What It Really Means To Worship God — Zac Poonen

Babylon and Jerusalem: Religious and Spiritual Christianity

The end of the Bible we find these two systems that you've heard of many times Babylon and Jerusalem. And if you turn there for a moment this is how God's work with us concludes. Every person who calls himself a Christian he's either going to end up in Babylon or in Jerusalem.

Babylon does not refer to non-christians because Babylon is called a harlot. In Revelation 17 and verse 5 Babylon the mother of harlots. And in Revelation 21 Jerusalem is called a bride. It's only those who profess that Christ is their bridegroom who claim to be the bride.

No non-christian says that Christ is my head or my bridegroom or my Savior so they're not the bride. So they cannot be the harlot either. It's only a person who's engaged to somebody and then plays the fool with other men who becomes a harlot.

So what if you're not even engaged to Christ at all he's not your bridegroom. You can't be a harlot to Christ. Impossible. So it's very important to understand who is going to end up in Babylon. And Babylon is described in chapter 17 and 18 is something very much connected with money and earthly goods etc things like that.

And I believe there's a two systems that go right through the Bible that began right at the beginning. So when we in our church we concentrate on being free from sin and it's possible to be free from what we know to be sin.

And yet I believe end up in Babylon. And I'll tell you why if you turn with me to Genesis in chapter 4 this is where the two streams began. In Genesis 4 we read about Cain and Abel and from them started two streams that finally end up in the last book of the Bible in Babylon and Jerusalem.

And the principle is the same. See when you come to the end of the Bible and you read about Babylon. Babylon is not a irreligious atheistic group it's it's very religious but it's destroyed by God whereas Jerusalem is what I call spiritual.

And we need to distinguish between what is religious and what is spiritual. So in Genesis 4 we read about Cain and Abel bringing an offering to the Lord. And then we see Cain was not an atheist he was not a worshipper of idols or some other God.

Cain and Abel brought an offering to the Lord. It says in Genesis 4 and verse 3 Cain brought an offering to Jehovah to the true God and Abel also brought an offering but the Lord verse 4 had regard for Abel and for his offering.

Notice that it's a mistake a lot of people make particularly if you've gone to Bible schools who think that Abel was accepted because he brought a blood sacrifice and Cain did not bring a blood sacrifice.

But it says here the Lord had regard for Abel and then for his offering. See how carelessly Christians can read it almost everywhere. I've heard in other churches when people about this they say that the Lord had regard for Abel's offering and therefore he accepted Abel.

That means he offered blood. Therefore he accepted Abel because Cain brought of the fruit of the ground verse 3 and Abel brought a sheep. But it's very clear in Scripture the Lord had regard for Abel and therefore for his offering.

And the reason why the Lord rejected Cain was the Lord had no regard for Cain verse 5 and therefore for his offering he had no regard. So in other words it was the person more than the offering that the Lord rejected first.

And when the Lord rejects the person he rejects the offering. You know Jesus also taught that that you can come with your offering to the Lord. And there you remember that somebody's got something against you.

You got upset with somebody. You lost your temper at someone. This in Genesis 5 verse 22 to 25 and you did not settle it. You did not go and apologize to him. You did not ask his forgiveness. And you come and offer to the Lord whatever offering it is you offer a prayer to God.

Reconciliation Before Religious Offering

Jesus said don't offer it. Leave your offering there because God hasn't accepted you. So there's a case of a person supposing he ignores that command in Matthew 5. What did I say. Genesis. No Matthew 5 verse 22 to 25 supposing a person ignores that command and comes with this prayer he's wasting his time because God's not gonna accept him.

I believe there are lots of people who pray and God does not accept their prayer because there's something they are not settled with somebody whom they were hurt or they cheated or harmed or some way.

And Jesus said it so clearly leave your offering there. Whatever offering it is your prayer will not be accepted. There are multitudes and multitudes of prayers that Christians pray that never go beyond the roof.

God never listens to it because there's something unsettled in their life. So it's the Lord had regard for Abel. That's why he accepted his offering. So whatever when our offering is we often think of money only.

