Three Important Words — Zac Poonen

There is a statement in 1 Samuel chapter 3, which I believe is very relevant to the time in which we are living. It says there in the first verse, 1 Samuel 3 and verse 1, in the last part, word from the Lord was rare in those days and visions were infrequent.

So that means those were days when hardly anybody gave a word from the Lord. Hardly anybody heard a word from the Lord and spiritual vision was missing. And that's why the state of affairs among God's people was like it was described in the time just before Samuel, which is the book of Judges.

The reason it was like that was because word from the Lord was rare. In Moses' time there was a regular word from the Lord, but now word from the Lord was rare and visions were very infrequent. Now we are living in such a time and part of the reason is because most of God's people, believers, are very lazy to study the scriptures.

I think people among God's people, God's people studied the scriptures much more 100 years ago when we didn't have CDs on the Bible and tapes and all types of things. Part of the reason is 100 years ago there was not so much entertainment available in the world.

And even if there was, God's people never got involved in it. The people of God would not go to movies and there was no television. They had a lot of time together as families and time to study the word.

We can live like that today if we want to, but we have to be a little disciplined and most believers are not disciplined. And our children are growing up with very little knowledge of the scriptures and very little desire to study the scriptures.

That is one of the great tragedies of our time. The great God entertainment has taken over the church. And as a result of this, we do not understand what the scripture says when it refers to certain matters.

Because our understanding of different words is not from the Bible, but from the dictionary or from the secular world. Because we are not students of the scriptures. And so generally speaking, I find all over Christendom, most of Christianity has misunderstood certain words.

Three Misunderstood Words: Believe, Worship, and Church

And they are important words. So I want to speak about three misunderstood words. The first word is the word believe. The second is the word worship. The third is the word church. What does it mean to believe in God?

What does it mean to worship God? What does it mean to build the church? And the way we're going to study it is by looking at the very first time that these words occur in the scriptures. And that's very easy to find out if you take a concordance.

Anybody can find out the first time the word believe occurs in the scriptures. The first time the word worship occurs in the scriptures. And the first time the word church occurs in the scriptures. So the first time these words occur, they amazingly, they give us the meaning.

That's one good way to study the scriptures. To see which is the first time that word occurs in the Bible. So we look at believe first. Because all of us are staking our eternity on the meaning of the word believe.

Supposing we got the meaning of the word believe wrong. All our eternity is at stake. Because we say salvation is by faith. And if we have misunderstood faith, then we have completely missed the road.

Gone astray. And a lot of people have. So these are very important words. Because nowadays everybody talks about faith. Much more than 100 years ago. A lot of people talk about worship nowadays. They don't have a clue what it means according to the scriptures.

But they think they are worshipping God. And there's a lot of talk about the church. There again most people don't understand. So the first occurrence of the word believe is in Genesis 15. Now all these three are New Testament words.

But they occur in the Old Testament. At least the first two occur in the Old Testament. And the first time the word believe comes is here. In Genesis 15 where God tells Abram. Don't fear Abram. Verse 1.

You are going to have a great reward. And Abram says. What reward are you going to give me? I don't even have a child. So what's the use of blessing me materially. I'll have to give it all to my servant.

And the word of the Lord came to him saying. Verse 4. Your servant is not going to be your heir. But someone that comes forth from your own body will be your heir. And then it was night. God told him to come outside the tent.

And said look up at the sky. Can you count the stars? You know we can't count the stars. There are millions of them. See if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be. He said that to a man who had no children.

He was 85 years old. His wife was 75 years old. They probably married already for 45 years. And married for 45 years. No children. And to such a man God says. Your seed. Your descendants are going to be like the stars.

Millions of them. What would your reaction have been. If God had said that to you. You know sometimes when we study the scriptures. It's good for us to put ourselves in the place of that person. Do that whenever you study the New Testament.

When Jesus speaks to somebody. Put yourself in that person's place and see. What reply you would give. So if God told you. You have been married for 45 years. You are 85 years old now. And your wife is 75.

