When false religions were reigning globally, deceiving souls, and when even God’s ordained Old Testament true religion became corrupt and man-centered, 2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ stood on a mountain and threw a spiritual nuclear bomb on this world. This bomb has shattered and continues to shatter all false religions. That bomb is the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon recorded in Matthew 5-7. In these three chapters, he gives the highest summary of the entire Bible and the essence of true religion. This is the true way that will take us to God. No other sermon is like it. You may remember we studied close to 70 sermons in three chapters, verse by verse, for more than a year and a half; they are all there on our website. This is compact theology. This is a spiritual x-ray which not only exposes every self-righteous man but is a nuclear bomb on every false religion and church. It not only shattered the twisted false Jewish religion 2000 years ago but, in every century, has exposed every false religion. It has delivered billions of souls from the deception of false religion and shown them the path to heaven. This sermon played a major role in the Reformation. All the reformers—John Wycliff, Martin Luther, Calvin, and others—when they read this sermon and saw the Roman Catholic religion of their day, the arrogance of the popes and priests, their love for the world and prosperity, and all their teachings and practices, they saw that it was completely against this message. That is how they realized that was not the religion of Jesus Christ but a religion that takes people to hell. This is the gold standard. If you want to know if a church or system is from God or from the devil, you just have to bring it and rub it against this gold. The closer a church or system is to the Sermon on the Mount, the closer it is to heaven.
In our study of Leviticus 10 about the principles of worship, with sincere care for God’s glory and a burden for souls, I was showing how today’s mega-Pentecostal movement is against God’s word. Today, I want to conclude this topic and move on with our Leviticus studies.
I want to do three things. In our office, to present any solution, we will present three things: a current state or problem statement, a solution, and the benefits of that solution.
First: What is the problem with the Pentecostal church? They say, “We are happy and growing. We have such a big crowd. Who are you, a nobody, to us? Leave us alone.” My problem statement is that I see two problems: they are false worshipers, and they are in a false religion that leads to hell. I am nobody, but I say this based on the authority of God’s word.
The first problem is that they are false worshipers. If you heard the four sermons we saw on Leviticus 10, it must be very clear. They fully violate all biblical principles of true worship. We saw three warnings in this chapter. First: the death of Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of the High Priest, showed the seriousness of the regulative principle. Pentecostal worship is completely unregulated and uncontrolled, offering “strange fire” not commanded in scripture. Scripture warns people playing with the worship of the living God that they will face terrible consequences. The second warning, from the funeral of the two sons, is that worship should be God-centered. Pentecostal worship is all man-centered. I explained the terrible temporary and eternal consequences. The third warning of worship is that God should be worshipped with all your mind. If you ignore that, you don’t worship the living God at all but invite demons and are opening your mind and heart to dangerous demonic doctrines. God strictly commands Aaron not to drink, why? Verses 10-11 point to two reasons. Verse 10 says, “that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.” This is so he may have a clear mind, think critically, and have discernment between right and wrong. Why discernment? Remember, only discernment can lead anyone to an accurate knowledge of the truth. He says, Aaron, only when you have discernment will you be able to accurately teach the truth to the children of Israel, as said in verse 11.
So biblical worship, as in Romans 12, is reasonable worship, which renews your mind and gives you the ability to discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. I showed how Pentecostal worship is mindless worship with no discernment. In earlier days, it was mob hysteria with clapping, yes, yes, and emotional tongues ecstasy. Now, a new trend is musical concert hypnotism used to numb all critical thinking, overshadow all thoughtful engagement, create a conducive state to plant seeds in minds without much resistance, and create a culture of blind acceptance with clapping. This worship without discernment never allows them to reach the knowledge of the truth.
Today, I was watching Bethel AG Church. For close to 40 minutes, there was praise and worship with three electric guitarists, drums, one young guy, and one girl. A choir was singing for close to 40 minutes, but what was the deep theological song? Was it a great hymn of faith? One song was “Miracle after miracle, here it comes… get ready for another one, here it comes, here it comes….” Another song: “He broke the chains, he rose the dead; he will again, he will again, again and again and again and again and again.” Is this worship with discernment? It is nothing but autosuggestive, repetitive, hypnotic techniques to create a temporary emotional high and to lull and numb people’s minds, hindering any deeper spiritual grasp of the truth. So we see false worshipers.