But even a prayer is an offering. If you pray God doesn't even listen to it if he doesn't regard you. So it's very important to understand why God regarded Abel and he did not regard Cain. So it says here that I see one difference Cain brought an offering whereas Abel brought the very best of his flock.

So you can bring an offering or you can bring the best. And I think Abel also symbolically when he laid the lamp upon the altar he was saying I give myself here completely to you like this lamb. Because that's what was symbolized in in the later on in the temple when a person laid his hand on the offering that he was offering up to God.

So here was a person who was giving himself completely and here it was a person who gave an offering. It's not a question of sin here. So that's why I said you know we can concentrate on just sin. Okay we avoid sin and we think we're okay.

But you know it's possible for two people to really be free from conscious sin in their life as far as they know they can sit in the same church and be happy that I'm not aware of any sin in my life. Good.

But yet the offering you bring to the Lord may be an offering. And another person sitting in the church maybe one who brings the very best that he has. And there's a lot of difference between the two even though both are not aware of any sin in their life.

So it's not just a matter of being free from sin. Jesus when he came to earth it was not just that he did not sin every day of his life he offered himself completely to the father. There was nothing he withheld from his father and that's why the father accepted him.

It was not just that I don't sin. I mentioned that because we emphasize sin so much in the church and that's important. But what I'm trying to say is it's more than that. Babylon is the principle is a system that emphasizes the principle of the business world and that's very different from the Christian world.

The Sacred and the Secular in Zechariah

If you turn to a verse that I don't think most you've probably even noticed in the book of Zechariah let me show you that it often comes to my mind this verse in Zechariah and chapter. It's the last verse of Zechariah see the last two three chapters of Zechariah referred to the last days when there'll be a battle around Jerusalem etc.

Referring to the last days Zechariah 14 to I'll gather the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the Lord will go forth and fight against the nation's. Verse 3 that's referring to his coming second time.

Verse 4 in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives it's referring to Christ coming back. And verse 9 the Lord of that day be king over all the earth. But when that day happens and the pure kingdom of God is established on earth it says here in that day symbolically the verse 20 even the bells of the horses will have holy to the Lord written on it.

In the Old Testament holy to the Lord was written on the forehead of the priest the high priest. But here it says even the horses are going to bells horses whatever it means symbolically. And the cooking pots in the Lord's house will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar.

So what I'm in practical terms what that means is there will be no difference between the sacred and the secular in that day. Today we called certain things sacred and certain things are secular. For many Christians there is a division in their life between what is sacred and what is secular what is related to religious work Christian work and being upright and all those things.

And in the secular work many of them are not so careful to be upright. But in that day everything will be holy to the Lord. There'll be no difference between the sacred and the secular even in comes. Even in Ezekiel saying in the final day it won't be just one small little compartment that's called the most holy place.

The whole area will be called most holy. Ezekiel 43. But here it says another thing in verse 21 the last sentence they'll no longer be in the margin of my Bibles a merchant or a businessman in the house of the Lord in that in that day.

In that day there would be nobody in God's house who's a businessman. The businessman means spiritually speaking one. You see the business. The principle of business is earn as much as as much profit as you can for yourself spending as little as possible.

And that's how every business operates. Expenditure to the minimum profit to the maximum. That's the principle of business. But there'll be no businessman in the house of the Lord in that day. Then then maybe nobody who comes to the Lord's house to get any profit for himself.

All those people will be eliminated. That's Babylon. Babylon is a system where you see like Cain what is the minimum I have to give to the Lord what I can keep for myself. That's business. But there won't be any businessman in the Lord's house in the final day.

Very important to remember that it's so this has got nothing to do with sin. It's got to do with an attitude of how we give ourselves to the Lord. What is my attitude to do. I feel that there's nothing I want to withhold from from Jesus.

Everything is for him. There are people who are free from conscious sin as I said but who still hold back when they in their giving to the Lord like Cain there they give to the Lord. Sure and they may be free from conscious sin but it's not the best many years ago and say the Lord showed me something.