And God says to you. You are going to have millions of seed like the stars in heaven. What will you say? What did Abraham say? Abraham said Amen. Then verse 6. He believed in the Lord. And that word believe is a Hebrew word called Amen.

Old Testament was written in Hebrew. And we use two Hebrew words in our English. Hallelujah and Amen. Hallelujah means praise the Lord. Amen. Most people don't know what it means. For many people it just means the prayer is over.

We can open our eyes. But it means. It will be so. You know whenever somebody prays for something. And you say Amen. Or somebody preaches something and you say Amen. You are saying it will be so. You are expressing faith.

That's why you can't say Amen. If you don't believe. That it will be so. The word Amen means I believe that the Lord will do that. That's what Abraham said. God said you are going to have seed like the stars in heaven.

Abraham said Amen. It will be so. No questioning. Nothing like how can that be. Or have you really thought about it Lord. I am 85 years old. No. Didn't the Lord take that into account. Didn't the Lord know that this guy was barren.

Without children for 45 years of marriage or whatever it is. It's all taken into account. When the Lord gives us a promise. Every factor has been taken into account. I mean he doesn't have to say. Oh I didn't realize you are 85.

I forgot that. No. He has taken everything into account. When the Lord gives a promise. Every factor. Has been taken into account. And if we say Amen. It will be so. Then we have faith. That is faith.

So. Abraham didn't get the. Child immediately. He had to wait for about 15 years. But he got it. And then. Through that seed came so many millions now. All over the world. His descendants. So that word was literally fulfilled.

Wasn't fulfilled in one day or one week. But it was fulfilled. When God says something. It will definitely be fulfilled. There is a time frame. For God's promises to be fulfilled. Sometimes we are impatient.

And that's where we make a mistake in relation to faith. We think we can inherit the promises by faith. But notice how this promise is. Referred to in Hebrews in chapter 6. In Hebrews chapter 6. It says here that.

We must not be lazy. Verse 12. We must not be sluggish. But imitators of those who through faith. And patience. Inherit the promises. You cannot inherit the promises with faith. Faith must be coupled with patience.

To wait for God. To fulfill. What he has promised. And he gives the example of Abraham. When God told Abraham. Verse 14. Surely I will bless you and multiply you. And so. Verse 15. Hebrews 6 .15. Having patiently waited.

He obtained the promise. So. Faith is coupled with patience. Many promises God gave to people in the Old Testament. They had to wait. And it was definitely fulfilled in God's time. Nothing was delayed.

Nothing went beyond God's time. It says about Jesus in Galatians 4. That in the fullness of time. God sent his son. That means at the exact time. He was supposed to come. He was born. Not one day late.

Not one moment late. Not one moment too early. Exactly at the right time. God does everything exactly at the right time. But the promise was given. 700 years earlier. That Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

And like that God can give us a promise. But we must remember there is a time frame for that to be fulfilled. We trust him. If God has promised it. It will definitely be fulfilled. And it says here in Genesis 15.

That because Abraham trusted the Lord like this. It was counted to him. As righteousness. Genesis 15 .6 God justified him. That's another New Testament word. Abraham was justified by faith. That means Abraham was declared righteous.

Just because he said Amen. If God has said it. It's true. I'm not going to doubt it. That's all there is to justification. Justification by faith means that. When you come to Romans. And chapter 4. The same thing is picked up.

Which Abraham. The promise given to Abraham. It says here. In Romans 4. In verse 9. The last part. We say faith was credited to Abraham. As righteousness. And that promise. You know it says in verse 17.

A father of many nations. In the presence of God. Whom he believed. Even God. Who gives life to the dead. Calls into being that which does not exist. The Lord told him in the last part of verse 18. So shall your descendants be.

And what was Abraham's response? Listen to this. This is the basis of faith. Without becoming weak in faith. He looked at his own body. As good as dead. Since he was about 100 years old. He was actually around 85.

