Trust and obey for Christian happiness - A Revival Message

Tonight, the message for tonight is Obedience and Rewards, Part 5, and it will cover asking for forgiveness and giving all away. The past few weeks I have shared with you about the wonderful grace of God giving us this great salvation free through the Lord Jesus Christ in theological terms or justification. We Christians are saved by grace and it is a gift from God as per Romans 6, verse 23, which says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And then I have shared many messages now based on a second doctrine called sanctification. It is spirit-enabled progressive Christian living based on God's principles and includes our participation to grow in faith as Christians and to come closer to the holiness of God. The teachings on grace by the Apostle Paul do not overrule what the Lord Jesus had said in John 14, verse 15, If you love me, keep my commandments.

And the proof for that you find in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, where Jesus judged the Christians of five churches severely. In five churches, they allowed sin and Jesus gave them very serious penalties and judgments. The Lord also struck Ananias and Sapphira for lying as an example to us.

Those that do not like the commandments of God misunderstand God because he wants us to experience a joyful life. God himself confirmed to us in the last book of the Bible in the last chapter in Revelation 22, verse 14. He said in the beginning of verse 14, blessed are they that do his commandments.

How many translators have changed the wording from the King James translation as in today's society, we consider those doing the commandments as legalistic. However, that is a great misunderstanding and a lie from the devil. When Jesus, the son of God, told us to go and teach all nations about this great gift of salvation, Jesus was very clear in the next verse that he also wants his commandments taught, which include the 10 commandments.

You find this in Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. There it says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I'm with you even unto the end of the world.

Amen. So in verse 20 note, Jesus said, teach new converts whatsoever the Lord Jesus has commanded us to do. So beloved, this is a confirmation from the Lord.

And I have found in my own personal life and after getting saved from a business life, from teaching at the University of Toronto and running a major corporation, that great joy came to my life when I did the commandments from the Lord and I'm still working on many, beloved. I'm not perfect yet. But in John 14, verse 15, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.

And every time after I said, Lord, I love you, a little voice said, if you love me, keep my commandments. You see, that is a commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God. It proves to us that we are saved by faith if we also want to do what God tells us to do.

If there's no evidence of change in our lives, then we're not saved. There ought to be evidence that we at least we want to do his commands. We might not be perfect, but we're growing towards that.

Number three, it results in great rewards and blessings from the Lord when we do. Number four, it results in joy and happiness if we do. The way to understand faith and doing the commandments of the Lord is thinking about a train that gets us to heaven.

A train has to run on two tracks. The gospel train runs on two tracks. The one side of the track is faith and the grace of God.

The second track is pleasing God and experiencing joy through doing God's commandments. The first track is the grace of God and salvation that is free. The second track is sanctification that includes growing in the Lord and human responsibility to do his commandments.

This pleases God. It helps us to grow as Christians. We experience the power of God, receive blessings, and we experience the joy of the Lord.

The Lord helps us to do the second part as well, beloved, if we're really serious about it. There's a beautiful Christian song that says this. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way.

While we do his good will, he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. So in this song, trust and obey, trust also stands for faith here.

Faith and obedience, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus. I have shared with you over the past few weeks a number of situations where God helped me to be obedient. That included witnessing.

That included giving up adultery. That included obedience to try and never steal again. That included obedience to give up lying.

That included obedience to forgive the person that affected my life negatively for 50 years. That included obedience and keeping the Son holy. When I did that, I lost my job, beloved, but instead of receiving eight months, seven salaries, they gave me 3.5 years of salary.

They still allowed me to stay and start a Bible study in the head office for three years. Of 200 employees, 95 came to the final Bible study. It also allowed me to enter the ministry and gave me great joy and happiness.

And when I gave up adultery, cancer fell off my face and so on. There was also obedience to love my neighbors and to esteem others better than myself. And when I try and do that, I'm not always successful in that, beloved.

I'm just trying to do God's will with His help. But when I do, there's great, great joy and wonderful things that happen. Number eight, there was obedience to love an enemy that had verbally slandered me before two churches and a large youth group.

And I forgave. I loved. I prayed.

I blessed. And eventually, I did good to that person, beloved. And the church that was divided became one.

And there was great joy and happiness. Tonight, I would like to share with you two more examples. And these examples relate to very difficult reasons in my life.

And shortly after I was sick, I read the following text in the Bible. Matthew chapter 5, verse 23 to 24. Matthew 5, 23 to 24.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. So, I prayed and I said, Lord, I don't understand.

Are you saying you don't want my money unless I first make things right with people that I have hurt? The answer came back in a tiny, small voice. Yes, you understand correctly. I don't want your money until you ask for forgiveness from those you have hurt.

And I was devastated. I had hurt many people in my life. When thinking and praying more about this, the Lord helped me to understand that I had to ask for forgiveness from the people that I had hurt most.

The people I'd hurt most were my former wife, a common law person I had lived with after I left my wife, and two daughters who thought I did not love them anymore. I prayed, Lord, how do I do that? I don't know where to start. The answer came back.

If you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. So, I called a pastor friend of mine and I told him that I wanted to ask people for forgiveness and would he help me.

