In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the state of Christendom today and how the enemy has influenced it. He emphasizes the importance of repentance, which he believes is missing in Christian preaching today. The speaker also discusses the ministry of John the Baptist and how he prepared people for the coming of Christ through repentance. He highlights the need for preparation in our hearts for the coming of Christ and the significance of teaching the principles of the heavenly life to our children.

Praise the Lord. I want to turn to a verse in Mark's Gospel and Chapter 9. Mark Chapter 9. Now, we know that there's been a lot of interest in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, particularly in the last hundred years, in all of Christendom. And if that had been understood aright, and if Christendom had not allowed to lead it astray, we would have seen a different type of Christianity on the earth. It's all a question of understanding why God sent the Holy Spirit to earth. I mean, just like understanding why God sent Jesus to this earth. We know that if people don't understand why Christ was sent to this earth, they'll never experience salvation. But when we understand why Christ came, not only to die for our sins, but to destroy the works of the devil, the Holy Spirit came to earth to bring heaven down to earth. And that's what we read in Mark 9 verse 1. And Jesus was saying to them, truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. And that word power is the same he used in Acts 1.8, where he said that the Holy Spirit would come upon you and you will receive power. So when we see that the mark of a man who's filled with the Holy Spirit is that he manifests the life of heaven in his earthly body. And if he's not doing that, he cannot claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I think it's been a very clever work of the devil to divert the attention of Christians to speaking in tongues or the supernatural gifts, which may be there, but which are not the primary marks of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit all through his life, and he never spoke in tongues. Jesus was filled with the Spirit for 30 years before he ever healed the sick or preached a sermon. But throughout his 33 years, he manifested the life of heaven on earth. When God created man, he said to Adam, you got to rule over the earth. He was made of the dust of the earth, but he was to rule over the earth. He said that in Genesis 1. And that, I look at it like this for us, the way we apply it to ourselves is that the things of earth were not to have power over Adam. He was to rule over it. He was to subdue it. The word was subdue, rule over the earth and subdue it when he created him. And we know that Adam didn't do that. Adam and Eve fell. They were drawn by the things of earth. When Eve reached out to take the knowledge, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, what she was saying was, I want the creative thing more than the creator. And I believe that's what comes to us in temptation, even for Christians. To be truly spiritually minded is to say in every situation, I want the creator more than any creative thing. And I want to ask you, brothers and sisters, to ask yourself whether that is true in all situations in life. If not, I mean, I want to be honest. You've got to consider yourself as a religious person, as a religious Pharisee, speaking the right language, maybe involved in Christian ministry or evangelism. The Pharisees were even involved in missionary work. But if creative things, any creative thing means more to us than the creator, we're not spiritual. There was nothing created that meant more to Jesus than his father. So when Adam failed for 4000 years, no one on earth ever knew how God wanted man to live, till Jesus came along and demonstrated by his life, this is how God wanted Adam to live. I believe the life of Jesus was a manifestation of how God wanted Adam to live. For nothing on earth had any power over him. He walked in a way that pleased the father. It may have offended multitudes of people on earth. It didn't make a difference. And that is the life that God wants all his children to live. That's why he sent the Holy Spirit. So if we don't see that, I mean, I myself never saw it for many years. Because there's so many diversions, there's so many other things to be taken up with in Christianity. We can ease our conscience by doing many things. We can be better than other Christians, and you know, Christian churches are, each claim to be better than the other because they've got some truth which somebody else doesn't have. And a lot of people are speaking about revival and kingdom life and all types of things. But I'm looking for people who manifest a heavenly life. You know, it's like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2, he uses an expression there. He says, the fragrance of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 15. Have you ever thought of that expression? We are a fragrance of Christ. We hear of different companies advertising their perfumes. Here's what we're supposed to demonstrate, the fragrance of Christ. It's like, you know, I mean, if a lady who is heavily perfumed even sits behind us, we immediately get the scent of it. It should be something similar to that when people encounter us and meet with us, even for a short while. When people encounter us anywhere, there should be something of heaven that they smell, the fragrance of Christ, even in a