Be Righteous With Money

There is a verse we can say is almost the theme verse for our church from almost from the beginning. That is 1 John chapter 2 and verse 6. You all know it. We have spoken about it many many times and we have emphasized this I would say almost more than any other church that you have ever come across. And that is the one who says he abides in Christ must walk in the same way as he walked. Or as the Living Bible says anyone who says he's a Christian must live as Jesus lived. I want to repeat that. Anyone who says he's a Christian should live as Jesus lived. That's the word of God. Anyone who says he wants to be a member of Christian Fellowship Church Bangalore should want with all his heart to live as Jesus lived. If you do not desire that, dear brothers and sisters, there are at least 1,000 churches in Bangalore that you can go and join. Please do not come here. I'm not saying whether you live as Jesus lived. I'm asking whether you have a passion to live as Jesus lived even if you're at the foot of the mountain that you're climbing. You want it with all your heart. I'm not asking if you have reached it. None of us have reached the top. Paul himself said I have not attained it. But anyone who does not have a longing to live like this, this is not the church for you. Let me tell you that. And if anyone is not progressing year by year at least one foot higher up the mountain than you were last year, you're going in the wrong direction. You're going backwards. You're going the wrong direction. Are you willing to repent and turn around and say Lord this is the way I want to live? God is not asking to see what you have attained. God is seeing what you want to, want to, want to. That is the thing which God sees. There's a want to in your heart and how great that longing is what God sees, not how far you have attained. For example, somebody may be much lower than you spiritually, but he may have started out ten times lower than you and so he's made more progress than you. Because he started, if you think of a graph, that guy was minus 200 and he's come out to plus 10. So even if you're plus 20, you're not better than him because you started at minus 50, he started at minus 200. So we cannot evaluate ourselves with each other. The question is where did you start and where you are today? If you started very low and you have progressed quite a bit, that's the thing that God sees. But this is true Christianity. Otherwise people come to this church, can drag this church down to an old covenant standard among people. And I'll tell you honestly, we do not want such people. That's why God has allowed 1,000 churches here for you to go and sit in. Why waste our time here? Why drag other people down to the level that you are in? So please consider what I say. Because Jesus told us to go and make disciples, not converts. Jesus did not tell us to go and gather people who want to go to heaven. Jesus told us to gather people who want to deny themselves every day and take up the cross and follow Jesus. And I know from the history of the Christian Church, of all the churches through 2,000 years, that they started out well and the devil put in there people who are not wholehearted and gradually dragged it down. Now that may happen here, but we're going to fight it and fight it and fight it as far as possible. So that's why I say this. I want to speak particularly about one aspect of walking as Jesus walked. In Romans 12, let me read to you first of all. It says in verse 2, Romans 12 verse 2, this is really the same thing that we read in 1 John 2 6. Romans 12 verse 2 says, Do not be conformed to this world. Don't let the world shape you into its shape. That's the meaning. The world has got a particular shape in its attitude towards sex, in its attitude towards money, in its attitude towards honor, position. That's a shape. Don't let the world squeeze you into that shape. Resist it in all these areas, in the attitude of seeking honor, position, money, pleasure, sin, etc. But instead, don't just stand back. The only way to avoid being conformed to this world is to be transformed. That means changed. And how do we get changed? By the renewing of your mind. That means your mind's attitude towards sin, towards sinful pleasure, towards sex, towards human honor, towards money is being changed. That is transformation. Thus you will prove in your life what God's perfect will for you is in your life. One more verse, Philippians chapter 3. It's all connected to the same thing. The only way to have our mind transformed is by allowing us by, if we try to understand the way what God thinks about particular something that we are looking at. So it's like saying there's a human viewpoint and there's God's viewpoint. All of us when we are born, we've got a human viewpoint towards sex, money, honor. And conversion is we're lifted up to the heavenlies where God wants to slowly change our attitude and viewpoint to all these things. I gotta look at sex the way God looks at it. I gotta look at money the way God looks at it. I gotta look at human position and power