And he said he would. And so, he came to this first meeting. I asked for a meeting with my former wife.

She had gotten married. She was with a new husband. And I asked this pastor friend to be present.

And we met. And I explained to her and her husband, her new husband, that the Lord Jesus had saved me and that I was a Christian now. I told her I could not make good all that happened in our marriage.

But I did want to ask her for forgiveness if she could forgive. I listened to hours of pain. I never accused her.

I did not want to argue or use excuses on my part. You see, I did not love enough. She was very angry that I gave all my money to the poor and missionaries.

She did not say that she forgave me. She did not mention that I had given her my half of the house because there was a division of property when we got divorced. But I gave her my half of the house so that she would have a new start in life and she could buy a condominium.

You see, a coin has two sides like every marriage. But God's love helped me. And I did not defend myself because I had the greater guilt and fault.

Later, she became a different person. And we are on talking terms today. The result is still a great joy in the Lord's will and ask for forgiveness.

And we are on talking terms now and still relate to one another. Now, beloved, I also realize that I'm dealing with people in many different countries with many different cultures. But I base this on the Bible, God's word.

So, you have to understand that this is what the Bible said to do. Then I had to ask for forgiveness of the person I had lived with and did not marry. I explained to her again that I had become a Christian and that I needed to do right before God.

I could not proceed with a marriage because it would be adultery. And I gave her my house that I had saved for to live in on my retirement. Sometimes later, she said to me, you know, I found God.

I would have never found God except he took you away from me. She still lives in that house today and it belongs to her. Then I asked for forgiveness for my two daughters, Suzanne and Angela.

Both had gotten married and because wives are under the headships of their husbands, I also invited their husbands. I spoke to my oldest daughter, Suzanne, and her husband first. She sat on a six-foot-long red couch about five feet away from me.

I explained how I became a Christian and that I wanted to ask for forgiveness. Children in a marriage that breaks apart blame themselves for not saving the marriage, by the way. I explained to Suzanne that she was not at fault and that she could not have saved the marriage.

It was my fault because of sin and I did not love enough. She moved a little closer on the couch when I said that. I asked her to forgive me for abandoning her and leaving her.

She moved a little closer and she said, I forgive you, Dad. I asked her to forgive me for not allowing more communication with her and listen to her more. She answered, I forgive you, Dad.

She came a little closer. I asked her to forgive me for perfectionism and having expectations for righteous living from her when I was not living by the same standards. She said, I forgive you, Dad, and she moved a little closer.

I asked her for forgiveness for being proud and self-righteous and she said, I forgive you, Dad, and she came a little closer. I then said to her, Suzanne, when you turned 10 years old, I could no longer hug you and take you in my arms and maybe you thought I didn't love you, but I loved you deeply. You see, I was sexually misused as a 10-year-old and I had a psychological block that told me that if I hugged you, I would do to you what was done to me.

Suzanne had moved next to me. She said, I love you, Dad, and we hugged and we wept. A similar meeting took place with the other daughter, Angela, except she said, Dad, I have forgiven you a long, long time ago.

My asking for forgiveness would help my daughters. My daughters as children had blamed themselves for not keeping our marriage together. Also, they thought I had abandoned them.

They thought I did not love them anymore. I had provided for them monetarily, but I could not show them affection. When they each had turned age 10, I could no longer hug or kiss them.

I had been misused as a child at the age of 10 and deep down I had a mental block. I feared I would do to my daughters what was done to me. The devil had his way and our family was devastated and destroyed.

However, my daughters had become Christians at a young age. They told me that they had prayed for me, their father, for 18 years that God might save me. God saved me through a vision at age 62, so please don't give up praying for those you love, but also share love and the Lord Jesus gently.

Now, the rewards and the joy that came from a restored relationship with my daughters has been incredible. What the devil had stolen, I received back through obedience. In Joel chapter 2 verse 25, God said, and I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great army which I sent among you.

The Lord restored the family relationships with my daughters. There's great joy. Happiness, beloved.

The second example tonight is also from the Lord's commandments, which includes how to deal with money. Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 says, no man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

He cannot serve God and Mammon. This commandment tells me I must give up the love of money because I cannot serve two masters and remember that I had run a $900 million corporation. I also read in Luke chapter 14 verse 26 where Jesus said, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

So here Jesus was saying to me, I have to love him much more than my family or my life. And then he went on to also say in the next verse in Luke 14, 27, and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And then in Luke 14, 33, it says, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.

As I was praying about this, a tiny small voice came to say, give all away the money you have, give it to the poor. I asked, is that you Lord? When I'm not sure that it is the Lord, I pray three times asking to get the same answer. If it is not the same answer, I won't proceed.

Satan can also come as an angel of light and tell us things to confuse us. Sometimes I ask pastors I know who are true believers for advice and to confirm if I hear something like this. Also, I prayed two more times.

I was certain it was the Lord. I called up my two daughters and I asked them, what would you say if I said, based on the Lord, I will give all the money I have to the poor. That would mean you will not receive an inheritance.

