“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him.
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son.”[1]
This is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God: “God the Father has a Son. His Name is Jesus Christ. And He is coming soon.” This is the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the Son who came to seek and to save what was lost to God His Father. If we want to understand what is lost, we need to know what God seeks, because God seeks what He desires. Jesus testified that His Father seeks worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”[2] He also said that the Father is seeking glory for Himself: “I am not seeking glory for Myself; but there is One who seeks it and He is the Judge.”[3]
What was lost to God from the beginning is a world where the fullness of God dwells in all Creation and all Creation exists through Him as it lives and prospers out of His Oneness by the glory of His love and by the power of His Spirit and the fullness of the truth of His Word. The world was prepared by God for God, and it belongs to God as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole Earth.[4] It was created in the mind and heart of the One who is the Father, spoken into existence by the Word, who was begotten as the Father’s beloved Son Jesus, and made manifest by the power of the Holy Spirit who hovered over the waters of a formless Earth until God sent forth His word. God the Father, God the Word, and God the Holy Spirit created the world for Their enjoyment and out of Their imaginations and aspirations for life, love and glory. God created the Heavens and the Earth.[5] He created all the creatures on the Earth and in the seas, living things both large and small. When God sent forth His Spirit, they were created.[6] He created man, male and female, to fill the Earth and subdue it.[7] They are His sons and daughters who were He made in Their Image and Likeness, whom God created for His glory, but are the same ones who have rejected His Name and scorned His word.
God lost the perfection He had intended for His Image and Likeness when the first male, Adam, disobeyed His word, causing Him to cast Adam and Eve and their descendants out of the garden from His presence. But His Son, full of love for the Father, came charging from Heaven mighty to save what was lost to His Father’s kingdom. He was the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.[8] The Son of God was sinless because He is the fullness of grace and truth, but He became sin to be God’s sin offering for the world. And it was as the Son of Man that He came to seek what was lost, not as the Son of God. In the NIV, Jesus only acknowledged Himself as the Son of God four separate times in the four gospels and once in Revelation.[9] Compare it to the numerous times He called Himself the Son of Man in the same four gospels. Have you asked the Holy Spirit why that is? Did you pay attention to Jesus’ words in this regard? What was so significant about the truth in John 5.25 that the Father specifically referred to Jesus as the Son of God? Have you learnt to recognise the voice of the Truth speaking the language of Truth? Do you believe Jesus when He said that He is the Resurrection and the Life?[10]
God in the flesh was a form that was recognisable by the Jews as Jesus made His dwelling with them to draw all men back to Himself, so that He may raise them up on the last day in the fullness of eternal life. And eternal life begins now on Earth, as you come to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.[11] Have you ever imagined the pleasure of falling in love with God the Father through His Son Jesus,[12] and maintaining that love for Him as you remain faithful, even to the point of death, to overcome the battles of this age in resurrection triumph? When we were lost to God, we lost our oneness with Him and we became lifeless to Him. He is the God of the living; a living God as all are alive by Him. But Adam chose death when He disobeyed the Father’s command. And we, the church together with the world, continue to perish because we do not repent of disobedience to Jesus’ commands.
As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.[13] Because the Son lives, we also will live.[14] This is the privilege we receive in the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. All who reject the pure, solid stream of the words of Jesus are not in oneness with the Father because they have rejected the narrow path of following Jesus, listening to Him and fellowshipping with the Holy Ghost. They have no life in them. The words Jesus spoke to us are Spirit and they are life.[15] They are the words that the Holy Spirit reminds us daily as He teaches us ALL things and guides us into ALL truth.[16] If Jesus is not in us, we do not have salvation, life and resurrection. Yet there are some of us in the church who still do not believe ALL the words of Jesus because they have confused living or lifestyle with eternal life.
For mankind, disbelief of the sovereignty and disregard of the authority of God’s word began at the time when Adam chose to listen to Eve instead of the Father’s command to refrain from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and of Blessing and Calamity.[17] God’s command ushered in the entrance of death. By the trespass of Adam, death reigned through that man, and we ourselves fill up the measure of the sin of our forefathers when we refuse to believe in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, and refuse to obey and practise all the commands of Jesus under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins.