And the deadness of Sarah's womb. But with respect to the promise of God. He did not waver in unbelief. But grew strong in faith. Giving glory to God. Faith does not shut its eyes. To reality. It doesn't say.

Oh Abraham pretended that his body was very healthy. He pretended that he was a young 30 year old man. That's not faith. That is stupidity. A lot of people tell you to believe. Something which is not true.

That's not faith. You remember that story where. There was a man who was blind. You read about it in Mark chapter 8. And Jesus took him out of Bethsaida. And touched him. And said can you see? And he said not very clearly.

I see men like trees. He couldn't distinguish between a man and a tree. When he saw men walking. They looked like trees walking. Well you can be sure that such a man hasn't got proper eyesight. And when the Lord asked him.

Can you see properly? He said no. If it was one of today's Pentecostal preachers. He would have said don't say no. Say yes. Say I've been healed. Confess that you're healed and you'll be healed. But that would have been a lie.

If he had said I can see. When he could not see. And lot of people are fooling believers. Deceiving them. Bringing them into tremendous problems. By making them confess a lie. Saying that's faith. That's not faith.

If something is not true. How can you tell a lie? How can you say I'm healed when I'm not healed? And I believe Jesus. That is the only case where Jesus healed a person in two stages. And I believe he did it for our sake.

To teach us that if you're not fully healed. You don't have to tell a lie. And the Lord said okay we'll pray for you again. Can you see now? Yeah now I can see clearly. We don't have to say we're healed when we're not healed.

Because that would be a lie. And the devil is the father of lies. And a lot of preachers are encouraging believers to tell lies. To be the mother of lies that the devil produces. So don't get into bondage like that.

If you had asked Abraham the next day. After God gave him this promise. Have you got millions of children Abraham? What should he have said? Yes or no? No. But didn't God say yesterday that you're going to have millions of children?

Yes. Have you got them yet? No. Are you going to get them? Yeah. That's different. So don't you believe this type of false teaching on faith. Which has got no foundation in scripture. Which is just being used by money loving preachers to deceive others.

Abraham believed God and God said that you're righteous. And it says here. God said social your descendants be. He looked at his own body it says. He contemplated his own body. Body means he considered the state of his own body.

It's weak. He considered the state of Sarah's womb. Dead. He didn't pretend that everything is okay. But then he looked at God's promise. God has said. Okay. Then it will be done. And being fully assured.

Listen to this. This is faith. Verse 21. Being fully assured. That what God had promised. Read it. He had already done. No. He was going to do. He was able to perform. So faith doesn't mean I have to say I'm healed when I'm not healed.

Faith doesn't mean I have to say that I don't feel any pain now when I'm feeling when I'm full of pain. That's a lie. That's saying that God has already done it. That's not faith. Abraham was fully assured God will do what he has promised.

That's faith. Therefore, it was accounted to him for righteousness. And not for his sake only. But it's credited to us also. If I believe in Jesus. God has raised him from the dead. That righteousness is put to my account also.

You know because we can't come to God just because our sins are forgiven. I hope you know that. If you come to God and say Lord all my sins are forgiven. I confess all my sins. They are cleansed in the blood of Christ.

I'm still not fit enough to come before God because I still have a corrupt nature. I haven't got rid of that. All my sins are forgiven. That's completely zero now. But what about this corrupt nature I still have.

I cannot come before God with that. And that's why God has not only got to forgive our sins. He has to justify us. That means he has to clothe us with the righteousness of Christ. So that we can stand before God.

Otherwise we'd have to stand with that corrupt nature before God. We can't stand there. We'd be burnt up. So that's why God is to forgive our sins which deals with our sins. And then justify us so that our nature is covered by the righteousness of Christ.

And that is by faith. And that applies to the things that we believe God has promised. For example, there are certain things that we can have only when Christ comes again. The Bible says in 1 John 3 verse 2, We shall be like him when we see him.

You can never be like Christ till he comes. That means there is no human being whose total personality has become like Christ. Whose thought life, unconscious attitudes, everything. No. Even the apostle Paul said, I'm not yet perfect.

