This sermon emphasizes the importance of balanced Christianity, focusing on the need for true discipleship and worship in spirit. It highlights the distinction between Old Testament worship, which is external, and New Testament worship, which is in the spirit. The speaker delves into the significance of denying self-will, rending the veil, and entering into true worship that pleases God. The message stresses the importance of living a godly life daily and offering genuine worship from the heart.

As we concluded our last session, I was mentioning how it's not enough that we have let people hear the gospel once. We got to make sure that they grow. Birth and growth to maturity are what brings a balanced ministry. And Jesus made that clear in what is known as the Great Commission. If you were to ask the average Christian, what is the Great Commission? They would say, it is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I say, is that all? That's all they know. But that is like one side of a coin or one side of a currency note. What's written on the other side? A currency note that's printed only on one side is a fake. It's counterfeit. It's worth nothing. So, the problem with many Christians is they know the truth partially. You know, in chemistry we studied that two parts of hydrogen plus one part of oxygen makes water. So, if you only have the hydrogen, you don't have water. If you only have two parts of hydrogen, you don't have water. You've got to add another part of oxygen to make it water or one part of sodium and one part of chlorine make common salt. One alone doesn't make it. So, there are many things like that in the Christian life also. It's, if you have only one side of truth, it's not the real thing. Like I said, two parts of oxygen is not water. It's part of water, but it's not water. It's H2 plus O, oxygen, that makes water. So, in the same way, when you speak about the Great Commission, if you don't understand it right, we don't understand what Jesus told us to do. So, let me read it to you from scripture. Mark chapter 16 is the more well-known part of the Great Commission. I'm talking about being balanced in our understanding of scripture, the balanced Christian life, a balanced ministry, a balanced understanding of the Great Commission. Mark 16, 15, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures, all creation. He who has believed and is baptized will be saved. He who has disbelieved will be condemned. So, here Jesus speaks about preaching the good news all over the world and only believing and baptism is mentioned. That's the beginning of the Christian life. Believing is the way you, repentance is understood, that a person's turned from his sin to believe in Jesus and then to be baptized to publicly testify that he's finished with sin. That's the mark of his repentance and in connection with this ministry, which is what I call frontier evangelism. Frontier evangelism means pushing the frontiers of where the gospel has been preached further and further and further to areas which are not reached yet. The acts of the apostles is full of frontier evangelism. Many people don't realize that. Going to new places, pushing the frontiers of the gospel further and further and further and when you do that and those who are involved in that type of ministry, going into areas where the gospel has never been preached, these signs will accompany them. They, in my name, they will cast out demons. It's not saying that, you got to read carefully, it's not saying that every single believer will cast out demons or every single believer will speak in new tongues or every single believer will pick up serpents. No, no, no. It's those who are involved in frontier evangelism, when they go there preaching the gospel to a new place, in that ministry, these are the signs that will accompany them, them, the group of them. Cast out demons, speak in new tongues, that means they will not be hurt by serpents or deadly poison and if they lay hands on the sick, they'll recover. Now this is very important and you see that happening in the Acts of the Apostles in frontier evangelism. People wonder why it doesn't happen all the time in churches because it's not referring to churches here, it's referring to frontier evangelism. If you are involved in frontier evangelism, you'll see it. It's happening today in places where the gospel is going for the first time. So I'm trying to present to you the truth in a balanced way. You shouldn't be surprised if you don't see all these things happening in your church that every sick person is being healed. But it's very essential when you go into a non-christian place where they've never heard about Jesus. There are many places like that in the world, even in India, where they've never heard the name of Jesus, they don't know what a Bible is, they don't know that such a person as Jesus existed on the earth. Imagine going to, picture this in your mind, going to some place where nobody's ever heard of the Bible or of Christians or about Jesus and you go there and you begin to tell them about Jesus Christ. How will you begin? You tell them, hey listen, do you know there's a many thousands of miles ago, there's a place called Israel. They never heard of it. I said, so what? Okay, 2,000 years ago, a little baby was born there. Okay, so what? And he didn't have a human father. Ah, that fellow is immediately convinced that you've got something wrong with your head. He didn't have a human father, you mean? What was he then? No, no, no. God came in human form. He was born without a father. We know it's all true, but this chap's trying to, you're trying to convince this guy. And he grew up and he did miracles, opened blind eyes and all. He says, that's amazing. And finally they killed him and he kind of said, what do you mean they killed him? You mean he couldn't stop them from killing him even though he was like that? And then they killed him and then he died for your sins. How in the world could he die for my sins if it happened 2,000 years ago? What does he know about what I'm doing today? And after three days he came out of the grave alive. He's absolutely convinced you're off your head now. Telling him some fairy tale. And then after 40 days he ascended up into heaven. And that's removed all doubt from his mind that you're crazy. And he's alive today. What am I supposed to do? You must yield your life to him. Why in the world should I leave my life to him? Who is he? And then you say, is anybody demon possessed in this village? Bring him here and I will show you that the name of Jesus has power. And that demon possessed person who nobody could cure for years in the name of Jesus, immediately delivered. Bring me a sick person here and pray for him. This is happening today where there's frontier evangelism. If you're not involved in frontier evangelism you don't see it. Most of my ministry is not in frontier evangelism. But a little bit of it is. We have two churches planted in India where there were no church for 2,000 years. And we've seen demons cast out and sick people healed. It's exactly like this. So anyone who's involved in this will see it. And speaking in tongues and everything there. But that's one side of the great commission. Now let's look at the other side. Equally important. This is balanced understanding of the great commission. That's in Matthew 28. Where Jesus came and spoke to them. It says in verse 18, Matthew 28, 18. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore, now it's not saying preach the gospel. That's one side. We've looked at that. Make them disciples. A disciple is a learner and a follower. A disciple is one who sits at the feet of his master and learns what is the way and then decides to follow in his master's footsteps. So this person whom we converted through frontier evangelism, going to new places, must now be made a disciple. One who learns and follows. We can't just leave him and say, okay, I've got to go to another frontier now. Now if you feel that your calling, I'm talking to anybody, feels that counting is only frontier evangelism, then you must work with somebody else who is doing this disciple making. Otherwise it's not balanced. So the apostle Paul didn't just go and go to new frontiers and preach the gospel and bring people to Christ and all these signs and all took place as you read in the Acts of the Apostles, but he went back and built them up because he had to make disciples. So here the commission is make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The baptism is made clear. It must be in the name of the Trinity. And then that's not enough. Now here in this ministry there's no mention of signs or wonders or casting out demons or healing the sick. Nothing. That is in the ministry of frontier evangelism. Mark chapter 16. Here in disciple making the emphasis is not on the miraculous. The emphasis is on obedience to what Jesus taught. Now if we can understand this clearly, this balance, that in frontier evangelism there will be signs and wonders that accompany the preaching of the gospel and it will happen to anyone. You don't have to be a very mature Christian. If God has called you to do frontier evangelism and you go into places where the gospel has never been preached, I would advise you never to go there if you don't believe that the Holy Spirit can do supernatural things through you. I wouldn't dream of going into evangelize to preach the gospel in places where the gospel has never been preached. If I don't believe that God will do supernatural things and casting out demons and healing the sick, I wouldn't waste my time going there because I'll be telling them what they think is a fairy tale as I told you just now. It has to be confirmed by God with signs following. But then once that is done, God is not in the entertainment business to just keep on doing miracles like some magic show. He's now interested in making disciples. So the second stage, this is balanced Great Commission. Now, I want to make them a disciple. I want to make this guy who's been converted, who was probably a non-Christian and wouldn't believe, who thought it was a fairy tale till he saw the demon cast out in the name of Jesus, till he saw some miraculous healing took place in the name of Jesus and he comes to faith in Jesus Christ. That's how some people do come to faith in Christ initially. And then we go to tell him, here listen, this is not all there is to it. You have now to become a disciple. There's something more exciting than casting out demons. There's something more exciting than physical healing. It is to follow in Jesus' footsteps and partake of his nature and to learn to see the footsteps of Jesus and walk in it. Then he's got to be taught that and then I have to teach him, it says here, everything that Jesus commanded. You think you can do that in one day? How long does it take to teach people just the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7? It's not enough that I brought him to Christ. I have now to teach him how to overcome anger, which all human beings are slaves to. How to overcome sexually dirty thinking, which all men at least are slaves to, everywhere in the world. If I don't teach him that, then Jesus said that in the Sermon on the Mount. I got to teach him to speak the truth always. Your yes must be yes and your no must be no. Telling lies is another thing common to all human beings. I've got to deliver him from all these habits and his mere accepting Christ has not delivered him from all these things, just like all of you know. When you accepted Christ, did you get delivered from all these things? No. Some of you or most of you didn't even know that these were sinful. I've had people tell me all my life, I never even heard that anger was a sin. I think a lot of people are like that. How will they know unless they are taught? So all that I taught, we have a, if you go to our church website CFC, CFC stands for Christian Fellowship Church, cfcindia.com is our church website. If you go there, we have a 40-hour series, 80 half an hour messages on, the title is All That Jesus Taught and the reason we did that was to fulfill this command of Jesus, teach people all that I taught you. And we've just covered just the whole Gospel of Matthew to pick out things that Jesus taught which every disciple of Jesus must know. So this is the other side of the Great Commission. And if you do this, I'm with you to the end of the age. Now Christians have got a tremendous tendency to take a promise without fulfilling the condition. You know some well-known promises, ask and it'll be given you. Supposing you just take the letter part, it'll be given to you. No, it says ask and it'll be given to you. James says you don't have because you don't ask. Or you ask and don't receive because you got wrong motives in your asking. So there's a condition to every promise and you believe and repent and believe and you'll be saved. There's a condition. If you don't fulfill the condition, then the promise is not fulfilled. Haven't you seen in many places this verse, I'm with you always. Well, it's mentioned, Jesus mentioned it only once. Lo, I'm with you always. What is the condition? Have you ever thought of that? Is it just automatic? A lot of people think it's automatic. Well, let's look at scripture carefully. The condition is make disciples, teach them to do everything I commanded you and I'll be with you always to the end of the age. I've sought to do that. I've tried my best for many years now to make disciples, to be a disciple myself first of all, and to make people disciples by teaching how to hear Jesus, how to follow him. In fact, that's the only thing I've done for 40 years in our churches. And all the things that Jesus taught, and I want to tell you, I have experienced the reality of Lo, I'm with you always in all types of situations. And you can experience that. See, you can imagine when Jesus was physically with the disciples, there was never a problem that could not be solved. Whether it was lack of food for thousands of people, or a storm in the lake, or anything. You never find a problem that Jesus couldn't solve. You never find anyone coming to Jesus and saying, here's a problem. And Jesus sort of scratching his head and saying, boy, that's a tough one. How do I handle that? Never, never, never teaching us that there is no problem Jesus cannot