(Come Up Higher) the Spirit Will Lift Us Higher — Zac Poonen

The Two Types of Believers and the Call to Come Up Higher

Revelation chapter 14. We saw that there's a contrast in the book of Revelation between a great multitude in chapter 7 whose only testimony was that they were cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. The salvation was entirely due to God, what Jesus did, which is true of all believers, you and me.

But the smaller number in chapter 14 could say that plus something more. There are two types of believers in the world. As some, all they can say is Jesus died for me, it's because of him I'm saved, his sins that washed my robes white.

That all of us can say. But among this great multitude that can say that are a much smaller number that can be counted. Throughout the Bible you read about such people. Among the whole crowd of people in the world in Noah's time, God had eight people, Noah and his family.

In all the heathen nations, multitudes of wicked people, evil kings like Nimrod, etc. In Genesis 11, God found one man, Abraham. And we find that for example when they were entering the land of Canaan, among 600 ,000 people God found two, Joshua and Caleb.

When Gideon gathered 32 ,000 people to fight against the Midianites, God said send them all on home. I'm only going to select 300. You always find that among the big, the 32 ,000 in Gideon's time all enjoyed the victory, the benefits of the victory, but 300 actually fought the battle.

Moving From the Outer Court to the Holy Place

So I told you the other day that like in the tabernacle, there's always the call, come up higher. First you're out in the world and the Lord says come up higher and you get saved and come to the outer court.

And then you hear a voice saying come up higher and you go on from the outer court to the holy place where you are active in the Lord's work. We found that in CFC. There are some people who just come out from the world and get saved and they sit in the church for 25 years.

They come to all the meetings, but they do pretty much nothing for the church. They come, they're saved. I hope they go to heaven. I don't know whether they will, but they're there. They break bread because of which they assume that they will go to heaven, but I'm not so sure.

I'm always not sure about when people are on the outer court. You know the outer court, the gate to the outside is pretty close. You know, people are always like that. Sometimes it looks as if they're outside, sometimes it looks they're inside.

They're so close to the gate that you don't know whether they're on the inside or the outside. A lot of people like that in CFC. You don't know which side of the gate they're on. I hope they're on the inside, but I'm not so sure.

But then there are others who moved on. You know, who are baptized in the Holy Spirit and really want to seek to do something for the Lord. But there are very few who press on beyond that, who hear the voice saying, still come up higher, where the Lord says, you're taken up with me.

Not my work, not my salvation, but with me. You know, it's like a husband telling wife, don't get taken up with my house and how many nice bedrooms you have here, or how wealthy I am, or that we can travel the world.

Be taken up with me. That's a really happy marriage. Think of a wife who just enjoys all the wealth of her husband or his fame or something like that, but is not taken up with him. I think many people come to Jesus like that.

The people who come to the highest level of the Christian life are those who are taken up with Jesus. And for that, you have to, you know, go through the rent veil. We don't have to rent the veil again.

Jesus rent it when he died on the cross. It has never been stitched up again. It's there. But to go through the rent veil means I must go the same way, which means I must go through the way of death to self, death to the flesh.

If I go that way, deciding to die every day to myself, all of my life, I will enter into a fellowship with God which most Christians, even in CFC, are completely ignorant of. You'll find you come into a life of rest and victory where you're completely undisturbed by the low-level conflicts that other believers have.

You're not disturbed. You live at a much higher level. That's where the Lord invites you to come. So this is a small group in Revelation 14, out of this great crowd. They've learned a song, a song of the Lamb, a song of death to self.

Nobody else can learn it. Others could learn it if they want to, but think of the number of people sitting here who have heard about the way of death to self, but you don't practice it. When you don't practice it in your daily life, it's like saying you haven't learned the song.

It's another way of saying it. You haven't learned the song. You know how you can read the words of a song on a screen and you don't know the tune? It can be like that. You can know all about death to self, but you can't sing the song, because you don't actually take up the cross in your daily life.

Many of us have heard about the cross so much that we can explain it a lot, but you don't know the song. It says here, nobody could learn the song except these, because in their daily life they chose to go that way.

They kept themselves from defilement with the women mentioned here of Babylon, the mother of harlots and all the harlots. They kept themselves from that defilement, Revelation 14 .4. They kept themselves pure from spiritual adultery, you know, compromise on Christian principles.