short conversation. And it's not an act that we put on. If we have to put it on when we are in the presence of others, then we are Pharisees. When Jesus said, beware of hypocrisy, he was using a word which, you know, Jesus didn't speak in Greek. He spoke in the Aramaic and the New Testament is written in Greek. It's a simple word that means acting. And what, if you were to literally translate it, what Jesus said was, beware of acting, beware of trying to play a part. Don't ever do it. It's a leaven that can spoil your whole life. And the only way to avoid acting heavenly is to be actually filled with the Holy Spirit. If I'm actually allowed the Holy Spirit to take charge and control of every area of my life, I don't have to act heavenly anymore. There will be the fragrance of Christ in everything. I believe God's will is that he has a people on earth who manifest a heavenly life in the way they live. And if they're married, establish a home which is a little sample of heaven. The people who come into our home can get a taste of what heaven is like. And then people of such homes come together and build a church. And that church is a foretaste of heaven. The people who live in that church and children who grow up in that church taste a little bit of what heaven is like. And in these three areas, in our personal life, and in our home, and in our church, if you're not manifesting the life of heaven, we have a lot to repent of. It's not science. Today we live in a Christendom that's trying to show how successful we are by talking about the number of people who are interested in listening to the gospel, or how big a church is. We have huge mega churches today. I'm not impressed. And that's not important. I believe God's not impressed either. Because if you understand God's nature, he's not looking for numbers. Right from the early pages of scripture, I see one thing that the majority was always wrong. There's a small minority that was right, right through scripture. In the time of Noah, there were only eight people on earth who were right. Everybody else was wrong. When the children of Israel came to the borders of the promised land, there were only two people who were right. Six hundred thousand were wrong. When Jesus was on earth, there was just a small crowd of people who recognized him as the Son of God. Everybody else was wrong in the whole of Israel. And when the Holy Spirit was poured out, out of all the millions of people on earth, everybody was wrong except 120 people. And so I see throughout scripture, large numbers don't mean a thing. It just proves how many people are wrong. And so if people are taken up by that, I see they haven't read their Bibles. And Jesus made that clear when he said the way to life is so narrow that very few people find it. Very few. I'm absolutely convinced of that. Very few are interested, and even fewer really find it, this heavenly life that Jesus spoke about and came to bring. So if we come together this weekend and say, Lord, this is what I want. I want to know why you created man. What was your purpose in making man? And what is your purpose in making the new creation through Christ? I want to understand that in my life, in my home, and in the church I build. You've got to say one more thing, which is the most difficult part. I'm willing to pay any price for it. This is what the rich young ruler was not willing. I think he had a great desire. A lot of people have a lot of desire. They want God's best. He came to Jesus and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And when Jesus went through the conditions, he fulfilled all of them, except when he came to the last one. So that's too much. And he missed it. I don't know where he is today. But if he repented at the last minute, he probably went to heaven. But if he didn't, and he's in hell today, if you were to go and ask him, well, what do you think about it now after 2,000 years in hell? Do you think you've made the right decision there, that you chose your money and your property? Yeah, eternity focuses our vision pretty quickly. And the wisest people on earth are those who don't wait for eternity to get their vision. They don't have a vision focused on what's most important in life. The obedience of faith that the New Testament speaks about is an obedience that comes out of the conviction that everything that God has commanded is for my good. That's faith. Lord, even if I can't understand it, it is for my good. Everything that you've commanded is for my good. I'm going to do it. And all the things that are outside my control... You've got to excuse me. I've been a bit sick these few days. I've just come out for about 50 meetings in the last two, three weeks in Europe, and a lot of change of climate. So I believe God will help me. But I'm very conscious of what Paul says. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. So the Lord makes it more and more clear that however heavenly your life is, it's still in an earthen vessel. It's a humbling thing, but it's a good thing so that people see that the excellency of the power is not ours, but God's. See, it could be one thing in your life that you hold back, and you can miss what God wants for you. Think of that rich young ruler. He had yielded everything except one thing, and because of that, he missed it all. It was as good as his not having any qualification. So the way the life is narrow, and few there be that find it, but the ones who find it are the ones who are wise. They say, Lord, there is absolutely nothing on earth that can compare with what you give in exchange. Paul said, I call everything as rubbish for knowing Christ. He says, it's all rubbish. And what God's asking me to give up is rubbish. If only that rich young ruler could see it. What's God asking me to give up? Some rubbish in order to gain the eternal life of God? Is there any comparison? And yet, if you search your heart, you may find there's something that you hold on to, which is the only reason why the life of heaven is not being manifest through you, or in your home, or in your church. When people talk about caring for the Holy Spirit, if there's caring, the caring is on your side. God's just waiting for you to give up all. There's no delay on God's part. I believe God's eager to fill all of us with his Holy Spirit. I believe that there's no partiality with God. Everything that he did for the apostles, he will do for us. And more than that, everything that he did for Jesus, he'll do for us. When Jesus walked on the earth and manifested the life of heaven, it was as a man. It's very important. I never get tired of speaking about this, because this is what changed my life more than 30 years ago, when I realized that Jesus lived on earth. Though he was God, he never ceased to be God. God can never cease to be God. He accepted worship. The person within was God, there's no doubt. But the body he lived in had all the limitations of our body, could face every temptation that our body faces. And he had deliberately refused to use resources that we don't have access to. You know, he told Peter, if I speak one word, the Father will send 72,000 angels to fight for me right now. He wouldn't do it. I mean, because he knows that we can't do it. I can't speak a word and get 72,000 angels down here right now. And he deliberately chose chose not to use powers that you and I don't have access to. Otherwise, we couldn't be an example for us. See, once I understood this clearly in my heart, I said, if that is true, then it is possible for me to walk as Jesus walked, like it says in 1 John 2.6. There's absolutely no excuse. And this is why the devil tries to hold us back from being convinced that Jesus came just like us. I believe this is one of the secrets of living this heavenly life, to recognize that Jesus lived that heavenly life in a body just like yours and mine, with all the limitations we have, with access to no more resources than we have, and he lived that life. When I understood that, two things happened for me. One, I could never again make an excuse for sin, because there was one man who lived on this earth without sinning. I could never again make an excuse saying, that was too much for me, or I was under a lot of pressure today, and that's why I lost my temper. You know, all the excuses we make for sin, I could never make them again. I couldn't make an excuse for a sinful thought or attitude, or the pressure was too much, or never, because there was one man who walked on this earth with no more resources than I have, who lived free from sin. And the second thing that happened was, I had faith that if there was one man who, with my limitations, who could live that life, then I can live it too. Salvation is by faith, and the Bible says, the righteous will live by faith. And faith is believing, one part of faith is believing that what God did for Jesus, He will do for me. I believe that because the Bible says, there is no partiality with God. Because certainly we all agree that if there was a heavenly life lived on this earth, it was the way Jesus lived on earth. That was undoubtedly a heavenly life. He wasn't the richest man, and he didn't live very long, but boy, he left a fragrance of heaven wherever he went. And I believe it should be our great longing, every one of us, and say, Lord, I want to live that type of life on earth. I want my wife to see the life of heaven in me every day. If you're a married woman, your prayer should be, Lord, I want my husband to see the life of heaven. I want my children to see the life of heaven in me every single day, every single moment. It's not going to be a strain. It's going to be a strain if there's some area of your life that, like the rich young ruler, you're not willing to yield. If you've got some private ambition to be somebody on earth or somebody in the church or something like that, then of course it's going to be a strain. I'm convinced of that. It's a strain for those who've got some private ambition outside the will of God. It's not a strain for those who are willing to be nothing and nobody, so that Christ can be everything. It will not be a strain. It'll be a relaxed, easy type of life. The Bible speaks about entering into the rest of God. I think Jesus' life was a life of perfect rest, without any strain or tension or anxiety. He faced more opposition than any human being will ever face. But there was never a trace of tension or anxiety. You can't imagine Jesus having a nervous breakdown. I don't believe a Christian should have a nervous breakdown. I mean, today people make all types of excuses for their depression, for their breakdowns, and say it's the pressures of life and 101 things. It's as though God is unfaithful. He will allow us to be tested beyond our ability. That's blasphemy. I mean, if I get into depression and have a nervous breakdown, I'm blaspheming God. If I'm a Christian, if I'm not a Christian or if some area of my life is not surrendered, or if I've got private ambitions outside God's will, well, then I deserve to