solve. Do you believe that? Why is it that we live saying, oh, I wonder what will happen here? I wonder what will happen here? Because you think he's with you. He's not with you. There's sin in your life that he doesn't tolerate. You live your own selfish way and you say, he's going to be with me always. You're imagining. Be a disciple. Seek to do all that Jesus taught you. I guarantee he'll be with you till the end of the age. Whatever your problem, he'll be there. That's the way God wants us to live. And it doesn't matter if everybody forsakes you. That's how Jesus lived himself. Jesus lived on earth primarily dependent on his heavenly father. That's why he was not disturbed when people left him. His job was to make mega congregations into small group of disciples. He is the opposite of what a lot of people are trying to do today. Because his conditions were so strict. Let me show you one example to show you what balanced Christian preaching is. In John chapter 6, you read about this great multitude and we read of the feeding of the 5000 in verse 10 and 11. John 6 verse 10 and 11. Where five loaves and two fish fed 5000 men plus many women and children, probably 10,000 people. And to them he taught first verse 47, if you believe in me you have eternal life. But that was only one side of the truth. Very often you know truth is not contained in only one verse. Remember it's balance. You remember in the temptation when the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread and Jesus said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Matthew chapter 4. And Jesus and the devil said as it were, you are a it is written type of man, is it okay? Jump from the roof of the temple because it is written that his angels will protect you. He was trying the same tactic you know. It's written, you go by the word right? It is written that his angels will take care of you and Jesus said it is also written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. So don't think that when you get a verse of scripture it's always from the Holy Spirit. Could be from the devil. If the devil can quote scripture to Jesus, you think he won't write that on you? That's why you need to know when a verse is quoted to you what is also written. The whole truth is contained in it is written and it is also written. Like a bird has got two wings. What will happen to a bird has got only one wing. However much it flaps it, it'll just keep going around in circles. And that's what a lot of Christians are with one truth. They keep going around in circles and 25 years later you see them in the same position. Because they've heard one truth and not the other. It's balance. So he said, if you believe in me you have eternal life. But that was not all. He went on to say in verse 54, you got to eat my flesh and drink my blood to have eternal life. So which is the truth? It's like saying is this side of the coin the right side or the other side? Both are necessary. Here's the balance. You believe in me you have eternal life. But it says you've got to eat my flesh and drink my blood if you have eternal life. And what is eating his flesh and drinking his blood mean? When the word flesh and blood whenever it comes in the Gospels it speaks about his death on the cross. That's what we testify in symbolic way in the breaking of bread. This is my body broken for you. This is my blood shed for your sins. It speaks of his death on the cross. And what he was saying is, it's not believing me is good but he must participate in my death. Die with me. Like Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. That's the person who's going to enjoy eternal life. Not just he who believes in me. It's true. That is one side of the coin. That's there. John 6 47. It is written he who believes has eternal life. I want to say it is also written in verse 54 that you've got to eat his flesh and drink his blood participate in his death on the cross to have eternal life. A lot of false preaching is because people go by it is written. It's not balanced. And Christians are being fooled by these hundred dollar notes which are printed on one side and they think they're rich. It's a fake. Turn the other side and see what is printed on the other side. Don't just read what is written but see what is also written. And that's why it's important for us to read the scriptures. You say well my preacher never taught me that. Okay. If you were living in the first 1500 years of Christianity when Bibles were not available there's some excuse for that. But if you're living in this age when you have a knowledge of language and you've got a Bible in your own language you have absolutely no excuse for not knowing the truth. You cannot get away by saying my preacher never taught me that. Well you got a Bible at home. Do you know that that is the answer to many questions. You got a Bible at home. The Bible says you must have participated in his death. Let me show you an example of that in the gospel of Luke chapter 16. Sometimes we say if I can see a miracle if I can see a supernatural thing I'll believe. There are many Christians who say that let me see a vision of Jesus or let me see some miracle and I'll believe. Or let an angel come and tell me let an angel appear when I'm praying and I'll believe. Here's the answer to that. Luke chapter 16 we read about the story of rich man and Lazarus. And you know the rich man I don't have time to go into the detail. The rich man went to hell and Lazarus the poor beggar went into the kingdom of God. And the rich man said to Abraham who was with Lazarus in the paradise. Abraham will you please this is Luke 16 verse 27. Will you please send Lazarus from heaven down to earth again to tell my five brothers about this message that they need to repent. And he knew that he went to hell because he didn't repent. He had only believed he didn't repent. All the people who believe without repenting he discovered when he went to hell that repentance is the most essential thing there. And so he says please tell them otherwise they'll also come here. And do you know what most Abraham replies verse 29. They've got the bible. They've got the bible. That's enough. The phrase Moses and the prophets refers to the old testament bible which was the only thing they had then. Genesis to Malachi. Genesis to Deuteronomy is Moses and the rest of the prophets. Moses and the prophets they've got the bible. Let them read that. Or let them hear it is being preached in the synagogue. Let them have that. Hear that. They've got the bible. How can they make an excuse that they don't know that they have to repent. No. But father Abraham verse 30. If someone goes from heaven and comes in shining dress and saying I have come from heaven and I want to tell you it is true what the bible says that if you don't repent you will go to hell. Then they will believe. No. He says that they will then repent. Verse 30. And Abraham says no. If they don't read the bible even a miracle is not going to make them repent. Do you understand that? Even an angel coming from heaven or somebody coming from heaven is not going to make them repent. So if you have a bible there's no excuse to say well my preacher didn't