So we can pray that God will make us like Jesus, but it will be fully fulfilled only when he comes again. In the same way, the Bible says that when Jesus comes, he will make our body like his body. It says in the last verse of Philippians 3.

He will transform our weak body into the body of his glory. So, I can't expect to have perfect health in this body. When the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4, that the outward man decays. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16.

I mean, that's scripture. The outward man decays, but the inner man is being renewed. No matter how much I pray for a full head of hair, I won't get it. No matter how much faith I may have. But I will get it when Jesus comes.

Believe you me. You won't recognize me that day. My hair will be black. And I won't be wearing glasses either. You really won't recognize me. Because my vision will be corrected. But it will all be when Christ comes again.

Don't ask for it before. And live in a world of imagination and delusion. You know, supposing you say, Lord, you said, anything you ask for, I'll give you. I want all mosquitoes to be destroyed in Bangalore.

I trust you with faith. It's not gonna happen, no matter how much you believe. The world is under a curse and the curse will be lifted only when Jesus comes again. So, it's like praying the lion should not be wild and the snake should not be poisonous and there should not be thorns.

We gotta be realistic. We gotta compare scripture with scripture. You can ask for anything in my name, but the world is under a curse. The outer man decays. Keep all these verses in scripture at the back of your mind before you try to claim something in faith.

Otherwise you live in a world of unreality like a lot of people are doing right now and being deceived. But there are certain other promises. You know, like I told you, there's a time frame for God's promises.

Certain things are when He comes again. There won't be any wild animals when Christ comes again. There won't be any mosquitoes, snakes, cockroaches, all that. Nothing is ever gonna be harmful or is gonna exist then.

We're gonna have perfect bodies. But until then, we have to wait. But there are certain other promises that we can have right now. For example, when it says in Romans 6 .14 that sin shall not have dominion over you.

That's for now. That's not for when Christ comes again. It doesn't say when Christ comes then sin will stop ruling over you. Right now, you're under grace. You can have dominion over sin. Sin cannot rule over you.

If you're under grace. That's for now. So the things that we must claim now, we must claim now. Lord, I can wait for a perfect body. I'm not praying that I should have a body without any aches or pains.

No. But I'm praying that I have a body in which I don't sin. That's more important. I'm praying. It doesn't matter if my vision is weak. That's okay. I wear glasses. But my vision should not be lustful.

That's what I'm praying. It's alright if there's no hair in my head. But there shouldn't be dirty thoughts inside my head. That's what I'm more interested in. It's a question of what you're looking for.

Sin shall not rule over you. That's for now. And if you say Amen, like Abraham. Yes. You may not get victory over sin tomorrow. But you keep saying Amen. I guarantee it will take place in your life. That's how it took place in my life.

I said Amen and then took a long time. I was still defeated. Defeated like Abraham. Waiting, waiting, waiting. 86 years old, no child. 87 years old, no child. 88 years old, no child. 89 years old, no child.

But he said Amen. God has set my seat. And one day he got a child. It will be like that in your life. If you say Amen to God's promises. Lord, I believe. It says in 2 Peter 1 that God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness.

Verse 3. Everything necessary to live a godly life has been given us by God. We say Amen. Everything necessary for life on this earth has been given to us. Not for luxury. But for life. God has given.

And we say Amen and He'll take care of it. When the Bible says, when Jesus said Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these earthly necessities of yours will be added to you. You say yes, it will be so.

Our bodies will be healthier if we live by faith. So much of our sickness and gloom comes because we don't trust these things which God has said. We don't say Amen. It says in 2 Corinthians 1 .20 that all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus but they never become ours.

I'm paraphrasing it. Until we say Amen. Have you read that verse? 2 Corinthians 1 .20 All the promises of God are yes in Christ. And then we add our Amen and then God is glorified by those promises being fulfilled.

