Third, today's Christianity is full of gifts, full of the seeking for healings and speaking in tongues. But where is Christ? How much Christ is there? Christianity is full of forms, full of teachings, and full of gifts, but has very little of Christ. Christ nearly has no place, no ground, even in the formal church, the doctrinal church, the fundamental church. Also, in the Pentecostal church there is not much room for Christ Himself. This is the condition of today's Christianity.

We surely should mourn over such a situation (Matt. 5:4). The United States is a Christian country but has very little of Christ. I am not trying to teach you and give you something new. I am here to tell you that you need Christ. What you need is not forms, doctrines, gifts, healings, and speaking in tongues, but Christ the living One, the Son of the living God. You have to know Him and experience Him. You have to be filled with Him, to be saturated with Him, and to be mingled, blended, with Him.

In the New Testament, we have the Epistle to the Hebrews, which deals with religion. Those Hebrew Christians had the best religion, the Jewish religion, yet they greatly neglected Christ. They forgot about Christ. They were distracted and even separated from Christ. They were led away from the right track, which is Christ Himself. They paid attention to something other than Christ, something which was used by God to bring people, to conduct people, to Christ. But their religion became a substitute for Christ, something taking the place of Christ. Even though it was good at one time, it eventually replaced Christ.

Galatians shows us that the law became a substitute for Christ. The Galatians were trying to do good, to improve themselves, and to adjust themselves in order to have good behavior. This kind of thing crept in among the Christians to usurp the place of Christ. Some Christians are good and try to do good. But this is a deceiving by the enemy. We are not for good conduct; we are persons who are one hundred percent for Christ. We were made vessels not to contain good conduct but to contain Christ. We are Christ-containers.

First Corinthians shows us the contrast between Christ and the gifts. I have said many times that 1 Corinthians shows us that it is quite possible for someone to have many gifts yet still be a babe, an infant, in Christ.

The Corinthian believers had all the outward, miraculous gifts, yet they were childish. That is why the apostle was forced to say, "When I came to you...I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified" (2:1-2). The Jews are seeking signs, miracles, and supernatural things, and the Greeks are seeking wisdom and knowledge, but we, the saved ones of God, preach only Christ Himself. Besides Christ, we know nothing. Christ is the real power for signs and the real wisdom for knowledge. Today the enemy is still very subtle. If the enemy were to bring in something sinful, all the lovers of Christ, the seeking ones, would reject it. But the enemy is subtle to bring in something good. It is something really good, but it is not Christ Himself.