preach it. Jesus taught us to do all that he commanded. That's the other side of the gospel. Let me show you another verse about where we see this balance which is so important. Why do we emphasize disciple making so much? Because we find so much of evangelism today without the person being made into a disciple. I think many of you sitting here probably have really accepted Christ. But nobody ever taught you about being a disciple. When Jesus said to his apostles go and make disciples in every nation. Did they understand what it meant first of all? Do you understand what it means? Let me show you what Jesus himself had already taught them. What it meant to be a disciple. Luke chapter 14 and verse 26 to 33. There are three conditions of discipleship. And I'm telling you exactly what I have taught in my own churches that I have responsibility for for 40 years. Numerous churches, scores and scores of churches. We preach the same thing in towns, villages. I say you cannot be a disciple until you fulfill these three conditions. And I say that to everybody sitting here. It's good to examine yourself. These are the words of Jesus because he always uses the word cannot, cannot, cannot. There is no such thing as a second class disciple. You cannot be my disciple and he mentions it three times. Verse 25, 26, sorry 26, 27, 33. So Luke 14, 26. If you come to me and you don't hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters in your own life, you cannot be my disciple. Now it's a very strong word he uses, hate. Now when we compare scripture with scripture, we are told to honor our parents. We are told to love our wives and love our children. So obviously this word hate must be understood in its context. We compare scripture with scripture. In Matthew 10, Jesus said, if anyone loves his father or mother more than me, he's not worthy of me. So we understand the meaning of this hate means that your love for Christ must be far above your love for your father, mother, brother, sister. Your love for your father and mother, wife, children, all must be so small compared to your love for Jesus that they almost disappear. Something like you know, if you see the light of the stars, think of that as your love for your father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children. There is light in the stars. You love them. That's right. Something wrong in that. But when the sun comes up, you can't see the stars. They're there. They're there. Even right now the stars are back. You can't see them. It's disappeared. In other words, when your love for Jesus is so great that you're not going to be influenced by the love of your parents or your wife and children. In other words, Christ becomes supreme in your life. You don't love anybody like you love Jesus Christ. It's only such a person who's a disciple. In other words, if Christ tells you to do something and your dad and mom tell you to do something else, you're going to obey Jesus Christ. If Christ tells you to do something and your wife tells you to do something, you say, sorry, I've got to obey Christ. You're not going to please your children and disobey the Lord. There's so many parents who do that. They compromise because they want to please their children and they lead their children astray because Christ is not first in their thinking. They're not disciples and their children don't become disciples either. This is the first condition of discipleship. And particularly in the culture in which Jesus was living, which is very similar to the culture in India, where people have such a tremendous respect for parents. It's very difficult to break away. You know, the first commandment for married people is, leave your father and wife. Jesus left his father in heaven and came to earth to be married to us. Now we have to leave our earthly connections to be married to him. That's a happy marriage. A marriage where husband and wife are still attached to their respective parents more than to each other is not going to be a happy marriage. I'll tell you that. I'm not saying we've got to dishonor our parents. No, we must honor them till the end of their lives. Love them, care for them. If they're sick, take care of them. That's all fine. But if your parents are more important to you in your marriage than each other, I can predict it's going to be a very unhappy married life. And if any other human being is more important to you than Jesus Christ, you're not going to have a happy relationship with Christ. You know, that's why Jesus told those people who did miracles. He said, I never knew you. And the question comes, what does he mean, I never knew you? You know, the word no is used in the Old Testament of the intimate husband-wife relationship. Adam knew his wife. It refers to that physical relationship between a husband and wife. No. And Jesus was saying to these people, you never had that type of relationship with me. I was not like your husband where you forsook everything else. You knew me as you are my bride. You're my wife. You didn't know me like that. There were 101 other people who were more important to you than me. I didn't know you. You said that you accepted me and you're on your way to heaven. But I never knew you. You know, it's like a couple that never had any physical relationship. Jesus said, I never got into that intimate relationship with you. I want to ask you, have you come into an intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ where every other relationship is unimportant compared to this? Now, every other relationship is subject to this first relationship with Christ. In other words, what Christ says to me is fundamental. And I do the other things according to whether it's possible or not. This is what made that many early Christians martyrs. They were told to say Caesar is Lord. They say, no, Jesus Christ is Lord. They'd be burnt or thrown to the lions. Christ was supreme in their life. And if we had people like that today, we'd have that type of Christianity which is powerful. So that's the first condition of discipleship. And the second condition is, verse 27, if you don't take up your cross, you cannot be my disciple. In other words, you know, if you were living in Israel in the days of Jesus, you saw a man carrying a cross. You knew he wasn't going on a picnic. It wasn't a movie. He was going to be killed. He had closed his bank account. He said goodbye to his relatives. He was finished with the earth. He was going to die. So carrying the cross meant only one thing to those disciples when Jesus said, you got to die to all your earthly attachments. You can live on this earth, but inwardly you got to die. Paul expresses it in one place saying, I have as little interest in this world as a dead man has. The world has lost its interest in me and I've lost my interest in the world. I live here, but I don't belong here. It's like you go and live in a foreign country and you know you don't belong there. You're there for a short time. Sometimes some of you visit a foreign country for two weeks. What do you do? Build a house and settle down there when you're going there only for two weeks? You know that you're there for a short time and then that's not your