Discerning Spiritual Condition Through Compromise

You know, I find, I'll tell you a true story. There was a sister in our church. I asked her once when she went to some public meeting here for some healer. I said, how was the meeting there? She said, yeah, they said the same things that we preach in the church.

Oh, I said, good. Immediately I knew her spiritual condition just with one sentence. She went to a healing meeting and she felt they were speaking the same thing we were saying in the church. I didn't argue with her.

I said, okay. Sometimes with one sentence you can find out a person's spiritual condition. We have so many famous television preachers nowadays. All I need to ask some believers is, what do you think of so and so preacher?

This woman, this man, that other man. There are about eight or nine famous ones. I asked them, what do you think of so and so? In one sentence, I can find out their spiritual condition. I tell you, I thank God for these television preachers because they helped me to find the spiritual condition of my flock with one sentence.

How would I do it without these people? How would I do it without these people being, preaching all across India? You can't fight with God. Many people, there are elders in our churches who don't have discernment.

They're taking up a good preaching and can't taste the spirit of a person. Many years ago, these people, this 144 ,000, they were not defiled with the spirit of Babylon. The ones mentioned here are later on mentioned in chapter 17 as the harlot and her daughters.

The Gradual Merging of the Church and the World

There are many of them. What is the mark of a harlot? There's a very beautiful poem that I have read, which goes something like this. The church and the world walked far apart on the changing shores of time.

The world was singing a giddy song and the church a hymn sublime. Come walk with me, the world said. Change your dress for something fanciful like mine, instead of that something you're wearing. Initially the church said, no, no, no.

But gradually the world said, come on, I will give you gold and I will give you this and I will give you that. Gradually, this wonderful pure bride of Christ that walked in simplicity moved closer to accept the things the world suggested.

Come watch my movies and come watch this and watch that. It's not sudden, no, no, no. Suddenly if you do something, immediately it looks pretty bad. It's a gradual merging of the church and the world.

It's almost so slow that it's just, you know, it's like an airplane dropping about one foot in one hour. In one hour, if an airplane drops one foot, you don't even notice it. And then another foot and another foot.

But you know where it's headed. Some move pretty fast, some slowly. In CFC, many glory that we are not worldly. I think it's just a matter of time. We haven't crashed yet. Maybe your rate of fall is not as in some other churches.

But ask yourself. I want to say to you, dear brothers and sisters, don't look at any church as your example. Don't look at any person unless you see in that person the spirit of the bride. So when it says here, this 144 ,000 did not defile themselves with Babylon.

All the invitations of the world, they stayed away from. Multitudes went but this small group said no. They looked odd. Everybody makes fun of them. Why are you so? You are legalistic. That's the word to scare people nowadays.

If you want to scare somebody today, just say, you are legalistic. Am I legalistic? Okay, I'll do whatever you say. You know how many people have tried that on me? You can try it on me all your life. You are not going to make me worldly by saying I am legalistic.

Do you know how many people I have met, who in avoid to avoid the label legalistic, they become worldly. And the devil is quite happy. Legalism is serious. But I tell you, it's no better than worldliness.

And the tragedy in Christendom is, there are legalists and there are worldly people. What was this? He was not legalistic, he was not worldly. That is the narrow path between these two. The church has often suffered from what I call pendulumitis.

We are legalistic, we say, ah, we were wrong. Swing like a pendulum, say we are free from legalism. He was just falling over the cliff the other side. First you are falling over this side, you come up from there and fall over the other side, and the devil says, I don't care which side you fall over.

But these were wise. They stayed apart from the world, the spirit of the world. See that's, harlotry is that, where you claim to be engaged to Christ, but your aim not to please Christ, but to please your friends.

Following Christ Rather Than Friends

You college boys and girls, when you want to talk about the things your folks of your age want to talk about, and would you change the conversation if Jesus suddenly came into that group that you are talking?

Or would you continue speaking the same way? You know nowadays a lot of men are working with women in their workplace. And I say, be very careful about speaking in a jovial way with people of the opposite sex, boys with girls or girls with boys.

I say, how to find out? Well if you are married, and you are a man, and you are talking very freely with some woman in office, ask yourself this question, supposing this moment my wife came right here into this room, would you continue to speak in the same way?

Then you are okay. Or would you have to change your way and concentrate on your work now? Then you know that it's wrong. Or if you are sitting around with your friends in school or college, or with certain worldly believers, and you are talking and joking, and some godly brother suddenly comes into the room, would you continue?