be depressed. I deserve to have a breakdown. But if I'm totally surrendered to the will of God, my prayer is, Lord, thy will be done in my life as it's done in heaven. I don't believe there's any reason for us ever to be depressed or gloomy or to have a breakdown or any such thing. We can live as Jesus lived on earth. And that should be our passion, that we should have a, what a need there is to demonstrate to an ungodly world what the Christian life is really supposed to be. I go around my primary ministries in India. That's where God's called me to live and preach. And I hope to be there all my life, till Jesus comes, I hope. But my great longing is that India will see the real Christ. And I go around that country preaching one thing. I say, India has not rejected Christ. They've rejected the Christ they've seen in Christians. And that Christ, I've also rejected. Because that's not the real Christ, a Christ who loves money, Christian preachers who are only interested in sending reports and photographs of their work here and there to impress people what they're doing and making money for themselves. That's not the Christ of the Bible. That's the Antichrist. And I say, I've rejected that. Even if it labels itself Christ, it's another Jesus. I've nothing to do with it. And that's true in many countries in the world. It's true in the United States. A lot of people are following another Jesus. A Jesus who preaches psychology from the pulpit, who's urging people to empty out their pockets and give them their money. I can't imagine how you could have so many dumb Christians believing that that's the ministry of Jesus Christ. That's a million miles removed from a heavenly life. And we've got to stand against it. Yeah, I don't believe in all these tracts of touch not my anointed. Who's anointed? They're not anointed by God. Anointed men of God will never ask anybody for their money. He'll never threaten people like that. No. So, what the Christ that's being presented by Christendom all over the world is, it's not music. Jesus didn't impress people with musical performances. I don't know how much Jesus could play any instruments. Probably none. But he manifested a heavenly life. That's the thing. We majored on all the wrong things, trying to impress people with the things the world's trying to impress people with. Better music and all that. I want to turn to a verse that's spoken to my heart again recently. Genesis 6, dear brothers and sisters, one of the prayers you must pray is, Lord, help me to have a glimpse of your heart. What are the things you're thinking about? What are the things that make you sad? I think God's not angry with many of his children, but he's very sad with a lot of them. I can't do anything about others, but I can certainly ask the Lord, are you sad with me, Lord? Is there anything in my life that makes you sad? It's a prayer I pray frequently. Is there anything in my life that's making you sad? Genesis 6, verse 6, and the Lord was sorry that he had made a man on this earth, and he was grieved in his heart. Don't read through those words quickly. Read it slowly and try and get a glimpse into God's heart. The Lord was sorry that he made man on this earth, and it grieved him in his heart. Is the Lord sorry that he created you? Is the Lord sorry that you claim to be born again and live the way you live? He's not angry with you. He loves you. But does it grieve him in his heart that the things that are important to him are not important to you? Have you gone the way of the rest of Christendom? I'll tell you something. I've been a Christian now for 50 years. I was born again exactly 50 years ago, and I tell you, it's a constant battle if you want to go against the current and say, Lord, I want to only please you. You'll be more and more misunderstood. You'll be more and more lonely, but you'll be more and more happy, and you will rejoice in the Lord always, but it's a battle. And if you give up that battle sometime and listen to all the Christian psychology being preached from the pulpit, then you may be more popular. You may have an easier life on the earth, but it'll grieve the Lord in his heart that he ever chose you to be his child. I don't want that. To me, that is the most important thing, that I should not grieve the Lord in the way I live or the way I bring up my children or the way I behave towards my wife 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the way I live and act when no believer is watching me, when only the Lord can see me, that there's absolutely nothing. The way I handle money, the way I earn my money, the way I spend my money, that the Lord's not going to be grieved with anything in my life. That every choice and decision I make, I'm not grieving the Lord. This is not a life of strain and tension like the Bible's, like the devil would have you believe. It's a life of rest, and it's a life of peace and happiness and even physical health, if you seek to please the Lord in everything. So, as I was saying, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit's come, the kingdom of God would come with power on this earth. The entire time that God worked with Israel, was a preparation for this age we're living in. I've often said this, if you've heard my messages, that the biggest problem in Christendom, as I've seen it, is they've not understood the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant. It's like, if you folks who live in America, live as though it was pre-1776, or was that the year you got your