permanent home because your permanent home is here. There's something like that that we need to have if we want to be a disciple of Jesus. I have died to this world. This world is not my permanent home and if some things don't work out for me in this world that's okay because my permanent home is in heaven. And yet we have to live on this earth. We have to earn our living and take care of our families. Maybe build houses to take care of them. All that is fine, but there must never be a feeling that I belong here. I have to die to my will first of all. Take up my cross as I said, to die to my own self-will which I'm tempted by whenever I'm tempted. And the third follows on from that in verse 33. You cannot be my disciple if you don't give up all your possessions. Possessions are different from what we have. Possessions are the things that possess us and that we hold on to. So what Jesus was saying was not that you have to put everything in the offering box, but I shouldn't possess them. I must hold everything God has given me in my open palm. Say Lord, it's mine. The house is in my name. The car is in my name. I'm not possessing it. It's not mine. It's yours. You've given it to me for to use. It's only a person who's that type of attitude to his possessions who can be a disciple of Jesus. The reason I mention that is because the promises in the New Testament are for disciples. And if you're a disciple you can experience and all enjoy all the promises in the New Testament. It's like you know in some clubs they say if you become a member of this club you can enjoy all the privileges in this club. But if you walk into this club as a visitor you cannot enjoy all the privileges and we understand that in earthly situations. And the Lord's saying there are many promises I have for my disciples. It's not for everybody. But if you are a disciple it's for you. And there are so many Christians are wondering why certain promises in scripture don't get fulfilled in their life. I'll tell you why. Are you a disciple? Are you a member of the club? Then all the facilities are yours. So you perhaps could check up on that. Three areas. Is Jesus more important to me than any other human being? Number one. Secondly, am I willing to put the will of God by my own will? Am I willing to die in every situation and choose the will of God? And third, is Jesus more important to me than my earthly possessions? You don't have to give up your possessions but you shouldn't possess them. The classic example of that would be Abraham giving up Isaac. See Abraham possessed Isaac because it was his darling son born when he was a hundred years old. And God saw that this son has become an idol in Abraham's life. And that you can have idols in your life, your job, your house, your car, so many things can become an idol. And your ambitions can become an idol. And the Lord says if you don't give them up you can't be my disciple. So give it up. And Abraham took Isaac to kill him and God said no I don't want you to kill him. I only wanted to see whether you're willing to get rid of this idolatry. Now you can take him back. And from that day onwards Isaac wasn't dead. But he had him. He didn't possess him. So once you've given up something to God, God lets you have it. But you don't possess it anymore. That's not the main thing in your life. So the disciples, the apostles knew what the conditions of discipleship were and when Jesus said go and make disciples, they had to tell people these are the conditions of being a disciple. And it's not something that'll make you unhappy. It'll make you the happiest person in your community. I believe that. I found that in my own life when I decided to be a disciple to the best of my knowledge. I found it brought happiness. I found I could obey commands like rejoice in the Lord always. I found I could obey commands like do all things without murmuring and grumbling. Why is it so many Christians are unable to obey a simple command in Philippians 2 14 and 15 saying do everything without murmuring and grumbling. I'll tell you there's only one reason. You're not a disciple. Some things mean so much to you on earth. When you don't get them, you murmur and grumble. Maybe food means a lot to you. So the food is not up to the mark, you murmur and grumble. Or something goes wrong in the house and you murmur and grumble because that means so much to you. But if you become a disciple, you wouldn't murmur and grumble. You say it's fine. If I get it, well and good. If I don't get it, well and good. It's fine. If anything will hinder me from following Jesus, that's the only thing that will disturb me. I tell you that's the only person who can obey commands like in everything give thanks. Most Christians don't even think they have to obey it. So I'm just trying to point out to you there's so much you're missing in the Christian life if you don't see the balance in the Great Commission. It's not enough to just believe and get baptized. You have to obey everything that Jesus taught. These are the two sides of the Great Commission. Let me say a few words about service. Think of the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 10. Sorry, Matthew chapter 4 and verse 10. The reply that Jesus gave to Satan is, it is written, he said in Matthew 4.10, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. You see the balance there again? Worship and service. You can't serve unless you worship properly first. And let me explain to you worship because worship is not what you have understood as worship in so much of Christian teaching today. You shall worship, it's a command, and you shall serve. You shall not serve before you worship. You shall worship the Lord your God, then you shall serve. Which is more important? Definitely, worship first. And out of worship comes service. It's like saying, I told you about this cup. There is a ministry in the Old Testament where the water flowed over and blessed millions. There's another ministry where the water fills the inside and cleans up my inside and overflows from the inside and millions are blessed. There's a lot of difference. That's the difference between Old Testament ministry and New Testament ministry. And if your inside is not being cleaned up by the Holy Spirit, even if God is using you, I want to say to you in Jesus' name, you are an Old Testament servant. You are not a New Covenant servant. You may imagine that you are. You may fool a bunch of people who don't know the Bible that you are, but you are not. Because in the New Covenant, it is from the innermost being that the rivers of living water flow. Read John 7, verse 38 and 39 and see. If it's not from the innermost being, it's an Old Covenant ministry. Maybe God is using you. Maybe God used you to bring people to Christ. Many people were blessed in the Old Testament, but it was not something that changes your life. You know, in the Old Testament, the emphasis was, come and hear. In the New Testament, it is come and see. Come and hear what the Lord has spoken. Moses, the prophet, has just come down from the mountain after being 40 days with God. I don't look into Moses' life. I mean, he fights with his wife at home and all. That's not