And both daughters answered using the same words. Suzanne said, Dad, I don't want your money. Do what God tells you to do.

I do not want an inheritance. I want the legacy. I called Angela a few minutes later and she used the same words.

Dad, I don't want your money. Do what God tells you to do. I do not want an inheritance.

I want a legacy. I called up Broad Vision, Far East Broadcasting Company and Operation Mobilization. They were three well-known charitable organizations at the beginning of 2000.

I said, I would like to give all I have to the Lord and to the poor, but please give me a plan that would have long-term continuity because of the size of the gifts and tax help. They took my information to give me a plan. Then when I was praying again, there was another instruction.

The Lord said through a tiny little voice, you no longer need to give all away to the poor. I prayed three times. It was the same answer.

I was confused. Then I prayed and said, Lord, if it's really you, I want to be obedient. However, your word says, let your yes be yes and let your no's be no.

I promise to give the money away to World Vision, the Far East Broadcasting Company and Operation Mobilization. However, Lord, if it's really you I hear, then please stop them to take my money. Shortly thereafter, a lawyer called me from World Vision.

He said, give me a minute to pray over your gift. It was quiet for a moment. He then said, I just prayed and God tells me not to take your money.

He hung up on me and I was a bit annoyed. He hung up the phone on me. Then I got a written note from Far East Broadcasting that said, our team has prayed over your gift and the Lord tells us not to take your money.

Then I got a written note from Operation Mobilization saying the same. We have prayed over your gift and God tells us not to take your money. I was amazed.

Three large, major charitable organizations refused the money. Only God could do that. That is a miracle.

I pray. Thank you, Lord, for giving me confirmation that I have heard from you. Thank you, Lord.

Only you could stop three major charitable organizations from taking the money. Now, the thought of faith of missionaries would not leave me. I had met missionaries who had forsaken all.

They gave all. There came a day when I prayed and I said to the Lord, Lord, you told me not to give everything to the poor and then you proved it stopping World Vision Far East Broadcasting and Operation Mobilization. Lord, I just heard from missionaries and how they have faith in you and how they love Muslims so much that they're willing to give up everything that Muslims might receive salvation through your son.

Lord, would it be all right if I give all my to the poor and the unbelieving, not because you say so, but just because I love you? The Lord agreed and I gave all away directly to many poor and missionaries all over the world. Now, I know you're probably thinking this man can't tell this because he will lose his reward for doing it. That's what the Bible says, but I understand that.

However, I gave all away in the names of my two daughters for their benefit. I did not give things away under my name. I gave them the money under the names of my two daughters and all is laid up in heaven for my daughter's benefit.

The result now is that I found that depending on the Lord for all my needs has been one of the greatest and most wonderful things in my life. All monetary worries have left me because I trust the Lord. Yes, I have some small pensions and that is enough.

As I pray daily about life where the Lord guides me, he has provided for all of my needs and at times even for others now for 24 years, beloved. My benefit has been incredible joy. So don't think good of me having done these things.

The Lord guided me and set me free. I rejoice in him. All glory and honor belongs to him.

The life as an adjunct professor or running a 900 million corporation means nothing to me in comparison to the wonderful blessings of being saved, being a child of God and following God. I'm trying to in spirit and in truth, beloved. That is a wonderful, incredible, joyful life and it includes doing the will of God.

By the way, not everyone needs to give all away, but I suggest you give all glory to God if you have sufficient and further the kingdom of God if you have extra resources and also ask God to help you and guide you. You see, I'm still a man under construction. I learn daily and I realize how short I fall of the glory of God many times.

Yes, my part is faith and obedience in doing his will. I shared with you a beautiful song, a beautiful Christian song, and I believe many of you know that song. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, oh, oh, oh, what a glory he sheds on our way.

While we do his goodwill, he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and to be obedient to his word. There in 2 Chronicles 7 verse 14, the Lord told us what we need to do for revival because we all want revival.

There it says, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. If you are a Christian on this call, may I ask how is your obedience to the Lord and his word? You have salvation, but you can also have great happiness and joy in the Lord and in your life by doing his will in all. If you're someone that has never yet asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, please confess your sins to him.

Ask him to forgive you and to save you. He will do so. You can be right, God, through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God. Praise God. Amen.

Let us pray. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this incredible message that you have given to us to renew our strength, to give us the way forward, to understand what means Christian joy, Christian peace, Christian dependence, Christian faith, and so help me to go further in your will.

Help me to do your will and not to stick to anything that would not be in accordance with your word, Lord, because I don't want any more, any wicked ways in my life. Please help me, Lord. I know I still fail sometimes.

I don't love enough. I don't reach out enough, Lord. I don't forgive enough.

I still don't do many of the things, but Lord, help me. Help my brothers and sisters on this call, Lord, because if we do, I believe you will grant us revival in our respective nations and in this world, and I thank you that you will do your part where we do our part, so help us to do too, Lord, because we're so weak, and I'm so weak, Lord, that we need your help in everything to do your will. Thank you for giving us this wonderful promise that you will do your part when we do ours.

Thank you, Lord, and I know you will. Thank you so much. I praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.