I am not talking about a legalist, I am talking about a godly brother, who is not a legalist. Would you continue to talk about those things, or would you have to change the subject? You change the subject when a godly brother comes into the room?

And you don't have to change the subject when Jesus himself is in the room all the time? Then you don't believe that God is there. You don't believe God is everywhere. Theoretically, we all believe God is everywhere.

If I were to ask you, how many of you believe God is everywhere, we would all raise our hands. How many of you practically live acknowledging that God is everywhere? The answer is probably 10%. That's the difference.

So there is a very small number that really keep, who, like it says here in verse 4, Revelation 14, they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. You see, that means, if in a particular situation you feel that Jesus is going this way, and your friends are going this way, you follow the Lamb.

There is nothing wrong in watching certain television programs. Make sure it's the programs which Jesus is watching. If Jesus is turning to this channel, and your friends are turning to this channel, follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

That's the point. In every situation, follow the Lamb wherever he goes. In this situation, which direction would Jesus go? Which channel would he press the remote into? Okay. Everything in life is like that.

What would he talk about? That's what I'm going to do. Follow the Lamb wherever he goes. It's a very small number. These are the people who were purchased from the earth. Verse 3. That means they are not earth dwellers.

They came up to heaven. Not only purchased from the earth, they were not occupied with things of earth. It also says they were purchased from men. That's another thing. That means they were freed from man's opinions.

They were not only freed from the earth, they were freed from man's opinions. You can be freed from earthly things, and yet not be freed from man's opinions. You know a lot of these sannyasis who say we have given up everything, we don't have any property, we don't have anything.

But they are not freed from man's opinions. They want everybody to think they are holy, right? That's a deception. You have to be freed not only from earthly things, you have to be freed from man's opinion.

There are two things mentioned. Freed from the earth, freed from men. And they become the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And one characteristic of them was no lie was found in their mouth. It doesn't say they were perfect.

They were blameless. Do you know the difference between blameless and perfect? World of difference. Only God is perfect. Jesus was perfect. The Apostle Paul said, I'm not yet perfect. I'm pressing on to perfection.

Blamelessness, Growth, and Freedom From Guile

But blameless means, according to my conscience, at this moment, I'm perfect. To use an illustration, I've got 100 in mathematics. But I don't know everything about mathematics. I'm only in second standard.

You understood? 101 No. How much did you get? Perfect score. 100%. But I'm only in second standard. I don't know geometry and trigonometry and calculus. And I don't know all that yet. I've got a long way to go to perfection in mathematics.

And I'll tell you, those people who got PhD in mathematics, they'll be the first people to say, I've got miles to go to understand mathematics. So perfection is a long road, but we can be blameless. Blameless means I can't get 101%.

I got 100%. And next year, when I get to third standard, and I learn a little more, I'm hoping to get 100 again. But then my capacity is increased. I've got more light on what is sin. You know, I've got more light on what is sin in 2007 than I had in 2006.

So my 100 in 2007 is different from my 100 in 2006. You understand that? The difference between 8th standard 100 and 9th standard 100%. That's how we are to grow. Blameless, but not perfect. 100%, but still in this standard.

Next year, again blameless. Perfection, a long way to go. To become like Christ will take a whole lifetime. So, but even though I'm not perfect, I can be without a lie in my mouth, or like some are, some translations say there was no guile in them.

No guile means no pretense. Now you know that in my ministry, I have dealt with various people. And I'll tell you something, it is not with the holiest people that I've been able to fellowship most freely.

Now, isn't that surprising, you would think that someone who's interested in holiness, would find it easier to fellowship with people who are more holy. Not, it's not true. I have found it easiest to fellowship with those in whom there is no guile.

That means no pretense. They may not be very holy. In other words, if they are in 1st standard, and they're getting only 50%, and I ask them, what class are you? Uncle, I'm in 1st standard. How much are you getting, son?

50%. I can really have fellowship with you. But here's another person in 1st standard, and I ask him, which class are you? 6th standard. Oh, how much are you getting? 100%. Uh-huh. Okay, goodbye. Let me talk to somebody else.

You see the difference between guile and dishonesty? There are believers like that, who are in 1st standard, who pretend that they're in 6th, who get 50%, who pretend that they're getting 100%. It is very difficult to fellowship with them.

That's why I find it very easy to fellowship with young brothers sometimes, more than older brothers. I find it easier to fellowship with some young brothers than with some elders in our churches, because there's guile in those elders.

