of, you know, it says about verse
2, of the false circumcision.
The false circumcision.
We are the true circumcision, who worship God
in the spirit.
Those people worship in the soul or the
body.
Man is spirit, soul and body.
Most Christians, even today, believers, even charismatics, they
worship in the soul and the body.
The body is hands, clap, raise.
Good, I do it, because I've got a
body.
And soul is your emotions, excited, hallelujah, praise
the Lord, and shouting, I do that too,
because I've got a soul.
The only difference is, I've gone beyond body
and soul to spirit.
What Jesus told the woman of Samaria, the
true worshippers will worship God in spirit.
And the Father is seeking in the multitudes
of people who worship Him with their body
and soul, for some who will worship Him
in their spirit.
How do I worship God in my spirit?
I need to be broken.
You know, it's like the, Jesus said about
the grain of wheat that falls into the
ground and dies.
You know, you put a grain of wheat
into the ground, that outer shell breaks open.
Then only the plant comes out.
All seed is like that.
And this, something in me has to break,
the stubbornness of my will.
And it's like the alabaster box, when it
is broken, the perfume ascends to God.
A worship that's acceptable to Him.
If you're not broken, you can never worship
in the spirit.
No matter how loudly you shout hallelujah, how
well you clap your hands, how well you
raise your hands, don't deceive yourself.
The only people who worship God in the
spirit, here this morning, were not the people
who shout and raise their hands and clap
their hands, but the ones who are broken,
who came here with a broken spirit.
Those are the sacrifices God accepts.
So circumcision was that, a cutting off, a
breaking, like they cut off the flesh in
circumcision, there was a cutting off of all
this human strength.
There's a lot of human strength in charismatic
song leaders.
You could put that fellow in a nightclub,
he'd do just as well.
He's a master of ceremonies.
Crack jokes, make people feel at home and
all that.
Not brokenness of spirit.
Don't be deceived between worship in the spirit
and worship in the soul.
There are very few people who know what
it is to worship in the spirit.
A lot of people are experts in stimulating
people to worship in the soul.
You read there, they dance, they jump, they
did it better than any Pentecostal or charismatic.
But they could not worship in the spirit.
We are the true circumcision, who worship God
in the spirit and have zero confidence in
the flesh.
The circumcision was a cutting off of the
flesh and throwing it away.
And spiritually the meaning of it is, I
also throw away, what?
My confidence in my flesh, spiritually.
I have no confidence in myself.
I trust in God completely.
The man who circumcised in heart is the
man who leans upon God.
Leans upon God for everything.
God, I trust in you, 100%.
And like Jeremiah says, that man is like
a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Always fruitful.
Because cursed is the man who leans upon
man.
He says in Jeremiah 17 verses 5 to
8.
Who leans upon man, who depends on human
beings to help him.
Depends on his own cleverness.
The world is full of people, even Christians
are full of pride in their own ability,
in their own cleverness.
I can serve God, I can sing, I
use my ability to God.
Cursed is that man who depends on his
ability.
You are not going to serve God with
your own ability.
Impossible.
You got to learn to lean upon God.