This is I'm going back 55 years when I was just baptized. There's a verse that the Lord showed me in 2nd Chronicles and chapter 3 which I've never forgotten. We taught me a very important principle of the Lord's work because that was around the time I was thinking of quitting my job to serve the Lord.

And the Lord pointed me to this verse in 2nd Chronicles in chapter 3 where we read like this. Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Now the exact spot in Jerusalem where the house was built the temple is described as Mount Moriah number one.

And secondly in Mount Moriah the particular place which is a threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite where the Lord appeared to David his father. Now why is that mentioned here. Why isn't it just mentioned Jerusalem.

It was not Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a big city but it is a particular spot in Jerusalem which even today they call the Temple of the Mount. And that particular spot is where the Lord said that is where you must build the temple not anywhere in Jerusalem it must be in the place.

David and the Cost of Worship

And Mount Moriah you know is the place where Abraham offered Isaac and that was thousand years earlier 1 ,000 years earlier when Abraham offered Isaac on the altar proving to God that that was he was everything to him like he came like Abel and said Lord you can have everything and Isaac is everything to me.

I can give you 10 ,000 sheep and it'll cost me nothing. But when I give Isaac I give everything. And that spot the Lord said that's the spot where my temple is going to be built. My house is going to be built with people who have that spirit who hold back nothing like like Abel held back nothing.

And it's called the place of where David offered offering in the threshing floor of Oran of Jebusite. And if you don't remember that incident that we pointed out to you in 2nd Samuel 24 I remember this so vividly because it's way back in 1962 or 61 I was baptized in 61 around that time 1961 -62 the Lord pointed out this to me and I've never forgotten it all these years because it is very important and significant to me.

You know in 2nd Samuel 24 we read of a time when David make the mistake of counting taking a census of the people and that was wrong in God's eyes because the Lord he was probably boasting and how many people he was king over or measuring the size of his army which indicated he was trusting in the numbers in his army and not in the Lord.

And in that sense it was a sin of not trusting in the Lord. And so they were punished and a lot of people were killed. We read here in 2nd Samuel 24 and verse 15 that God punished them with 70 ,000 people were killed that day.

And then the judgment is going to go further and and then David prayed and the Lord stopped it. And then the Prophet came to David in verse 18 and said go and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor or on of the Gemini notices that's what we read in 2nd Chronicles 3 the same place where the temple was built.

You got to understand this whenever you read something in scripture like we read in 2nd Chronicles 3 you must trace back just telling you a simple principle of Bible study don't just read it and move on.

You read their Mount Moriah. Then you go back to scripture and say what happened on Mount Moriah. Why did the Lord choose this place to build his house. Or you read about the threshing floor of around on the Gemini site.

You go back and say what happened there. Why did God choose this particular place. And if you if the Lord sees that you are eager to study the scriptures to find out you will get a revelation that lazy Bible readers will never get.

And most Christians are lazy Bible readers. They read the Bible to ease their conscience but they never take pains to find out why is it like this. And so I'm trying to show you why the Lord chose that particular spot to build this temple.

Because it has got an application for us today. The church is the house of the Lord today. So here we read that David came to this threshing floor and he was going to want to build an altar there and around.

I was just one of his servants in Israel. David was the king and around us saw David coming in verse 20 and bowed down to him and said why have you come to my humble home. And the Lord's. And David said because the Lord has told me to come here.

And I've come here verse 21 to buy your threshing floor from you because I want to build an altar here for the Lord to stop this plague and around like a true subject of David. The king said Oh Lord you don't have to buy anything from me.

Take it please take it freely. It's yours here take these oxen which I have you can take them freely. And the and the wooden yokes that on top of the oxen you can use that to burn though as wood everything is free.

Take it now you know how all of us love to get something free even if we don't need it. You pick it pick it up if it's free that's our nature and every one of us without exception. And he was offered something free.

And David said no. And you have to see why. He said no. He said if I take something free from you and give it to the Lord it's cost me nothing. What did it cost me. Even though I kept the word of the Lord to do it in your threshing floor it didn't cost me anything.