The second problem: how can we so boldly say they are in a false religion that leads to hell? On what authority can we speak like this? Can we test every aspect of their system with the gold standard of the Sermon on the Mount? Will they stand the test? Let us see their internal attitudes and external life.
First, Matthew 5:1-10. Read the eight beatitudes. They talk about blessings, blessings. The Lord says what true blessing is. The eight beatitudes are an internal sign of true religion. This is true spirituality the Holy Spirit produces, and these are true signs of a born-again kingdom child. This is a ladder to heaven. If a system doesn’t produce this inside people, it is a devil’s movement. What are those? Let us see three. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Not others. “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.”
The first step to go on the path of heaven is to be poor in spirit. When you hear God’s true message of grace, what he has done for sinners like us, the true work of God in a heart makes you recognize your spiritual poverty and your spiritual need, which makes you poor in spirit. That is the first step on the ladder to heaven. If you take this first, you will be saved.
Pentecostals so twist God’s word that they never allow souls to even take this first step. Their first beatitude is not to be poor in spirit. Oh, “blessed are the rich and healthy.” “God wants you to be rich and healthy, prosperous.” They are appealing to all the felt needs of people. Luke 6:24 says, “Woe to those who are rich.” They completely distort God’s way and means; all their focus is on material wealth.
“Blessed are those who mourn.” This is mourning for sin. The Pentecostal beatitude is, “blessed are those who laugh.” So they never preach about sin or heart examination; they always laugh. They laugh through the whole sermon, telling jokes. Their preachers’ stupidity doesn’t even qualify for comedians. A good sermon, for them, is one that makes you laugh and clap. What do you see them crying for in prayer? God should heal them, make them rich, and bless them. Where do you hear prosperity preachers preaching about sin, calling people to repentance, telling them the horror of sin, and mourning for sin? It is always clapping, joyful, jolly dancing. Next, “Blessed are the meek.” The fruit of being poor in spirit and mourning for sin is that it creates meekness. You can never see meekness in the system. There is no meekness before men. You ask, “Oh, the pastor is so humble… meek?” If you question a preacher about what he said or point out any mistakes, you will see the roughest face and cruel words. There is no meekness before God, as they assertively claim and even command God to bless them. You wonder in prayers whether they are scolding God. They are not even meek before demons; they rebuke evil spirits and curse evil spirits. Peter says even the angel Michael didn’t rebuke Satan with his own power. I can go on with other beatitudes. No hunger and thirst after righteousness but after worldly blessings.
Look at their tone and content of preaching. It is not about being poor in spirit or mourning, but, “I am telling you, you are God’s sons,” meaning small gods, “that God will open the heavens and pour blessings on your head, blessing on your house, career, job,” as if this person is sovereign over God. Critically analyze all the content of their messages. They seem to be taking from the Bible but all out of context. All their principles are not from the Bible; they are from psychological self-motivation, self-help, and marketing books. Emotional anecdotes, incidents, or motivational dialogues. They are not teaching them to be poor in spirit, to mourn, or to be meek. “Just do it.” “Believe in yourself.” “Never give up.” Sermon titles: “stamina,” “persistence,” “success,” “victory.” “Every day is a new opportunity.” “The best is yet to come.” with voice modulation techniques. Before people can think and see where it is in the Bible, they ask them to repeatedly clap and say “Hallelujah.” All these things never create the heavenly traits of the eight beatitudes but the opposite: self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-focus, pride, and self-sufficiency, using God for self-seeking. These are the eight signs of true religion. Externally people can fake them, but internally, this should be there for any true church. They fail here.
What about the external test of the Sermon on the Mount? Matthew 5:13-16. The Lord says if you have these eight internal traits, the world will feel your influence. You will be salt and light of the world. Men will see your good works and glorify God in heaven. Are they salt and light? Are gentiles glorifying God because of the fruits of the Pentecostal movement? Watch YouTube; the name of God and Christ is mocked because of them: their covetousness, their being money-minded, their scandals using the helpless condition of poverty and sickness of people and their felt needs, converting people from other religions, and shamelessly always talking about money. There is more government opposition because of these people. In the name of healing, how many have been killed by not giving proper treatment? How many with sickness have they wounded in the soul by saying they have no faith? As for light, they have completely blinded and confused the world. They have no contribution to biblical clarity. Is this light and salt?