And I can see it. I don't tell them to their face. I hope God will root to them. But I found it very difficult, almost impossible, to fellowship with a brother or sister who's got guile. And it's very easy, at least I can find out pretty easily.

Talk to a person for five minutes, sometimes just by looking at their face. In five minutes of conversation, I can make out. Not whether he's spiritual or not, whether he's genuine or not. That's all I want to see.

Is the guy genuine? I mean, it may be a woman in Samaria, who's divorced five times, now sleeping around with a person who is not her husband. She can be without guile. She's not perfect. Oh, no, she's done a lot of wrong things, but she's without guile.

That's right. You know, when the Lord said, you had five husbands and the one you're living with is not your husband. What did she say? No, no, no, Lord, it wasn't true. Those men left me. Nothing like that.

She said, I know you're a prophet. I know that everything you know, everything about my life. That's right. When she said, I know you're a prophet, she was acknowledging. That's right. She didn't blame her five husbands for leaving her.

It's true. I love to fellowship with such people who've made a mess of their life, but who are honest. But I find it very difficult to fellowship with people who appear to be so holy, always talking about holy things.

There's no brokenness in their life. There's no humility. You can't build a church with people with whom there's guile. We're always talking about, this is what I'm doing for the Lord. That's what I'm doing for the Lord.

I'm doing this. I'm doing this and doing this. Just like Martha, I've made so many chapatis already. Now I'm making this curry and that curry and the other curry. I said, excuse me, Martha, I'm a bit busy right now.

I'll talk to somebody else. I'm looking for the Marys. I've met people like that. And I know they're trying to impress me. How spiritual they are. They're doing this for the Lord. They're doing that for the Lord.

They're going here. They're going here. They're doing this outreach, that outreach, the other thing, the other thing. What insecure people. They don't know God. They are orphans. Orphans trying to impress people how spiritual they are by all their activity.

How many chapatis you've made in the kitchen? How many different curries you've made for the Lord? The Lord will say, Martha, you're worried about so many things. One thing is needful. Sit at my feet and listen to my word.

These are the 144 ,000. There was no guile in them. There was no pretense. They were themselves. So that's what I say to all of you. Don't try to be spiritual. Just be yourself and we'll get along fine.

It's when you try to act spiritual. Anyway, I find it very difficult to fellowship with you. I may not say that to your face, but it's true. There are number of believers in our churches with whom I find it very difficult to fellowship.

Number of elders. I find it very difficult to fellowship with them because, not because they're not perfect. Nobody's perfect. I'm not perfect myself. But I'll tell you the greatest commendation almost that I've longed for from Jesus on earth.

When I get to heaven, it is well done, good and perfect, faithful servant. But on earth, the thing I long for before I get to heaven is, there is a man in whom there is no guile. I want that. I say to you in Jesus' name, brother, sister, seek for that commendation from Jesus.

Don't be like the Pharisee and give people impression. I pray so much. I fast so much. I do this and I do that and the other. Seek with all of your heart to be a person like it says here, there was no guile in them.

They were what you saw. There's an expression in computer language called WYSIWYG, W-Y-S-I-W-I-G, which stands for what you see is what you get. W-Y-S-I-W-Y-G. I have an invisible board hanging in front of me, which says, renovation in progress.

We are renovating to serve you better. Please bear with us while this construction and work is going on. And it's on my back also, by the way. It's visible, but it's there. Renovation is in progress and it's being done to serve you better.

Have you seen these notices in airports and buildings? We are renovating to serve you better. Recognize that that's what we are, a work under progress, renovation. And don't be ashamed that you're not perfect, but be without guile.

Don't pretend that everything is perfect. It's not. Because then it'll be very difficult for you to acknowledge a fault. How can a perfect man acknowledge that he did something wrong? I met very good brothers like that.

Their only defect is when you point out something that's wrong and say, yeah, they'll never say those 10 difficult words. What are they? I'm sorry, that was my mistake, please forgive me. They won't say that.

That's right. That's right. It's different from, I'm sorry, that was my mistake, please forgive me. See, that man who says those 10 words, he's not interested in a reputation. He says, yeah, I'm not perfect, I'm a work in progress, renovation is going on.

Yeah, brother, you threw that construction site and stumbled and fell somewhere. I'm sorry, we'll try and fix that up so you don't stumble and fall next time. But we are in renovation. You know, these things happen.