important. But come and hear. You know, we read about Moses having a fight with his wife in Exodus, chapter 4, about some area where he had not brought up his children in obedience to God's word. But that didn't matter. Come and hear what he's saying. Samuel, the great prophet, do you know that his two children were taking bribes when he appointed them as judges? But we had to say, don't look at Samuel's private life. Don't see how he's brought up his children. That's not important. Come and hear. Don't come and look into his family life. The Old Testament was like that. Your family life was unimportant. How you lived, it was only come and hear, come and hear, and come and hear. But in the New Testament, you know, when you read in John chapter 1, two disciples of John the Baptist, you read in John chapter 1, saw Jesus and they asked him, Rabbi, John 1, 38, where do you live? He said, come and see, John 1, 39. Today you ask Jesus, Lord, where do you live? Come to this brother's house and see. Not those other Christians. Don't go there. Come to this person's house and see. Which church are you in? Not all these churches. Come to this church and you'll see where I live. Where they respect my word. Where they worship me. Where I'm given the position I deserve as the head. This home, this church, one in a thousand homes, Christian homes, one in a thousand Christian churches. Come and see where they don't just preach, hear, but see the way they live. There are many churches where it is come and hear. We've got a wonderful preacher here. Oh boy, you should see his eloquence. You should see the flourish with which he preaches. How wonderful his life is. I mean, don't go and look at his family life or what he does in private. Don't look at all that. Come and hear, come and hear. And every Sunday people go and hear and hear. And the church grows in size as people go and hear and hear and hear and hear. How does he live with his wife? I don't know. How has he brought up his children? Unimportant. Come and hear. That is not Christianity. That's an Old Testament message. In the New Testament, it is come and see. How? Come and see every part of your life. There's nothing to be hidden. The inner life and the outer life are both identical. If it is only come and hear, you can be a Pharisee. Your doctrines can be right. Your preaching can be right. Let me show you. Matthew 23 is the great chapter where Jesus denounced the Pharisees. How many of you have noticed in studying Matthew 23? I hope you read the scriptures carefully. One of the things I've been encouraging people to do is to read the scriptures slowly, carefully. Otherwise, you'll miss something. When you get a legal document where you can inherit a lot of money or you have to give a lot of money, wouldn't you read it very carefully? Wouldn't you read it 10 times? Wouldn't you get a lawyer to check? Is there some hidden sentence here where I get what they call the fine print? You're very careful in these things. When it comes to money, boy, we are really careful. Why not come to scripture like that? Do you know there are two things that Jesus commended and praised in the Pharisees and appreciated? Tell me what they were. If you read Matthew 23 carefully, you'll know. Number one, the correctness of their doctrine. Does Jesus appreciate correct doctrine? He certainly does. It's important. Matthew 23 in verse 2 and 3. The scribes sit on the chair of Moses, the Pharisees. Everything they tell you to do, do. Would Jesus say everything that the Mormons tell you to do, do? Everything the Jehovah's Witnesses tell you to do, do? Everything that the Roman Catholics tell you to do, do? Do you think Jesus would say that today? About whom will he say everything they tell you to do, do? What about some church which is evangelical but baptizes babies? Do you think Jesus would say everything they tell you to do, do? Maybe he'll say 90% is okay. But everything, what a church that is. Every single doctrine is right. Everything they teach you to do, do. It is according to God's word. Who is he talking about? He's talking about the Pharisees. Their doctrines were absolutely right. He couldn't say that about the Sadducees. The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection and all that. So he couldn't say everything the Sadducees tell you to do, do. But the Pharisees. So that's number one thing he appreciated in the Pharisees. Secondly, another thing he appreciated in the Pharisees in verse 25. You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup but the inside is full of robbery. In other words, there are two sides to our life. One is our inner private hidden life. Our thoughts, our private life at home, people don't see. People see about 10% or less of our life. Everybody you know in the church, you see 10% or less of their life. It's their outer life. And is it good to have a good external testimony? Of course it is. Here's an upright man. He doesn't cheat. He pays his taxes. He doesn't fool around with women. He's honest and he's upright and he's very kind and good. You clean the outside of the cup. Isn't that a very good testimony to be like that in a church? Sure. He's very gracious in his speech and all that. I mean, don't go looking into his private life, how he lives at home or how he handles his finances and all. He's pretty crooked there and he's very evil towards his wife. Don't look at all that. But his outer life is clean. Is that a good thing? Yes. Who is he speaking about? The Pharisees. Their external life was good, clean. Jesus gave that certificate. So, what do we learn from this? If your doctrines are all 100% correct and your external life is absolutely clean, that nobody can find fault with it, you could still be a Pharisee. That's what you learn from this. Have you learned it? Have you ever seen that? Those of you who glory in two things. My doctrines are all right. My external life that other people can see is spotless. Wonderful. You fulfilled the condition in Matthew 23, verse 3 and verse 25. But you're still a Pharisee. And yet, this is how the devils fool so many Christians who are out and out Pharisees. Because they've got their doctrine right and their external life right. Why is it? And maybe you're even serving. The Pharisees were serving. It says, do you know one of the things the Pharisees did was, verse 15, they crossed land and sea. They were missionaries to make converts. But the converts were not really converted. Converts became like them. Correct in doctrine, external life good, but inwardly full of corruption. People to whom the Lord has to one day say, I never knew you. I never had an inner relationship with you. I was not like a husband to you. I was like a visitor in your home. That's the meaning of I never knew you. So, the Pharisees did so many good things like this, you know. Missionary work, but they were not really bringing people to know God. So, why is it like that? Why is it their service was like this? Because they didn't worship first. See the balance I mentioned in Matthew 4, 10. You shall worship and then you shall serve. Now, I want to clear your mind of this misunderstanding of what the vast majority, almost every evangelical