And he said no I will pay for it because first 24 very important words. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord which cost me nothing. That is the phrase which the Lord impressed on my heart way back soon after his baptism is one of the first words that I heard from the Lord to my heart from Scripture I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.

It's not talking about sin here. It's talking about sacrifice. The issue in the case of Cain and Abel was not sin. It was a question of what they sacrificed what they gave. And for many of us my brothers and sisters if the issue may not be sin it's a question of how much you sacrifice.

How much of sacrifice is there in your life. Which has got a different answer to how much sin there is in your life you may be free from sin. There are many people I know are free from conscious sin but whose life there's very little sacrifice.

They give an offering to the Lord but it is an offering whereas when Abel gave he gave the very best. So when David had the same attitude he said I will never offer to God that which cost me nothing. And the way the Lord spoke that to my heart those many years ago more than 50 years ago was all your life.

The Lord said to me you must never offer to me that which has cost you nothing. And I said Lord please help me. I want to keep that all my life that I will never in my life offer anything to you that cost me nothing.

And I'm not talking only about money. You know in terms of convenience health and many many sacrifices not just money. There could be many many other ways in which when we give something to the Lord when we serve the Lord when we live for him we can do the minimum necessary you know to keep a good conscience.

You don't need to do very much. You don't have to sacrifice much to keep a good conscience. If I'm only interested in keeping a good conscience I can give a little to the Lord and get away with it. But if I want the Lord to be pleased with me the principle is here.

What are you offering to the Lord anyway. And that is the same thing which was true in Abraham's time. We know we noticed from 2nd Chronicles 3 the same spot is on Mount Moriah. And Mount Moriah was where God had told Abraham to offer up his son in Genesis 22.

Abraham’s Call to Leave Everything

When Abraham it's interesting how the Lord's where and when the Lord spoke to Abraham. Genesis 22. Now this remember if you see the timeline this is about 50 years after God called Abraham first. Abraham was about a 75 years old when that he called him out of Ur of the Chaldees and the Lord told him give up your family give up everything here.

He was 75 years old living a retired life in Ur of the Chaldees probably had built his house and settled down decided to settle down there. And then one day the Lord says quit all this and leave. And he could have said very well Lord I've just settled down here.

I just retired and settled built my house and lived here. You want me to leave now. Yeah leave everything leave your family and come where I'll show you. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going to take you but there's a land I will show you.

I've often thought of Abraham had said at that time Lord I live for you here. You know what God would have said. Is it sure Abraham. I won't trouble you stay here. And he would have looked for somebody else.

God's work will not be hindered because one man disobeys. No his work will still be done. If one man doesn't respond you'll find somebody else. And I believe God would have found somebody else in Ur of the Chaldees or wherever and told that person.

And you'd never have heard of Abraham at all in your life. Somebody else would have been the father of Israel so that the times in our life where God calls us and you can miss something. And if Abraham had missed it there he had missed it for life.

I don't have been a tragedy. But he responded and said yes. And because of that though he struggled a lot he had to give up his comfortable retired life. And initially you read that he didn't take his.

He didn't obey the Lord fully to leave his father behind. He took his father along. I don't know whether you know that passage. Turn with me to Genesis in chapter 11 first it says first of all in Genesis 12 verse 1 the Lord had said to Abraham go forth from your country from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I'll show you not only give up your home but give up your relatives go come with me alone.

And you know he didn't go the Lord alone. It says here that Abraham Neher it says verse 31 of chapter 11. Tara that's Abraham's father took Abraham his son and lot the son of Aaron his grandson and Sarah's daughter-in-law and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldees.

Now that was completely wrong because God had told him to give up his father and come. He was not supposed to take a lot with him either. He had a lot of problems because he disobeyed the Lord in that small thing.

He had problems with lot he had problems with his father just because he did not obey the Lord in one simple thing the Lord said leave your father leave your relatives and come with me. It's very clear in Genesis 12 verse 1 the Lord had said that to Abraham but he allowed his dad.