Matthew 5:17-20, Christ talks about the great importance of the law and the prophets, which are the scriptures. He himself said, “I did not come to destroy law but to fulfill.” Verse 18: “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Verse 19: “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” They completely destroyed the authority and sufficiency of the scriptures with their extra revelations, emotional and experiential mindless religion, and regularly teach men to break the commandments of God.
Matthew 5:20: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Heart murder, heart adultery, false oaths, loving enemies. I can keep giving examples. Strong, cursed language against enemies, terrible anger in the heart, interpersonal relationships, but nothing hinders their concert worship. How many sexual scandals come out? How they make false oaths in the name of God, claiming it and speaking their desires into existence. Take their testimonies. Someone verified the truthfulness of 1000 testimonies: 80% of them were half-lies or fully false.
Chapter 6:1: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Verse 2: “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” What do we see here? The whole system runs on publicity and marketing of charity. How much social service they do. “Pastor runs an orphanage, old age home, free school for the poor.” “Donate, donate.” When you go there, you see the terrible condition of those in the orphanage. Highly publicized charity and persuasive fundraising techniques. Should I tell you how they left the true gospel and now invented a false social gospel? So much of a money racket. “How much you gave?” “Your name is announced and praised.” “You are made a leader based on how much you give.” An environment where giving is seen as an investment for personal gain, rather than a purely sacrificial act of worship.
Chapter 6:5-14: Take prayer. Oh, they pray so much, always preach about prayers, prayers of power, faith, persistence, and praying for others. The problem is they never teach how to biblically pray.
Manner of Prayer: What Jesus taught: Verse 5: “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” Verse 6: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” What happens in this religion? Oh, a major activity of their religion is praying all night, 24 hours of praying, 21 days of fasting prayer. All of what? Notice it is a public show. Not only public prayer, but the whole street should hear it. Loud prayers, crowds praying simultaneously. Not just praying, but very long and loud prayers where the person praying is the center of attention. Not just mouth praying; the whole body will be praying. You have seen them raising hands, body shivering, face frowning, tears, speaking in tongues, or emotional outbursts. Oh, they speak roughly in prayers; we wonder whether they are praying to a loving God or scolding God! All is done to be seen by men; it is highly visible and draws people’s attention. Okay, their manner of prayer is against what the Lord taught. What about the matter?
Let’s see the matter. Verse 7: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Verse 8: “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” The core idea is that prayer should be sincere and heartfelt, not a mechanical recitation of words. This is a warning against the pagan belief that repeating words over and over again is what makes the gods hear you. What is all their prayer? Repeating the same phrase over and over in a very loud manner. It is a mindless ritual, devoid of genuine feeling. “Lord, Lord, Lord” over and over. “Hallelujah, Hallelujah.” No heartfelt meaning. Why do they have 24-hour prayer? Because they think they can force God to do something; it is all a vain show. Vain repetition; see their prayers. He says don’t use vain repetition; they use that.
The Lord beautifully taught what to pray. He gave a beautiful sketch of the matter of prayer: the Lord’s prayer. I have never seen this as the content of their prayer. Show me if you do. The first priority is God’s name being hallowed, his kingdom coming, and his will being done. Is that what they always pray? Ah, no. It is always, “give us bread, give us money, give us healing, give us miracles, blessings, give us promotion, give us twins, clear debt.” Then notice; there will not be: “And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” Sin and temptation are never the subjects of their prayers, which is the foundational basis of the Lord’s prayer.
Then fasting: Matthew 6:16: “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” Verses 17-18: “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Oh, all fasting prayers: they put up a big board; the whole world should know they are fasting. Then they come and say, “We are all fasting for 5 and 10 days.” Their face is sad, they are crying. Should we go on? The Lord talks about not laying up treasures on earth and not worrying about what to eat or drink but seeking God’s kingdom first. But all their focus and 24-hour prayer is about eating and drinking.