church calls praise and worship. You've heard of the expression praise and worship? Do you know that it is 100% unscriptural according to what the Bible speaks about worship? Worship is not singing songs on Sunday morning. No matter how fervent, how excited, no matter how much you clap, how many instruments, how many you raise your hands. And if you don't believe me, all you have to do is take a concordance, look up the word worship in every place it occurs in the New Testament and you'll never find it. In the Old Testament, yes. The Old Testament, that type of worship is Old Testament worship. I agree. Because the lid covered the spirit. It is worship in body and soul. Body is moving the hands, clapping, jumping, dancing. This is worship in the body. Agreed. And then worship in the soul with mind and using our mind and emotions and all that being stirred emotionally. Worship in the body and soul. That is Old Testament worship. I'm talking about New Testament worship. Are you guys in the Old Testament or the New Testament? Jesus told the woman of Samaria in John chapter 4, I'm trying to tell you how to serve the Lord. You shall worship first, then serve. And here's the worship Jesus spoke about. The woman of Samaria spoke about an Old Testament worship to Jesus. John 4.20 Our father said you got to worship in this mountain, but you say you got to go to Jerusalem, which is the place John 4.20 where you ought to worship. And Jesus said, that's all Old Testament. Whether you got to be here or there. It's not in this mountain or in Jerusalem that real worship is going to take place. You worship, you don't know what. You don't know what worship is. And I would say that that verse could be quoted to most Christians today. You don't know what worship is. Because an hour is coming and now is. That means it has not yet come, but is beginning now. When the true worshippers, when I read that, Jesus saying true worshippers, I say, Lord, I want to be one of them. I don't want to be a false old covenant worshipper. The true worshippers will worship in spirit, not in body and soul. No, no, no. Body and soul. Man is spirit, soul and body. Worship in body and soul is good enough for the old covenant. But in the new covenant, you will worship in spirit. The spirit that was covered over with a veil until Jesus came, which was rent when Jesus died on the cross. And the way into man's spirit was open for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell inside. He never dwelt inside any human being until Jesus walked on this earth. He was with them, but he was not in them. And a man cannot worship in the spirit until the Holy Spirit comes in. So the true worshippers will worship in the spirit. And the Father is seeking for such worshippers. Do you think the Father is seeking for people who worship in the body and soul? In the Old Testament, yes, but not today. He was not Father to those people. He was God. Nobody, not even John the Baptist, could look up to heaven and say, Heavenly Father. No. But an ordinary child of God today can say, Heavenly Father, Dad. The Father is not seeking today for old covenant worshippers. I'm sorry to disappoint those who feel they are satisfying God with all their jumping and dancing and shouting and yelling and emotional movement. You may think it's entertainment. It's good entertainment for other people who are watching you and probably for yourself. But the Father is not looking for such worshippers. I'm sorry to disappoint you. But your preachers have fooled you. Why? Because you didn't read the Bible. Like Abraham said, they got the Bible. John chapter 4, verse 23 and 24 was in their Bible all along. They've been, they say they've been believers for 20, 30 years. Why didn't they read it? Why were they so lazy? Why didn't they take a concordance and look up the word worship? They're not bothered. Imagine if some school, the teacher taught you all types of wrong stuff. You went home believing it. That's exactly what's happening today in Christendom. I'm not saying I'm speaking the truth. I'm saying the Bible speaks the truth. Jesus said, Thy word is truth in John chapter 17. That's the only truth I believe in. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said. My words will not pass away. And the Father seeks for such worshippers. When I read that, I say, oh God, my Father. I want to be one of those. I mean, if you're looking down from heaven at the millions of people on this earth people who call themselves Christians and you're seeking here and there for people who worship you in spirit, I want to be one of them. Because if I'm one of them, I will serve you properly. Otherwise, my service will be discovered in the final debate to be wood, hay and straw. Because I didn't become a worshipper first. And then he says, God is a spirit. And those who worship him must worship in spirit. So we need to understand what worship in the spirit is. I told you, there's a veil that blocks off the most holy place. The tabernacle had three parts. Outer court representing the body. Holy place representing the soul. Most holy place representing the spirit. And between there, in front of there, there was a veil that nobody could go through in the old covenant. It was rent when Jesus died. The way into the spirit was open only after Calvary. And fully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit could come right in. And make me a worshipper in the spirit. So what was the way into the spirit? That veil had to be rent. Do you know what that veil is? I'll show you in scripture. Hebrews chapter 10. I want to show you everything in scripture. Those who've heard me know that I quote scripture frequently. So that your faith may not rest on the wisdom of men. But in the word of God. That's why I quote scripture fervently. Frequently. So that you can go home and check it again. So that you can listen to the CD or watch the DVD again and check up those verses. And say, is what Brother Zach said correct? Like the Berean Christians. You read about in Acts 17. It says about the Berean Christians, they were more noble. They were more noble than other believers because they searched the scriptures every day. To see whether what Paul said was true. In other words, they would listen to Paul on a Saturday morning in the synagogue. And they would say, well, praise the Lord, Paul. Good to hear you. But we'll tell you next week whether we believe you or not. And that whole week, they didn't have a Bible at home, remember? They'd go every day to the synagogue and get the rabbi to open up. Show me this verse, show me this. I want to check what Paul said was right or not. And they'd come back and say, we agree with you Paul now. You know what was the advantage of that? Do you read a letter to the Bereans in the New Testament? Is there any such letter in your Bible? No. Why? Why there were so many letters to correct the Corinthians and to correct the Galatians and to correct all the others, Colossians, everybody else. There were so many wrong teachings. Why no letter to correct the Bereans? Because any preacher, any Tom, Dick and Harry came there. They'd say, hey, we check up the scripture and come back and tell you