You know sometimes we can love our relatives so much that we allow them to influence us in things when the Lord is calling us some other direction. Our dads can have ambitions for us which are outside the will of God for us.

My dad had an ambition for me when I joined the Navy. He wanted me to go to the top and but when the Lord called me I said that's it. I didn't even consult my dad. I said I'm quitting. I informed him later but I discovered that if I want to follow Jesus I must not allow any of my relatives or anyone to come between me and what the Lord is calling me.

The thing is you can miss something. I'm not saying that you'll go to hell but to tell you quite honestly I'm not just interested in going to heaven. This is the honest truth. I can say that before God.

I'm not interested in going to heaven. I'm interested in fulfilling God's will here before I go. That's much more important for me not somehow scrape it into heaven. I don't. I want the Lord to say to me well done good and faithful servant when I see him and not.

Oh well you managed to get here. Is it not that. That's not what I want to hear. I hope all of you want to hear the Lord say to you well done good and faithful servant. So Abraham made that mistake. And so as you know he had a lot of problem with a but what does he do with his father.

You know God couldn't do anything for Abraham. So finally God killed his father. You read there in Genesis 11 32 Tara died. And then Abraham verse chapter 12 was for went forth after his father died. So it doesn't happen.

One way he'll do it another way he's still separate you from your relatives. And that's what he did. He knew that God knew that I can do nothing with this man Abraham till I separate him from his father.

He wouldn't do it himself and I have to do it for him. And God killed his father. That was it. And then they moved on. So we read finally 50 years after that when Abraham is 125 years old Genesis 22 verse 1 God tests Abraham.

When does God stop testing us. 50 years after you're converted. And God gonna test you sure he tested Abraham about 50 years after he was first chosen from who are the Caldes. And God tested Abraham Genesis 22 1.

And he called him Abraham and he said here I am now take your son. And you know this was in the middle of the night. Here was Sarah was sleeping somewhere and Abraham was sleeping. And God called Abraham.

And Abraham comes out and says what is it Lord. Very often God may say something to you but he doesn't want your wife to know because your wife may not be willing to do what God's telling you to do. And so we know it was at night because we read in the next verse verse 3 Abraham rose early in the morning saddled his donkey and took his two young men.

What the Lord told Abraham was in verse 2 was take your son whom you love. Why does he mention whom you love. He emphasizes that I know you love him. I believe that Isaac probably around 25 years old at this time had virtually become an idol for Abraham.

If you get a son when you're a hundred years old it's almost certainly be your idol if he's your only son. And he had to drive away his other son which was born through Hagar. Now he's left only with Isaac and the Lord emphasizes I know this is the son whom you love and I believe the meaning is you love in an idolatrous way.

He's more important to you than me there way back 50 years earlier it was his father who was important. Now it is his son and God wants God detached him from his father by killing his son killing his father.

And now God says I'll detach you from your son by killing your son. God's very jealous. There's a verse in James 4 which says he's jealous for our spirit. What that means is God is just like a husband who doesn't want his wife to have an interest in anybody else just me.

It's called a godly jealousy. Paul calls it a godly jealousy in 2nd Corinthians 11. Verse 3 2 3 says I'm jealous for you. With a godly jealousy it's the same we read in James 4 4 5 6 that the Spirit of God is jealous for our spirit.

So God was jealous for Abraham that he wanted to possess him exclusively and I mean those are the ones who allow God to possess them exclusively that become part of Jerusalem and not Babylon. So he said that's why he emphasized this son whom you love take him and put him as a burnt offering on the mountain which I tell you now there were many mountains around there and the Lord could have told him to take a mountain nearby but no he told him to take him to a mountain which is verse 4 says on the third day Abraham reached there three days journey to that place where he had to offer his son.

Why I learned something else there from these little things in Scripture. If you meditate on Scripture you learn something and that is that God doesn't force you to just suddenly take a decision without thinking about it.

You know Jesus said sit down and count the cost. When he talked about discipleship sit down and count the cost. In my meetings I never tell people stand up and come forward. I said sit down and count the cost and come back and tell me one week two weeks later whether you want to make a decision or not.