Chapter 7: Their favorite verse is, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” This is not talking about judging them as false teachers at all, because in the same chapter, verse 15 says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
People, I hope you can see how this is a completely false religion, all against God’s word. I am doing this not to accuse; some may get offended hearing this message. But what breaks my heart about such a religion? See what the Lord says at the end of the sermon; it is heartbreaking. All these millions of people in this external false religion have been induced and deluded into thinking they are Christians every week by false means of music and false preaching. They are made to feel like they are Christians and live with the hope of entering heaven and escaping hell, but they will find at the end that they were terribly wrong.
Verse 21: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Verse 22: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’” Verse 23: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
What a sad shock! Can there be a more direct, exact prophecy than this about the Pentecostal movement? As if the Lord knew the 19th-21st century Pentecostals. “Oh, we are so many.” The Lord says, “Many will say.” They are saying, “Lord, Lord,” with so much emotion, zeal, and screaming, just an outward profession like today. “Oh, we have the power to do miracles, cast out demons, and we prophesy.” “Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” Three times in verse 22: “In Your name, in Your name, in Your name.” You can throw the name of Jesus all you want. You can sing it 50 times in one song. That is what they always do; repetition. See, they think they are Christians, going to heaven, and the proof is in their prophecies, their exorcisms, and their miracles.
He says they are a false religion. Hell is going to be filled with people, sadly, who are involved in this prophesying, exorcising demons, and doing miracles. This is the Lord’s prophecy of what will happen to most of them. The sad thing is that many will go on in this life clueless. Only in the judgment will they realize they are not saved and are going to hell. What deceived them all their lifespan? Oh, they were attending praise and worship and music concerts, thinking they heard this motivational talk and thought they were hearing God’s word.
They claim to be true worshipers because of these things, and music hypnotism blinded them to their real heart condition. They never had true regeneration, never had true faith or repentance, and never had a true relationship with Christ. They are caught up in this activity of the movement. They enjoyed the music, felt the energy, and their lifespan ran out in the middle of the experience. They have a false sense of belonging because they’re reinforced by the group. They come and stand on the final judgment day, where their eternal destiny is sealed.
Look at what the Lord says, “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you.’” It wasn’t that “I once knew you and you slipped.” “I never knew you.” “You were never saved.” “Depart from Me” into hell, “you who practice lawlessness.” “Law” stands for his word; you were never truly regenerated to have a heart to know me and obey my law. Your practice was nothing but lawlessness. You were deluded about your eternal state by false experiences. “I never knew you.” The reality of one’s spiritual condition shows up in one’s behavior in relationship to the law of God. A false profession is lawless. What a sad tragedy!
People always ask, “But Pastor, how can you say, ‘this is not a work of God,’ when so many are involved in it?” See verse 13: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” We are not limiting God. God sometimes can bring revival and save crowds of people. But crowds going in a certain way doesn’t make it God’s way. He says the road that leads to destruction is broad, and many, many will walk on it, while the way to life is narrow. Broad road: no discernment, no right or wrong; it offers what the unregenerate flesh wants and also makes you feel you are a Christian, so many, many walk. Notice the many in the broad road of destruction are the same many in verse 22: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name.'” The same many?
Do you see this is the problem statement? The current state/problem statement.
If any of them are hearing this audio/video, or if any of you are talking to them, and they are convicted of their sin, what should they do?
The only solution: Repent, turn back, and see verses 13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Realize there is only one way to heaven, only one truth, not 101 ways. There are two roads you can walk on in this life. The broad one may seem jolly. They promise it will go to heaven. Many will go in that way in crowds, but it will lead to hell. Narrow is the way of truth; only a few even find it, but that will lead to life. Examine your heart. The reason why such false worship is so attractive to you is because you have never truly repented and are not truly saved.
Oh, there is nothing more important than to examine the state of your own soul before you die. Jesus comes, what will you do when the Lord says, “I never knew you”? You cannot live forever. You must one day die. You cannot avoid the judgment after death. You must stand before the tribunal of Christ. You can escape a summons from the supreme court, but not the court of Christ. The state of your own soul must one day undergo a thorough investigation. It will be found out one day what you are in God’s sight. Your spiritual condition will at length be brought to light before the whole world. Oh, find out what it is now! While you have time, while you have health, find out the state of your soul. Oh, thinking you will go to heaven, you are being deceived. What will you do when you are thrown into eternal, unquenchable hell fire where the worms never die?