independence? That if you, some of you imagine you're still under Queen Elizabeth, who was your head. I mean, you'd think that person's completely out of touch with reality. Say, hey, we broke free from the British crown more than 200 years ago, you say. Don't you know that? In India, the British ruled us until about 62 years ago. We've been free from British rule for 62 years. And no sensible man in India wants to go back under British rule today. Just like no sensible man in the United States wants to go back under British rule. But why do Christians want to live in the old covenant? It's absolutely crazy. I think of that story that Jesus said about the man who sowed wheat in his field, and the next morning, or sometime later, his servants said, hey, there are a lot of tares here. How did this happen? And the master said, it's a beautiful expression, an enemy has done this. In Matthew 13. I think when I look at a lot of things in Christendom today, I think of that sentence, an enemy has done this. Keep people tied up under the old covenant. When they're meant to be free. Some marks of, well, the old covenant. Let me turn you to Matthew 3. In Matthew 3, verse 3, the forerunner for the coming of Christ, John the Baptist, the way he prepared people for the coming of Christ, and his ministry is important for one reason. This is how our hearts must be prepared for the coming of Christ into our hearts and lives. There was a need for preparation. And that's why the ministry of John the Baptist is important. And his main message was repentance. He called his baptism, the baptism of repentance. And it's very significant that that's the one message that's missing in Christian preaching today. In evangelistic, evangelistic preaching, repentance. One of the most famous songs in evangelistic meetings is, to God be the glory, great things he had done. So lovely the world that he gave us, his son. And one line in it says, the vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. It's not true. How can you receive a pardon without repenting? Well, somebody says, you know, the word says, truly believes, which includes theologically repentance as well. Well, imagine I'm some wild crook who's come to attend a religious meeting. I don't understand the theological significance of truly believes. I come there and I say, hey, the vilest offender, I'm that who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. You mean I don't have to give up my ways? No, I just believe. The message of John the Baptist has been very cleverly removed. An enemy has done this. Do you see it? Anything that's really going to deal with sin, the devil is very clearly removed from Christendom. He's taken away a gospel centered in God and replaced it with a gospel centered in man, where we're always thinking of making man feel secure and important and loved. And it doesn't help because it produces all the third rate Christians who think God is their servant to serve them and are upset when God doesn't give them what they think they deserve. Have you ever been upset with God because he didn't answer your prayer? Because you thought you deserved it? Don't ever ask God to give you what you deserve because it's hell. Anything better than hell, we get what we don't deserve. So, it's because, you know, we've been nurtured on a gospel. God loves you so much and he wants to do this for you and that for you and the other for you. And we have turned Jesus Christ into this genie in Aladdin's lamp where you rub it and he's there. He says, oh master, what do you want me to do for you? And I want this. I want that. We've got a generation in Christendom that believes in that type of Jesus. That's another Jesus. That's Aladdin's lamp. That's not the gospel. The gospel is, I mean, this is the way I preach the gospel. God created you from the day you were born to live for him and you didn't. You're a thief. Go back in humble repentance and say, Lord, I've been a thief. I'm not doing you a favor when I give my life to you. Are you doing a favor to somebody whose wallet you stole and ten years later you're going to return it? Do you expect him to be eternally grateful to you because you returned his wallet to him after ten years? But that's how a lot of people think, oh God's got to be grateful to me because you know this type of preaching, Jesus knocking at the door of your heart and don't let him keep him outside standing in the rain and all that type of stuff. Let him in. So you let him in so he doesn't get wet in the rain and of course he should be eternally grateful to you. That's a counterfeit gospel. It's a lie. He's not waiting in any rain. He's on the throne of heaven and he's asking the thieves to stop stealing and come back and give their lives to him. And when you do give your life to God, just go back and say you've been a thief. You've stolen what belonged to him for so many years and say, Lord, I'm sorry. I didn't know my life was yours. I don't deserve anything from you. Even if you never answer a single prayer of mine from this day till the day I die, I'll still be grateful. You owe me nothing. You've already given your life for me and given me forgiveness, eternal love. I don't want anything. Even if you don't answer any prayer of mine, my sick child is not healed and dies and a hundred and one other prayers you don't answer, even one of them, Lord, you're a good God because you saved my soul. I don't deserve anything that you've given me all. That's the man who'll live a heavenly life on earth. So