Forgive me. It's the amount of pretense there is among believers. I never thought I would see so much of it in our CFC churches. It is there in CFC brothers and sisters. It is there in CFC related churches.

I'm not looking for perfection. There's no perfection in me, but for freedom from guile. Long for that. And it'll go very well with you. Those are the people who have the best fellowship. Those who are without guile, but who are also seeking for perfection.

You know, there can be a prostitute in the world who says, oh, I'm a prostitute. What do you plan to be? A prostitute all my life. Uh-huh. I don't want fellowship with you. Thank you. I don't mean that type of freedom from guile.

I'm talking about those who are free from guile and say, yeah, this is what I am, but I'm not happy with my present state. I'm pressing on to perfection. I want to be better. I'm not just a construction site where no work is going on.

I want to be in a construction site where work is going on every day. So that's how these people were without guile. And I want you to see something about how the Lord lifted John higher. It says, you know, we saw that in Revelation chapter 1, that when he saw Jesus, it says he fell at his feet, Revelation 1, 17, like a dead man.

The Spirit Lifts Those Who Die to Self

Oh Lord, I worship you. I die. That's the place I must be in. I die to all my rights, my reputation, my name, my ambitions. I am a dead man before you. I will never get up till he lifts me up. But his spirit, he puts his spirit upon me.

In see chapter 4, the Lord says in verse 1, the same voice, verse 1, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet. You know, the first time I heard the sound of the trumpet, I fell flat. Now the same voice says a second time, come up here.

You know who hears that second voice? The one who responds to the first voice and falls flat like a dead man. That's the one who will hear the voice the second time saying, the trumpet blowing a second time.

This is the second time he heard it. The first voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet, was speaking again, come up here. You know, there's a lot of difference between God saying to you, come up here, and me preaching a message on come up higher.

I hope you know that. What I speak to you can be a challenge. When God speaks to you with the voice of a trumpet and says, come up here, something's really going to happen. Have you heard God say that to you?

Do you know to whom he says it? Those who responded to the first voice of the trumpet and fell down flat. His dead Lord, I'm a dead man. You're, you're everything to me. The old Zak Tonin, the old you is dead.

I had ambitions, plans, desires, I'm hurt with somebody and got this opinion, that opinion is dead. Dead man's given up his opinions. He's not hurt with anybody anymore. He has no bitterness against anyone.

He's got no plans, no ambitions. He's dead. And the Lord says, really? I want to test you out. Test me out. He finds I'm dead. He speaks to me a second time, the voice of a trumpet, come up higher. It's dead people whom he lifts higher.

Resurrection comes through those who die. If I die with him, I will live with him. And the wonderful thing again, I told you the other day, Jesus never raised himself from the dead. Nowhere in the Bible does it say Christ arose from the dead.

You may sing that in a hymn, but you'll never find it in the Bible. In the Bible, it always says God raised him from the dead. There's a principle there. When I'm immersed by somebody in a baptism I don't struggle to get up.

He lifts me up. In true baptism, it is like that. God lifts me up. That's why I'm not afraid when people crucify me. I mean, spiritually. I mean, you and I experience many times when people crucify us.

Why do you resist? You resist because you're not sure whether God will raise you up. I mean, that's why I'll never allow myself to be baptized by an enemy. Why? When any enemy of mine baptizes me, he may not lift me up.

He may just put me under the water and keep me there. I'd like to be baptized by somebody I can trust. So, we are crucified by our enemies and we accept it because I know God will raise me from the dead.

If you're not sure that God will raise you from the dead, you'll fight that person who's trying to crucify you. When your wife tries to crucify you, what do you do? When your husband tries to crucify you, what do you do?

It all depends on whether you believe that God will raise you from the dead or not. If you don't believe in God, you don't believe there's a God in heaven who watches everything, who'll raise you from the dead, then you will fight.

You'll resist it. There's a natural tendency in us to resist anybody who tries to kill me. Why is it Jesus didn't resist? Why is it Peter took out the sword but Jesus said, take me? Peter didn't believe in the resurrection.

He thought, I've got to defend my savior. Jesus said, no. My father gave me this cup, not Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot is only the postman. The cup came from my father. I may not like the face of the postman, but I still receive the money order he brings, right or wrong?

Have you ever refused a money order saying, I don't like your face? No. 10 ,000 rupees in the money order, but you don't like the face of the postman, so you turn it away? Jesus never refused anything that his father sent him.