You have to repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. Only then will you choose the narrow path that leads to life. Only when you repent of your sins can you turn from the way of destruction and come to the narrow gate that leads to life. The Lord says there are few who find it. Why? The next verse says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” False prophets make it so hard to find the way of life. It is narrow. The solution is that you must repent and enter this narrow way.
Why is it narrow? It is a metaphor. If it is narrow, what does that mean? You cannot come with that mass crowd; it is intensely personal. It is not mass manipulation; you have to personally choose and enter alone. It’s not a group event. You leave the crowd behind, the mass hysteria and rock concert. Stop rushing into the maddening crowd, all your life trying to belong to the group. This is not mass manipulation. For the first time in your life, you stop rushing with the crowd, repent, and obey the Lord.
You have to realize the way of truth is a narrow way; you have to leave all false teaching and believe only what the Bible says. In the broad way, there is plenty of room for diverse doctrine. You can believe just about anything you want. Let’s not judge anyone; let us not argue about doctrines; let us love everyone; accept everyone. No, that’s the broad way. “Sure, just come along. Whatever you say you believe is fine.” But that’s how the broad way works. Not in the narrow way; you have to believe the truth, only the truth. Anything away from the truth is false. 1 John 4:1: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” That is the narrow way. It’s very constricted. What constricts it? The Word of God. We test strictly by God’s word. You have to walk in the narrow way.
So we have seen the problem statement and the solution. Now, the benefits. What are the benefits of the narrow way? Let me show you a cost-benefit analysis.
That is what brings us to our passage in Leviticus 10. I know this series has been negative, but I think there is a wonderful positive in this passage. If you repent of these practices—unbiblical, man-centered, mindless worship—God can show mercy and forgive all your sins. God welcomes you to a true feast.
Come back to the Father’s Feast. A comforting reassurance. Imagine Aaron and his remaining sons; their two sons are dead. Their hearts are broken. They surely must have repented and felt guilty for what they had done. You read what God’s assurance to them was through Moses in verses 12-15.
There is a reassurance, first of all, regarding the grain offering. Verse 12: “And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: ‘Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy.'” Verse 13: “You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.”
He says, “Take the grain offering, the breast, and the thigh.” You can count there are five times we find the emphasis that says, “for it is your due,” “allotted for you,” “prepared for you.” “Come to the table; eat it in the holy place, it is your due. It is your son’s due. It is your portion.” It was their privilege. It was their property. “Grain, breast, thigh, it is perpetually your due to have these portions.”
God had said this is due in chapters 6-7 again and again. Why do you think God reiterated these things at this moment? We see the great compassionate sensitivity and grace of God here. The Lord knows the hearts of all men. The Lord knows your heart today. The Lord knew what was going on in the hearts of Aaron and in the hearts of his sons. They were not arrogant or unrepentant like so many, thinking, “Oh, what wrong did we do? Why should we repent?”
Aaron’s heart is broken in repentance. “Oh, I was such a horrible, undeserving person. I already made a calf and made all of Israel sin against God. But even though I don’t deserve it, he elected me and my family to such a height as High Priest and priests. Now my sons have sinned so shamefully.” We know how much as fathers we feel the behavior of our sons. We blame ourselves. So Aaron must have thought, “By offering strange fire, oh, we have broken God’s strict law of worship where he punishes the 3rd and 4th generations. Now God will surely reject me. We will lose all privileges by that awful sin that had been committed. Maybe the earth will open and hell will swallow us like Dathan and Abiram.” No doubt there was a trembling and an insecurity.
But we see God is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love. And we see that he reassures his sinful servants that their privileges remain as full as ever. With this reassurance, God, as it were, wipes their invisible tears and heals their emotional wounds with continuing love and friendship.
See, if you may have been caught up in this movement for many years, doing wrong things and going with the crowd, if you repent and come back to God, he will shower such true gospel blessings and make you enjoy a true feast! Oh, false worshipers, you have no idea of the Father’s feast. He says, “Take the grain offering, the breast, and the thigh; it is prepared for you.” Remember, all this points to gospel blessings in Christ. Christ is the true bread of life. The breast is his eternal love. The thigh is his strength. You feast on that. I welcome you to gospel blessings.
Let me tell you, those people saying, “We are enjoying…” you don’t know anything of true kingdom joys. All their joy is an animal tingling of the senses, feeling emotions, and music concert highs. They really don’t know what a true soul feast of God’s house is.