It's like if somebody gives you a check for 100 ,000 rupees signed by a millionaire and you take it to the bank to cash it you know what they'll ask you to do? Sign on the reverse. Put your signature there.

They will not give you the cash without you signing on the reverse. That's how it is. Here are the promises of God Jesus Christ has signed it with your name there. That's for you. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place is for you.

But you don't get it. Till you write at the back Amen. It will be mine. Like the Lord asked the blind people. Do you believe that I can do this for you? Sin shall not have dominion over you. Do you believe I can do this for you?

You say yes Lord. Amen. It is not a question of Abraham you know the Lord telling Abraham can you go and do some exercise and get physically fit and try and have a child. No. Do you believe that I can do this for you?

Abraham said Amen. Any amount of exercise I do is not going to produce any children. And it's not a question of can you grit your teeth? Can you determine that you will not sin from now on? No. The Lord says can you believe that I will write my laws in your mind and in your heart and I will cause you to walk in my statutes.

That's an amazing verse. I don't know whether you all know that lovely verse in Ezekiel 36 which says Ezekiel 36 and verse 26 I will put a new spirit within you verse 27. Ezekiel 36, 27 I'll put my spirit within you and the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit is I will make you walk according to my laws and you will automatically be very careful to keep my commandments.

It's not a question of you should walk that was old covenant or you must do this. You must not do that. No. I will make you do it. Do you believe that? See many of us have struggled and struggled and struggled to do what God says let me do it.

Let me do it in you. I will cause you to walk in my statutes. I will, you will become careful to keep my commandments. Lord I believe. You see how important it is to study the scriptures? Not once did Jesus tell us that faith was to make money or faith was to get a better house or a better chariot or any such thing like you hear today.

It was to live a godly life. It was to overcome sin. That's what he encouraged us to have faith for. Faith comes by hearing. It says in Romans 10, 17 and hearing by the word of Christ. The word of Christ is the New Testament.

And if you read the New Testament you get the promises of God there and you hear and you believe. If you don't read the New Testament you will not know the promises of God and you remain ignorant and you'll be a spiritual pauper.

You'll miss out on what God has for you in your earthly life. I would encourage you to study the New Testament and put your signature and say Amen to the promises of God which are all signed by Jesus Christ.

Worship as Surrendering What Is Most Precious

Well there's a lot more that I could say on that but I want to go to the next two words. The word worship occurs for the first time in Genesis chapter 22. You know when Abraham was asked to offer up his son Isaac, the Lord told him take your son your only son whom you love.

Genesis 22. Why did he emphasize like that? Take your son, your only son whom you love. He was emphasizing Abraham I know Isaac is the most precious possession you have on earth. I know you love him even more than you love Sarah.

He was in the old covenant so it was ok. In the new covenant you must love your wife more than you love your son. But he wasn't living in that light in those days. He loved his son more than anyone on earth.

And God could have asked him for anything on earth. He would have given it up. But Isaac was the most precious possession he had and God told him to give him up. And God didn't tell him to give him up immediately.

He could have told him just go around the corner of that mountain behind you and offer Isaac. He didn't say that. Take him to Mount Moriah which was three days journey. Why three days journey? Because God doesn't want you to take a decision in a hurry.

God doesn't want you to say come on quickly decide. That's the devil. God says take time to think about it. Sit down and count the cost is what Jesus said. Don't be in a hurry to say yes Lord I want to do it.

Think about it. Do you know what it's going to cost you? To do it? Before you say yes and raise your hand and all that. So Abraham I'm not going to force you to offer up Isaac. You think about it. On the spur of the moment you may just say yes and go and offer him and afterwards you may regret it.

So take three days to walk all alone. Walk and think about it for three days. He walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. What do you think he was thinking about? Is it worth it serving a God like this?

Who asks me for the dearest thing on earth? And he says yes. It is. Verse 4. Genesis 22 4. On the third day he saw Mount Moriah and Abraham said to his young men this is the first time the word worship occurs.