What is the Father’s command to the disciples of Jesus Christ? It is the one that the Father had commanded Peter, John and James on the Mount of Transfiguration: “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”[18]
But the church, the body of Christ, has turned from listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and from putting ALL of Jesus’ words into practice. How has the church turned, you ask? How has the church failed?
Have the churches confused themselves with synagogues? Why is the Law of Moses preached in churches? Why are the flocks fed teachings that consist of parts of the Levitical Law, mixed in with a few verses of Paul’s teachings, and one or two lines of the commands of Jesus Christ? Should Scriptures be used to support the requirement of tithing? Does this fulfil the standard to which we are called by our Heavenly Father to listen to Jesus? Did God the Father command us to listen to Paul, Moses, James, or the man speaking under the spotlight at the pulpit? Yet we preach the words of Jesus by mixing the new wine with the old. Do you know what covenant you live under? We have adulterated the pure word of God and we wonder why the church is so powerless and weak against its enemies. Unclean spirits run amok among the aisles of the churches and shepherds take hours to drive out one demon. “Fundraising” is a powerless word that replaces the miraculous power of God. The church is called to do so much more than charity work. In general, the church is drained in power and strength because we have failed to listen to Jesus and failed to practise His commands under the New Covenant. Our primary obligation under the New Covenant is to practise and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins.
What is the difference between the church and a motivational speaker or a concert, when we do not practise and preach the words of Jesus? Maybe you would hear the words “Jesus Christ”, “Holy Ghost” and “ten per cent tithe” tossed around a bit? But is that the standard by which we were raised up to preach the Gospel, care for the sheep and prepare the world for the return of the King to reign? Praise be to God that the Father can still draw people to Jesus our Saviour despite our careless treatment of the words of Jesus and His glorious Gospel, which is a razor-sharp sword.
How great is our shame that we, the church, have ignored, deserted and dishonoured the Word of God! We have twisted the Way, the Truth and the Life with our words that reek of the foul odour of death and decay. We have manipulated God’s laws given through Moses into church traditions and rules taught by men. We mixed the obsolete old wine with the new wine, and replaced God’s single perfect command to listen to Jesus with mountains of traditions, rituals, songs and programs. We have trampled on the holy ground of truth and scorned it as if it was dust sticking to our sandals. Out of complacency and ignorance, we have let the fullness of the words of Jesus fall from its rightful place in our hearts to the ground, as if it was a loathsome burden to our flesh. We see the birds of the air come and eat them up, but we lack the knowledge and the wisdom and the miraculous power to defend our inheritance. And the poison of man’s words and the deceitfulness of traditions have caused a bitter root to grow fruits that are neither everlasting nor pleasing to our Father the Gardener. It is the very poison that is destroying the churches today. What is this poison? It is the words of men who do not have in mind the things of God, but of themselves, whether out of ignorance or malice aforethought.
We soil our priceless robes of salvation, which our Lord gives to us without cost, and we exchange Their glory for filthy rags at the handsome price of thirty pieces of silver. Yet in all this, we think that we are dressed in fine clothes and living in kings’ palaces. What is the general attitude of the church? Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry all week, attend church on Sunday mornings, for tomorrow we will go up to Heaven without a single care. Are we ashamed of our loathsome conduct? No, we have no shame at all.[19] We stand at the altar with our tithes and ask God, “How do we rob You?”[20] We blame God when our prayers are not answered, as if our Father is a vending machine. We self-righteously look up to the Heavens as if our rightful place is the throne of God and the Holy Spirit is the footstool of our feet.
Aren’t we robbing God who gave us His one and only begotten Son when we skimp and count a tenth of our net income for tithe? What did Jesus teach the Pharisees who were under the old covenant about tithing? Don’t be lazy – read Matthew 23.23 and Luke 11.42 for yourself. But what does the Father want from the church for His Son? Would the Father be pleased to receive only a tenth of His Son from each of us? Is this good maths? Who among us is causing our Father to declare a loss every year? Does God care for your wages, or does God care about justice for His Jesus? What is your attitude? Do you know what the true tithe is? Are you negotiating a trade with God when you tithe? I was not aware that I should bribe my own Father.
Under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins, what did Jesus command His disciples to tithe? I tell you the truth, Jesus said nothing about tithing ten per cent of your net income. But He did uphold the old covenant, the Levitical Law, for those who remained under it.