When his truth is understood with a discerning mind, that truth doesn’t only touch the senses and make you feel “kundalini senses,” but the truth pierces through the deepest heart and conscience and transforms your soul. It meets the deepest needs. “Abba, Abba.” What joy! We are enjoying it every week. I see when I wish each of you, “Oh, what joy,” and you go home with a beautiful joy. So satisfied that your soul is fattened with the feast of God!
Some of the most eager, active, sacrificial, and committed members are people who come out of Pentecostalism, right? Not people who have always been here. They kind of don’t realize the value. But people, when they come out of that toxic, truthless, barren world, oh, they find an ocean of truth. There is no limit to their joy in learning the truth. On one side, there is great pain for so many years wasted, but on another side, there is so much joy in knowing these precious truths. They know the value of truths more than older people.
The mountain peak of joy of being an elect of God. The joy of forgiveness of all past, present, and future sins; nothing in the world is comparable. The complete atonement, the joy of standing as justified before God. To feel the peace of God beyond all understanding, “oh nimadhi,” no loneliness. Nowhere else in the world. The joy of being adopted by God. The assurance that the Father will meet all my needs. I don’t have to bribe any pastor. Eternal life removes the fear of death.
All this you cannot enjoy in that false religion. It comes through the cross of Christ and the heavenly ministry of Christ. That is why God invited Aaron for the Old Testament rituals. Today, we can enjoy the fulfillment of all by faith in Jesus Christ. All these outward music and outward shows completely quench the spirit of faith and never allow us to enjoy.
Sadly, people in that movement absolutely don’t know what they are missing. By offering strange fire, they are missing all of God’s feast, the feast of true worship, the feast of truth, and the blessings that come from the truth. They have been eating all unsound, unhealthy, poisonous food. Here God says, “Come to the feast.”
Just like God says to Aaron, “When you have repented of the false worship of your sons, and continued my worship, I know you are crying inside, but I invite you to come to my feast. I want to give you a reassurance of the feast. I want to give you my ministry and my blessing service!” Remember this is exactly what the Lord Jesus did to Peter. He had three traitorous denials. He repents and weeps bitterly. And you know how the Lord restores him in John chapter 21. He sees the Lord Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee while he is out fishing. He jumps into the water and he swims all the way to the beach. And no doubt the Lord saw from afar that his conscience was still smarting with guilt. The Lord knew that Peter was still suffering from an insecurity about his own love and about his own acceptance. And you know what was the first thing that Jesus said as Peter had just brought this net of fish up onto the beach, standing before the Lord Jesus. Jesus said in John 21:12, “Come and have breakfast with me.” Peter wondered if he still had any affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ invited him to a meal. And so too, just as Aaron had been given the reassurance, “the cereal offering, the grain offering is yet for you.”
Welcome to my feast. And when the meal of friendship was finished, we see Jesus reassures Peter of his love by giving him an opportunity three times to reconfirm his allegiance. “Do you love me, Peter?” “Lord, you know that I love you.” “Do you love me, Peter?” “Do you love me, Peter?” “Then go off and feed my sheep.” Brethren, we see in passages both Old and New Testament that our Lord does not want His people, whose consciences have been freshly split open by their sin, to be anxious and in doubt about His undying love.
Could it be that some Pentecostal brother or sister is hearing our message? Convicted and asking, “Will God accept me? I have done this wrong, man-centered, mindless worship for so many years.” Let me tell you, God still loves you if you repent and come. Just like the father ran and came and hugged the prodigal, He will shower His love. And let me tell you, if you start walking in the path of truth, you will find so much light and love. You will feel like you are feasting on God’s treasures.
Here, in this way, God says He welcomes you to His feast. “Oh, pastor, what about my problems?” Come, feed on the breast and thigh. The breast is the heart of Christ. God will fill you with such a sense of love; you will rejoice. “But what about my needs? I am a pastor in that church; I am a deacon; I am benefiting; they are giving me rice, money, and other things.” Feed on the thigh of Christ, the power of God. God is able to provide for all your needs. If you seek His kingdom and righteousness, I will tell you God will bless you ten times more. They are the ones who are keeping you in a cursed state.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 