John the Baptist, Matthew 3 verse 2, he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For 1500 years, the nation of Israel had lived for a kingdom of earth. That's all God promised them through Moses. You'll have every earthly blessing. I'll give you a land on earth. I'll give you property, prosperity, many children. Your bonds will overflow. Your land will prosper and you'll have rich harvests. Your cattle will multiply. Everything was earthly. Your enemies will run away in seven directions from you. You'll never be in debt. You'll be the most wonderful nation on earth. It's all earthly. You'll be healed. You won't have any sicknesses. And then after 1500 years of that, John the Baptist says, okay, fellas, you've been facing earthly things for 1500 years. Turn around now. That's the meaning of repent. Because now God is offering you something better. The kingdom of heaven. I don't believe most Christians have turned around. And that's where their life is so unsatisfying. They haven't turned around. You know, repent is 180 degrees turning around from every interest in earthly things to seek now only the kingdom of God first and his righteousness. Now, some people say, oh, that's supposed to be for those who quit their jobs and become preachers and missionaries and pastors. No, there's no separate category like that in the New Testament. In the new covenant, there is no separate category of people called full-time ministers of the gospel. That's old covenant. The tribe of Levi who quit their, I mean, who didn't have any possessions on earth and who devoted themselves to the ministry of the temple. There is no such category in the New Testament. I mean, there are different callings, but there is no such thing as everybody supposed to be a full-time witness for Christ. And everybody's got to turn around 100% from earthly things, whether you're a businessman or an apostle, makes no difference. Turn around, your interest must no longer be on the things of earth, but the things of heaven. See, we all would like to live this heavenly life, but you got to begin right. You got to turn around and say, Lord, the things of heaven are now more important to me. The things of earth are only, I mean, I'm going to use the minimum necessary for my life on earth, but it's not going to be primary anymore. Just like the way Jesus lived, he used the things of earth, but it never meant anything to him. Like it's been said, God created people to be loved and things to be used, but the devil reversed that, and we love things and use people. It's a mark of an earthly-minded person. He loves things, and when he meets people, he only thinks of how he can use them for his own benefit. And if you're like that, you love things and you use people, well, no wonder your Christian life's not heavenly. So, you got to listen to John the Baptist's message to repent. Turn around completely. The Israelites lived 1,500 years facing things of earth. Maybe you've spent 20, 30 years or 50 years facing things of earth, and you'll never come into this life until you say, until you repent. Say, I'm going to seek now the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all the earthly things that I need, God will take care of them for me. Jesus never slept on the streets. God took care of him. He never starved. He never had to beg or borrow at any time in his life. And I tell you, a man who lives a heavenly life will never have to beg or borrow at any time. I mean, I've lived 70 years, and I've never borrowed one cent from anybody till today. Because God will teach you whether you have little or much to be content. You're not competing with the Joneses or anybody else. You're not in competition with anybody. You're happy to live with what God gives you. So, if we are willing to accept this way of life that Jesus demonstrated, and I believe in our generation he wants many people to demonstrate, the principles of the kingdom of heaven. You know how in the Old Testament the Lord used to tell his people, Israel, now you must teach this to your children. They must teach it to their children. How important it is for us to teach the principles of this heavenly life to our children. You know, we're living in a generation of children growing up who are utterly worldly, God-fearing Christian homes. Go and watch the type of computer games those children are playing, with demons and all that type of stuff. I've heard of children who spent their growing years playing those type of games whose mind is harassed by dreams of demons for years later on. Who is to blame? The parents, 100 percent, giving such an inheritance to their children to live with for the rest of their lives. Everybody's doing it, they say. That's fine. But we're, God's placed us as parents over children to protect them in the years of their stupidity, so they don't do the stupid things that other people around them do. We have a tremendous responsibility, brothers and sisters. And if you're determined in your heart, Lord, my one passion in life, my one ambition in life is to please you. I believe God will lead anybody into this life. So, think of this expression in 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5, Paul had an ambition. It's good to have ambition. Young people have an ambition. And if you have the right type of ambition, you're okay. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 9, Paul says, we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to the Lord. Now, when he talks about being at home, he says in verse 1 and 2, verse 2, he's talking about our home in heaven. He says, our real home is in heaven. And right now we're absent from our real home. I mean, it's something like, I'm here and this is not my home. This country is not my home. I'm absent from my home right now. I'll be going back to my home after a while. And Paul says, because my home's in India. And Paul says, when I'm on earth, my home's in heaven. I'm just a visitor here. Do you recognize yourself like that? My home's in heaven and I'm only a visitor here. And so he says in verse 9, whether I'm at home in heaven or absent here on this earth, it's the same ambition I have. Now just stop for a moment and think of that. I think most of us read the Bible too quickly and we miss a lot of things. One of the things God's been emphasizing to me is to read the Bible slowly. It's more important for the Bible to go through me than for me to go through the Bible in one year. Sometimes I read a verse and I see a stoplight saying, don't go further. Stop there. And I've stopped and not read anything more that day. And the next day when I continue my Bible reading, there's still a stoplight there. I can't go beyond that verse. And I say, oh, the Lord really wants to speak to me through that verse. So do that. When the Lord tries to speak to you through a verse, stop and think about it. Think about this verse. Whether I'm in heaven or on earth, I have the same ambition. Okay, all of you guys who are here, you've got an ambition, right? Can you honestly say that when you get to heaven, your ambition will be the same? Then you're okay. That when I get to heaven, if the Lord were to come tonight and I go to heaven, there'll be absolutely no change in my ambition. Now, if your ambition is to make money, there's going to be a radical change in ambition when you go to heaven, if you ever get there. Think of Paul said, whether I'm in heaven or on earth, it's the same ambition. It's just like, you know, I move from this room to that room. Nothing changes in my ambition. It's like that. I move from earth to heaven. It's ambition is the same. What is it, Paul? To please the Lord. It's everything in my life, pleasing the Lord. It's the way I live at home, pleasing the Lord. It's the way I use my money, pleasing the Lord. It's the way I speak to people, pleasing the Lord. It's the way I live every day, it's pleasing the Lord. That's how the angels in heaven, they're not bothered what the other angels think about them. They want to please the Lord. That's the ambition of every person in heaven, to please Almighty God. Because, you know, it says there in Revelation 4, thou art worthy, O God, for thou hast created all things, Revelation 4, 11, and for thy pleasure they were created. And for thy pleasure, to please God, that's why we were created. And Paul understood that. And so people in heaven recognize that. And that's why they're so happy. That's why there's such perfect peace and joy in heaven, because they have understood the purpose of their creation. And when you understand it, that you were recreated in Christ, to bring pleasure to God. It's good to examine ourselves. Lord, will there be any change in my ambition? If I were to leave this earth right now, my goal would still be the same. I want to please the Lord. When we hear something like this, we shouldn't let the devil come to us and say, well, that's not possible for you. One of the lies of the devil throughout the centuries and millenniums has been to tell man the commands of God are impossible. It's not possible to live this life. Well, you know, I don't know how many churches teach the Sermon on the Mount as something you've got to live every day on this earthly life, because the devil's convinced them it's not possible. Nobody can live this life. I can show you numerous commands in scripture which Christians have been subconsciously told by the devil, you cannot live this life. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Not possible. Rejoice in the Lord always. Not possible. Be anxious for nothing. Not possible. Let all wrath and anger be put away from you. Not possible. And many, many other things. Thanks be to God who always leads us in his triumph in Christ. Not possible. Most Christians are a bunch of unbelieving believers. The only thing they seem to have faith for is that God will give them better houses and better cars. Well, even that, it's a deception. It's the people who preach those messages who get the better houses and the better cars, not the people who listen to the messages. I'll tell you that. So, I want you to pray a little prayer this weekend. Say, Lord, I want to live a heavenly life. I want to build a heavenly home. And I want to build a heavenly church. That's my ambition. To please you and everything in life on this earth. And remember the last sentence. I'm willing to pay any price. Let's pray. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, you're a good God. You'll never ask us to do anything or for anything that's not for our eternal good. You desire for us far more than we already have. We want to thank you for your word which shows us the life we're supposed to live. The inheritance that the devil succeeded in robbing from so many of our brothers and sisters. Help us, Lord, to demonstrate, not just to preach about it, but to demonstrate in our life and in our homes and in our churches that it's possible to live the life of heaven on this earth. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name, Amen.