Verse 5. Stay here with the donkey. I and Isaac will go up there and we will worship and return to you. Do you know what he called that action? Worship. And because he was going to worship he did not want any of these friends to come along to see what a fantastic sacrifice he was making for God.

Oh what a lust there is to want other people to see us when we make some sacrifice for God. We want other people to know about it. We want other people to recognize that we are so dedicated. He said no.

This is all alone between me and God. Worship is something you do all alone between you and God. And I'll tell you this. Worship is not having a praise meeting. Today lot of people use the word worship in a way that it is never used in the Bible even once.

Can you believe that? Can you believe that Christians are using the word worship in a way that's never used in the Bible even once? How is that? You haven't read the Bible. Most Christians blindly imitate what somebody else says.

Oh they call it that. We call it that. They never check up with the scriptures to see is that what the Bible says? I decided long ago I'm not just going to swallow what everybody says. The whole world may say something.

Is it in the Bible? Otherwise why in the world do we say it? This is the word of God. Today people gather together on Sunday morning to praise the Lord and to thank the Lord which is excellent but they call it worship.

It's not worship. It's not a worship meeting. It's a praising meeting. It's a thanksgiving meeting. Very good. Excellent. But a lot of people are fooling themselves that they are worshipping when they haven't worshipped at all.

They have praised the Lord. That's right. It says in Hebrews 13 15 the sacrifice of praise the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name very necessary it says God is pleased with such sacrifices it says in Hebrews 13 the sacrifice of praise.

Oh there are so many things that Christians do and say which are tradition. We think it's only the Roman Catholics who got tradition. Every group has got its traditions. You'll never have a tradition if you study the scriptures.

That's for sure. Your traditions will disappear. I think of a lot of Christians who talk to God as Yahweh, Jehovah. It's like one of my sons coming up to me one day and saying Mr. Poonen. Mr. Poonen what happened son?

That is my name. I know it's my name. That's not how I expect him to call me. I go to God and say Jehovah. Jehovah. Jesus said call him Father. You understand? But how many Christians understand that?

Only those who have read the Bible. Not a single New Testament saint ever called him Jehovah. It's these 20th century people who do that who don't read the Bible. I don't do it. Just like I don't expect my children to call me Mr. Poonen even though that's my name.

I call God Dad. Because Jesus told me to do that. I respect Jesus' words. I take it more seriously than most Christians do. I can give you examples like this. So many. Worship. Where in the New Testament does it say if we come and sing and clap and raise our hands that's worshiping God?

Not in a single place. You know what worship is? It is offering to God that which is most precious in your life. Offering everything. Falling down before Him and saying You are everything to me God. You think all these people who clap and shout and praise for one hour on Sunday morning are saying that?

Oh no. But they imagine that they have worship. You see how important words are. Otherwise we'll be deceived. Jesus said to the woman of Samaria in John chapter 4. John chapter 4 He said when the woman asked Him in verse 20 where should we worship?

Jesus said it's not a question of here or there. An hour is coming verse 21 when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you don't know. We worship what we know.

But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Verse 25 23. For the Father seeks for such people to be His worshippers. God is a spirit those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Everything in the Old Testament was soulish. Body and soul. There are three parts to man. Body, soul, spirit. Just like the Old Testament tabernacle had outer court holy place, most holy place and the most holy place was veiled off nobody could go there.

Meaning that we could only use our body and soul in praising or if you want to call it worship, worshiping God. It was not worship in the spirit because the way was not open till Jesus died and the veil was rent then you could go into the most holy place then you could worship in spirit and you know in the outer court there was a lot of noise killing animals and yelling and shouting and animals screaming and all that and then you go to the holy place is little quieter but still there is the incense and there is prayer and people moving around serving when you go to the most holy place it is silence it's God and you I personally find that the best and easiest place for me to worship God is when I'm all alone.

It's very difficult to worship with other people around I can praise, I love to praise God with the church. I love to thank God in the midst of the saints but worship like Abraham. I like to be alone because then I know whether I mean what I am doing when I fall on my face before God.