Many people miss the will of God and miss meeting God even though they are seeking Him. Their problem is much like that of a man who wants to talk to a fish. You can’t converse with a fish because you don’t live in the same environment. You’re not living on its plane at all. Scientists tell us that fish have a language and “talk” to each other. But I wouldn’t know how to talk to a fish. In fact, if you put me down in the water to talk to a fish, within five minutes I wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone; that is not my environment.
In the original creation the human being was made in the image of God. Man is a triune being—spirit, soul, and body. God is a triune being—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24. Your spirit, which has been recreated and redeemed by God, is able to communicate with God and worship Him. Yet the whole Christian world is concerned only about saving souls. The soul of man is related to the human plane, not the divine plane. It’s your spirit that is related to the divine realm, not your soul. Your physical body is only concerned with the world around you as the senses perceive it and your mind can discern it.
You will not find God by being soulish and very religious. The world with its thousands of religions isn’t finding God. By far most of the many different branches of Christianity are soulish, emphasizing rituals, emotions, worshiping out of their will. Your spirit must be alive to God, otherwise you will not grasp anything that God has to say. I’ve seen many kinds of meetings since the time of my youth, from emotional camp meetings held in tents to austere and ritualistic services in dignified churches. I learned that the soulish demonstrations have no reality in helping an individual reach God or learn to know God better. Do you want to walk with God and talk with God? Do you want God to talk with you? Do you want to know the voice of the Lord? It’s a thing of spirit, not of soul. The people who are very religious may be sincere, may spend hours memorizing Scriptures and know all the answers—yet they don’t know God. We don’t need religion—we need God!
The world, with all its religion, is going to hell! It was the religious people who put Jesus on the cross. There was never a man more religious than Saul; he was holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen. The common people heard Jesus gladly. It was the scribes, the Pharisees, the rulers of the Jews—those skilled in the Scriptures—who crucified Him. According to Jesus’ own words, the harlots and the publicans will enter the Kingdom ahead of them (Matthew 21:31). Religion is not the route to God. Even the Christian religions are not leading people to God because they deal with the soul. The religious instinct of man by which he tries to present himself in a favorable light is not the answer; the answer is a walk with God, a spirit in tune with the Lord.
I’ll trade all the religions in the world for a walk with God any day! And that’s what this church is all about. It’s not the most popular place in the world. Because people don’t understand it, they fear it; they persecute it and want to bring it down. In spite of that, churches are springing up fast all over the country—and for only one reason: this church is related to a walk with God—not to the creation of another religious system.
Babylon is going to come down. Leave the beaten path. Forget the ruts of organized religion. The world today is filled with seminaries that are turning out professionals, and not a one of them can preach as good a sermon as any of our elders. Why? Because they don’t have a word from God; they’re not hearing the voice of God. They don’t know Him. They’re not walking with Him. This that God is doing is based on an openness to God and worshiping Him with all your heart. And it’s on that level that people hear from the Lord. Isn’t it strange that so many people who go to church and go through the motions, don’t know the voice of God at all? They don’t know the Lord Himself. They don’t know His leading for their life.
The book of Revelation contains a picture of seven churches, tracing the history of the church through the centuries. Of the last one, Laodicea, the Lord says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” He’s on the outside; He’s not even in His own church. “If any man hear My voice and open the door I’ll come in and sup with him and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Some people are not prepared for a walk with God, but at least they do know what they don’t have. If I could preach one sermon that would reach the world, I’d rip from the people’s hearts the lying witness they have within themselves and show them that they have nothing. Many people are disillusioned with their church. They know which church they’re staying home from. What greater favor can you do for a person than to strip him of his illusions so he will finally say, “I need the Lord. I want to know the Lord. I want to walk with God above everything else.” No man is so poor as the man who knows not that he has nothing.