whether we believe it or not. They didn't need, because they always check everybody with scripture. I wish we had Berean Christians today. You wouldn't, all these false teachings wouldn't flourish. So here's some teaching on, if you taught the Bereans about worship, they'll say, hey, hang on. I want to check whether this is what the Holy Spirit calls praise and worship. I'm not just going to swallow what some church says. I didn't swallow it. I decided to be a Berean Christian long ago. That's how I discovered what worship and spirit was. Okay. Hebrews chapter 10. What is the veil? Hebrews 10, 20. Jesus has made a new and living way for us through the veil. Hebrews 10, 20. And that is his self-will. You heard me explain the flesh. There was a self-will of Jesus that he never yielded to for 33 and a half years. Symbolized in the rending of the veil. It was that self-will of man that prevented man from being entering into God's presence into the most holy place. It is that self-will of man that prevented God, the Holy Spirit, from entering man's spirit. It was rent when Jesus died. When Jesus said, it is finished. What was finished? Punishment for our sins. Yes. A lot more than that. He was tempted in every way that man could be tempted. And every temptation was overcome. It was finished. The will of man was completely destroyed in Jesus' life. It is finished. There's no more place, no temptation that man cannot overcome now. In every temptation, you can do the will of God and deny your own will. There are many wonderful things in scripture. That self-will is destroyed. So if I go to Jesus and say, Lord, I want to live a life where I don't want to do my own will. You'll become a worshipper. You will enter the spirit realm and worship in the spirit. And worship in the spirit, you don't have to use language. You don't have to use your body. You don't have to use even your mind. It's in the spirit. You may use your mind. You can use your words. You can use your body too. You can dance if you like. But it must come from the spirit. If it doesn't come from the spirit, it is mere entertainment. You know how people go away from a time of what they call praise and worship and say, we had a good time. What do you mean we? I thought you were worshipping God. Did he have a good time or did you have a good time? How do you feel when you go away from Sunday? Boy, wasn't today's worship great. We really got excited. You. You were worshipping yourself. It's like going to a rock concert. Oh, didn't we have a good time? A lot of Sunday morning services and no so-called praise and worship is nothing better than that. We had a good time. Boy, the way they led that music. The important thing is, did God have a good time? To many people today, Sunday is the important day. I say in our church, Sunday is not the important day. Some of our brothers and sisters can't sing so well. They're not wealthy enough to have learned music. They are poor. Maybe they don't have musical sense. Many of them can't play musical instruments. So many churches, we don't have musical instruments. Can we still have wonderful worship without musical instruments, with people singing out of tune? How would you feel if you went to a place where people are singing out of tune, no musical instruments, and would you come home and say, boy, God had a wonderful time today. I say the important thing is how those people lived in the six days before they came there on Sunday. That's what God's looking at. That's why I say in our church, the important day is not Sunday, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And if you lived a godly life at home, denied yourself at home and died to yourself, when you're traveling the roads and in your office and uprightness and self-denial, you lived at home in the office, and then you come on Sunday morning and say, Lord, I can't sing two lines straight in tune. God will listen to your worship more than that wonderful, so-called beautiful singers. Because he looks at the heart. Man listens to the outward noise and sound. Do you understand what worship in the spirit is? It's the way you live. It's the way you deny yourself, where you rend the veil, the way of Jesus went. And you enter into the spirit and you give God the glory due unto his name. He's more precious to you than anyone on earth. You've denied yourself and denied yourself, thereby acknowledging that he is Lord in your life. And then if you come on Sunday morning to praise God, what happens on Sunday morning is not worship. It's praise and thanksgiving. See, there are four steps. The first step is prayer, asking God. The second step is praise. Sorry, thanksgiving is the second step. Thanking God for what he's done. Third step is praise. Praising him for who he is. First is asking God. Second is thanking God for what he's done. The third is praising him for who he is. The fourth is worship, where I've yielded my will and I'm not asking him for anything. I'm just in his presence saying, Lord, all that I have is yours. My head is bowed. That's why in the Old Testament, you read of people bowed their head and worshipped. They were yielding everything. They were saying, Lord, I have nothing on earth I'm interested in but you. And when I get to heaven, it's not the golden streets. It's you. Like the Psalmist said in Psalm 73, 25, Whom am I on earth but thee? And there's nothing on heaven I desire beside thee. On earth or in heaven. So when we worship like that, where God is everything to us, true worshipper is one for whom God is everything. His service will be effective. Thou shalt worship and thou shalt serve. There must be a balance in our Christian life of service that flows from worship, that flows from the veil that is rent, the self-will that's denied and from inside, from that worship flows a service. God is seeking for such worshippers. Do you see how a balanced Christianity is so important? A balanced understanding of the Great Commission. A balanced understanding of service. This is so important. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Why did Jesus spend so much time alone in the wilderness? Sometimes he'd get up early morning and go and spend time alone with God. It's the best way to begin your day before you get out of bed, to get into the presence of God. Even if you don't open your mouth, just to worship him without sound and to yield your will to him and say, Lord, this is the way I want to live this whole day. Even if you can't sing properly, it doesn't matter. You can't play any musical instruments, you can be a worshipper. You can be the finest worshipper on earth. Without knowing how to sing any tune straight, without knowing how to play any musical instruments, the Father is seeking for such worshippers. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we bow before you, we pray that you will make every one of us worshippers who want to do everything that you taught, who don't want to have just an intellectual Christianity or an emotional Christianity, but one that pleases you. We know this is not complicated. It's very simple. Help us to live in that simplicity that there is in Christ. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.