We have neglected the more important matters of the law – the double portion of justice, mercy and faithfulness,[21] and the love of God.[22] For the law of tithe for the church is about justice for Jesus, mercy to the Father, and faithfulness to the Holy Spirit. This is what the church can achieve and is meant to achieve when it fully obeys the Father’s single perfect law to listen to Jesus. The true tithe and offering was never meant to be about a tenth of your mint, dill and cummin. It was always about justice for Jesus, mercy to the Father and faithfulness to the Holy Spirit. This is accomplished by our listening to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and by putting Jesus’ commands into practice. The true spirit of tithing is not tallying one tenth of our income and giving it to God so that He is bound to pour out His blessings on you. That is Balaam’s way of worship. Are you a Balaamite in the house of God? Indeed there are many. Therefore, be earnest and repent.
Was it written that Jesus gave God a tithe from the five loaves and two fish that He multiplied,[23] or from the seven loaves and few fish?[24] Rather, did not the Lord give thanks for the word of His Father in the time of Elisha, “They will eat and have some left over”?[25] The disciples had twelve basketfuls left over from the five thousand people who were fed, and seven basketfuls left over from the four thousand people. Or is your heart also hardened that you prefer to tithe cash rather than your ears and heart? When you listen to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you are tithing your time and heart to the Lord. It is not right to substitute the true tithe under the New Covenant for the tithe under the old covenant.
The true spirit of tithing is: “Freely you have received, freely give.”[26] Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”[27] Have you learnt to give as Jesus gives? True tithing is: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”[28] Tithing is not about skimming off a portion to God so that He may bless you. True tithing is the acknowledgement that all the good things we receive come from God. It is a gesture of gratitude and honour, and it has nothing to do with percentages. Tithing, as Jesus gave, is absolute commitment.
Do you give to Jesus as the world gives?[29] Do you know the difference between the economies of the world and of God? I am not saying that money is not useful at a time when we can still buy and sell. Money is useful at this time due to its liquidity. But when we enter into the days of distress which will bring on the mark of the beast,[30] will you be able to multiply your food? Or will you have to sell out for survival? We need to ask ourselves this question everyday as we draw nearer to the day of the arrival of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Is this on your mind at all?
In your time of need, do you practise combining the words of Jesus with the counsel and power of the Holy Spirit to meet your needs, just like Jesus did when He said to Peter, “Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours”?[31] Do you at least try? Why is it more natural to rely on our next pay cheque or help from others rather than miracles? Isn’t there something wrong with this attitude?
So what is the solution for the church? Go back to the Mount of Transfiguration and obey the Father’s singular command to the disciples to listen to Jesus as the priority and exclusivity of all else. The purpose? To prepare yourselves, the church and the world for the arrival of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords! And the desired outcome? Justice for Jesus!
Church: We have been robbing from God each time we do not honour Jesus to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.[32] We say harsh things to our God when we say, “It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out His requirement to listen to His Son and to His Holy Spirit? I already know the Bible, I went to Sunday school!”[33] We sniff at His word contemptuously by saying, “It is defiled. The Bible was written by men!” And we profane it by saying, “What a burden![34] The Bible takes too long to read! I could be watching the game!” The priests do violence to His law and profane His holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the common. They teach that there is no difference between the clean and unclean.[35] But there is an almighty difference between the words of God and words of men. What is holy and clean are the words of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost that proceed directly from Their mouth as recorded in the Bible. Those words reign supreme.
And so we perpetuate the same error since the day of Adam, for we are no better than our forefather. We continue dying since the day we were conceived, instead of fully living in God and God in us by remaining in Jesus and His words. We broke faith with Jesus’ words in John 11.26 because we only live by John 11.25. Are you content to go to Heaven as the goal of your faith? Do you realise that you make a mockery of the fullness of Jesus and His words when you only believe in living after you die, and do not keep His word to live and never see death?[36] Or do you also say, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”[37]
Because of our ignorance and disbelief of the full counsel of the word of God, we let die our desire and dedication in oneness of heart and soul, flesh and strength, mind and spirit, to follow Jesus and His words, listen to His voice alone, and testify about the power of the Truth by putting Jesus’ words into daily practice. By obeying His commands and being lovingly obedient to the Holy Spirit in humility, with the desire to honour God the Father and be in eternal fellowship with Him from this present time on Earth, and to be in constant repentance and forgiveness before His throne of grace. The desire to be in deep fellowship with God through His Word and His Spirit was long lost to us, as it was buried alive by our disobedience, wickedness and rebellion against the sanctity of the Word of God, the sovereignty of God Almighty, the sacrifice of His Son and the precious counselling of the Spirit of Truth. Therefore, repent and live![38] WAKE UP!