Because a lot of these decisions which are taken I mean this is my conviction which are taken by evangelists who say come on stand up now and come forward and sign the decision card. Those guys haven't counted the cost.

I remember of visiting a place in India where some big evangelist from the United States had come and had meetings and hundreds of people were signed decision cards and come forward and all that. And I knew the person who was appointed to do the follow-up of all these decision cards.

And he told me after a number of months going around visiting all these people that hardly any of them were following the Lord. And I learned something about all these people who signed decision cards and come forward and make decision so-called decisions for Christ.

And he said people came forward with all types of reasons that he asked them why did he go forward that day. One of them said I want to have a closer look at the evangelist. He was far away from him so and he said they come forward.

What do they. What do they lose by signing a decision card. Nothing. And in India and all in the poor places they may think I'm gonna get some benefit if they got my address perhaps they'll send me some money.

So it's a deception. So Jesus said sit down don't stand up sit down and count the cost whether you want to be a disciple or not. And you don't have to decide today take one month to decide or one year but count the cost and then decide.

And this is what it why God told Abraham you take three days to think about it and decide whether you want to pay this price or not. Do you want to pay the price. And Abraham had three days to think about it as he walked out.

Remember he's gonna kill his son. He knows in three days I won't see the Sun anymore. Is it worth it serving such a God. That was a question in his mind. Is it worth it serving such a God who's already taken me away from my relatives and my father and even a lot has been separated from me.

And now he's going to take away my son. And at the end of three days when he walks up Mount Moriah he has decided it is worth it. It's worth serving a God who demands from me everything I have including my father and my son and everybody else.

Worship Means Offering Everything to God

And you know what he calls it this action. Very important very interesting to see what Abraham calls this action of offering up the most precious thing he had on earth. In fact everything. When he reached the mountain he told the young men verse 5 who were with him.

You all stay here with the donkey. I and my son will go up there and we will worship. He was gonna have a worship meeting there. That's the first time in Scripture the word worship comes. I believe there's a thing called the law of first mention in Scripture the first time the word faith comes.

Genesis 15. Very interesting. The first time the word worship comes. The first time the word phrase fear of God comes. Worship is not singing songs. It's not raising hands and getting excited emotionally.

Abraham was not going up there and I sing songs to God. No. I'm absolutely convinced that the vast majority of believers today don't have a clue what real worship is. They have an understanding of what the old covenant in the Psalms calls worship.

You know bang the timbrel and break the drums and sound the trumpet and clap your hands and okay. Okay. But new covenant worship. I'm convinced that the vast majority of Christians do not know what it means.

And I myself did not know what it meant for many years till I did one thing and I can encourage you to do it. I took a concordance. The concordance is a book in case you don't know what it is where every time a word it's like a dictionary but it's not listing meanings.

It's a list of where all a particular word occurs in the Bible. You know if you go to faith and show you all the references from Genesis to Revelation where faith comes or grace. So I wanted to look up the word worship where all in the Bible does the word worship come.

Then I could distinguish between Old Testament worship and New Testament worship. Yeah there's Old Testament worship. Most of 99 of what goes on in Christian today's churches today is Old Testament worship.

Just like 99 of Christians are living in old covenant religion defeated by sin. And no sin has dominion has dominion over them. And when I studied what the New Testament spoke about worship now they're not my opinion.

We all of us have gotten our own understanding of what certain words mean. For example you could sometimes think that a an English word means something particularly a word that you've never heard before.

I remember once hearing an English word called serendipity. Have you heard the word serendipity. And I thought I knew what it meant. It didn't mean what I thought. And I had to go to a dictionary to discover what does serendipity mean.

It doesn't come in normal English conversation or schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is a German word. It's an English. What does it mean. It's like that I really believe for many people you need to understand what worship means.

So I went to the dictionary and discovered the meaning. So I took a concordance sentence where all does worship occur in the New Testament. And I discovered it was not what Christians were calling worship.