It could come through Judas Iscariot, it could come through Caiaphas, Annas, Herod, anybody in the world, Pilate, makes no difference. They're all postmen. But my father sends me a cup. I'll drink it.

There's a proverb in Malayalam which says, the cup of the Lord may be bitter, but there's no poison in it. The cup of the Lord may be bitter, but there's no poison in it. The medicine you may be bitter, but there's no poison in it.

It's for healing. So the father's cup is not always sweet, but it's always to heal me. It's for my good. And it doesn't matter to me whether it's Judas Iscariot or Annas or Caiaphas or Pilate, who brings it?

It's fine. I see the world full of postmen, mailmen, postmen that are coming around to me with money orders of all types, sent by my heavenly father. I'm a very happy man. I'm a very rich man because of all these spiritual money orders I get, from different people who attempt to harm me, but do me good.

Can you imagine how frustrated a man gets when he tries to harm me and it turns out for my good? Like somebody was warned when he was transferred to Bangalore, go to any church, but don't go to Zacquan's church.

So you know what he did? He said, that's funny. Why did he tell me to go? I mean, there are a thousand churches in Bangalore. Why did he tell me not to go to just this one? Let me go and see. And he comes and sees and he gets stuck here because he's blessed.

How would he have ever come if somebody had not warned him? I mean, that guy tried to do him harm and us harm, but he did good. Can you imagine how mad that fellow gets? I wish I'd never told him about that.

Sorry, you did it. You know how mad the devil is? Oh, I wish I hadn't crucified Christ. It's too late now. I wish I hadn't crucified Christ because there he defeated me. The devil's always getting mad because he's doing stupid things.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is in control of this universe? That if you give yourself to die, you will hear another voice like a trumpet saying, come up here, higher. And you don't have to lift yourself up.

It says here, when he heard the voice, immediately, verse two, I was in the spirit. Like we read in Ezekiel, when Ezekiel fell on his face, the spirit lifted him up. It's principle always in scripture.

Humbling Ourselves Under God's Mighty Hand

I do not lift myself up. Got it? Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and you will exalt yourself. Is that it? You know that verse? Ezekiel chapter four, you know that verse? Yes or no? 1 Peter chapter five.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and who? He will exalt you. What is this mighty hand of God? Haven't you, many of you prayed, oh, let the mighty hand of God come upon me. For Judas, the mighty hand, for Jesus, the mighty hand of God was Judas Iscariot.

When you pray for the mighty hand of God and you find some enemy comes and does something to you, do you see that as the mighty hand of God? Humble yourself under that mighty hand of God. Don't fight against it like Peter.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you. When I face a difficult circumstance and I find people opposing me or a difficult boss or difficulties in home or with neighbors, I say, Lord, this is your mighty hand.

It's a storm, but I'm going to humble myself believing that you're going to lift me up above this in some wonderful way and lift me to a higher plane of the Christian life than I have ever known. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you.

The Arithmetic of Heaven: The Way Up Is Down

So the way up is down. Sandeep spoke yesterday about the arithmetic of heaven. What is the arithmetic of heaven compared to the arithmetic of earth? I would say in one sentence, the arithmetic of earth is plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.

Keep on adding more and more things in your life and the arithmetic of heaven is minus, minus, minus, minus. Keep on subtracting things from your life and God lifts you way above all those fellow, those who are adding, adding, adding, adding, adding.

Seek first the kingdom of God, forsake this, forsake this, forsake this, forsake this. Ultimately you end up above all those other fellows. That's the difference. The arithmetic of earth is plus and the arithmetic of heaven is minus.

Not what you gain, but what you give measures the worth of the life you live. It's a little jingle that I've sung in my mind for many, many years. Not what you gain, but what you give measures the worth of the life you live.

Not what you gain, but what you give measures the worth of the life you live. The arithmetic of earth is plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus. What happens when you give? Your wealth becomes minus.

Your energy becomes minus when you spend your energy for doing something else. Minus, minus, minus, minus, minus. Jesus went all the way down to zero from heaven. He didn't come to earth to gain anything.

Just minus, minus, minus, minus, minus. But see where God exalted him. He will exalt you. It's wonderful. Do you want to come up higher? Follow the minus way, not the plus way. The world is full of people.

There's a gospel being preached by many television preachers saying you've got to get this, add this and this and this and this and this. That's the way of the devil. The devil already had so much and he said, no, I want some more, plus some more.