Will you read the words of Jesus, not just once, but over and over again until His words are like fire in your heart? Will you also eat them, drink them in, inhale their fragrance, caress and consume them with such urgent zeal that it might match the passion of the One who penned the words into eternity? Will you read His words with the preciousness and affection of a love letter? For we, the church, have forsaken the words of Jesus under the New Covenant because we have not obeyed Jesus’ commands at the standard which meets God’s requirements. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.[39] For Christians, the lack of knowledge of the power of the words of Jesus is destroying us.[40] We do not know the Scriptures or the power of God at the standard to which we are called,[41] nor do we practise the power of God with the same dedication and perseverance as one does for a marathon. We practise and preach tithing more than we practise and preach unceasing repentance and forgiveness. How do I know this? From the reaction of a disbeliever when I preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The first thing she asked me was whether I tithed ten per cent of my income.
Why aren’t the churches known for preaching and practising repentance and forgiveness? Don’t you find this disgraceful? By forsaking the Father’s command to listen to Jesus, the church has fallen from a great height, and we continue to sail off-course from Jesus and His destination for the church. In a presumptuous state of error and lack of repentance, the pastors and leaders, which include teachers of the Levitical Law and Pharisees in today’s churches, have bound on Earth what should be loosed in Heaven, and have loosed on Earth what should be bound in Heaven because they do not know the covenant they live under. The experts of the law have continued to take away the key to knowledge,[42] and have hindered those who are trying to enter into the kingdom of our Father. Do you see the church? It is the shabby boat with a grand name, stuck in the middle of the lake fighting the tempest winds with only a wooden oar, and going nowhere fast because it does not know the command given by God the Father.
What is the key to knowledge for the disciples of Jesus Christ? What is the Father’s sole command to the disciples of Jesus? The command, which has been largely ignored, forgotten, unappreciated, untaught and unpractised, with the repercussions of its disobedience and negligence echoing discordantly and rudely into the highest Heavens, has tested the patience of the Father for the last two thousand years as it has reached God’s throne. This is our Father’s command to the disciples of the New Covenant: “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”[43]
If you did not know the command, then be earnest and repent. If you knew but have not obeyed, be earnest, repent, and forgive one another.
Thanks be to God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. May He be exalted as surely as Jesus is glorified.
[1] John 3.16-18
[2] John 4.24
[3] John 8.50
[4] Numbers 14.21
[5] Isaiah 45.12
[6] Psalm 104.24-30
[7] Genesis 1.28
[8] Revelation 13.8
[9] John 5.25; 10.36; 11.4; Luke 22.70 / Matthew 26.64; Revelation 2.18
[10] John 11.25-26
[11] John 17.3
[12] John 14.21, 23-24
[13] John 5.26
[14] John 14.19
[15] John 6.63
[16] John 14.26, 16.13
[17]Genesis 2.17 AMP
[18] Matthew 17.5; Mark 9.7; Luke 9.35
[19] Jeremiah 8.12
[20] Malachi 3.8
[21] Matthew 23.23
[22] Luke 11.42
[23] Matthew 14.13-21
[24] Matthew 15.29-39
[25] 2 Kings 4.43
[26] Matthew 10.8
[27] Luke 6.38
[28] Matthew 10.37-39
[29] John 14.27
[30] Revelation 13.16-17
[31] Matthew 17.27
[32] Matthew 4.4
[33] Malachi 3.13
[34] Malachi 1.12-13
[35] Ezekiel 22.26
[36] John 8.51
[37] John 6.60
[38] Ezekiel 19.32
[39] Romans 3.23
[40] Hosea 4.6
[41] Matthew 22.29
[42] Luke 11.52
[43] Matthew 17.5; Mark 9.7; Luke 9.35