and honor the way God looks at it. Increasingly that is what it means to become like Christ. Because Jesus lived on this earth in a perfect way in all these areas and to walk as he walked means I aim towards that. I've got a name. Paul said I don't run without a name and none of us should run without a name. In Philippians, Paul says in Philippians in chapter 3 verse 12, he says I have, it's not that I've already obtained or become perfect. He's saying I have not yet become like Christ. My goal is to walk as Jesus walked. My goal is to live as Christ lived. I have not yet attained to it. None of us will attain to it. That means you won't reach the top of the mountain on this earth. You won't get a hundred percent but you shouldn't be living at one percent all your life. That's the point. But I press on. So just because I haven't reached the top of the mountain doesn't mean I sit at the bottom of the mountain and say well I haven't reached the top and here's another guy who's climbed 5,000 feet and the guy sits at the bottom of the mountain says he hasn't reached the top and I haven't reached the top. Yes but he's 5,000 feet up because he's worked hard getting up there and Paul says I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me. That's a beautiful expression. To lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me. Christ laid hold of me to make me like him. Christ laid hold of Paul and you to make you like him. If you are really born again and I don't know whether all of you are but if you are really born again then Christ laid hold of you with one purpose to make you like him and if that's not the passion of your life something is fundamentally wrong and Jesus said if you want to follow me you got to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me. It's not just excitement. I won't teach you to say shout and say hallelujah. That's Old Testament. If you are living in the Psalms you tell people to shout and say hallelujah. You never find the word shout say hallelujah once in the New Testament. Why is that? Because that's not the New Testament message. All these Pentecostal people who teach you that spirituality is to shout and say hallelujah they haven't understood ABC of the New Covenant. You go and search a concordance and see how many times the word shout comes in the New Testament. Never. It comes plenty in the Old Testament. Are you an Old Covenant Christian or a New Covenant one? I'll tell you what comes in the New Covenant. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Search those verses. Don't listen to preachers who just tell you to shout. Listen to preachers who tell you to take up the cross and deny yourself. That's what will make you spiritual. Otherwise you'll remain an Old Covenant Christian all your life. Please remember this. Paul wasn't pressing on to learn how to praise God better. He was pressing on to become more like Jesus Christ. A lot of our shouting and praising is a matter of temperament. Those who got a very outgoing temperament shout and praise a lot and those who are reserved will keep a little more silent. That doesn't mean they are not spiritual. They may be ten times more spiritual than the other guys who shout because that's temperament. Don't mistake temperament for spirituality. Some are inward looking and quiet naturally but they may be a hundred times more spiritual than a lot of other fellows who shout and raise their hands and wave it. Please remember this because I'm afraid that CFC can go the Pentecostal way and you'll end up with no spirituality and be deceived by all the others. So we want to get rid of that and as long as I'm alive I'll keep emphasizing that one thing. There is only one way to follow Jesus and it is not by shouting and praising. It's by denying yourself every single day in your office, in your home, when you drive on the roads, in the church, in your relationship with every single brother and sister here and to take up your cross and follow Jesus. There is absolutely no other way to follow Jesus Christ every day and I'll tell you this the day this church loses that vision it has already started sinking and we don't want to listen to preaching that's not going to lead to that direction never and there are very few people who preach that truth consistently. If you don't believe me just go to the internet and listen to all the messages there are on YouTube and and listen to how many people are preaching about following Jesus and taking up the cross every day in denying themselves. It's rare because Paul said in the last days people will want their ears tickled to hear what they like to hear and not what they need to hear. So Paul told Timothy as long as you're alive you better preach the whole truth and let people hear it. So Paul said I'm pressing on I want to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me and again he says in verse 13 I haven't laid hold of it yet and I'm not pretending that I have but there's only one thing I do in life for a lot of Christians the one thing they do in life is they want to make more money or they want more honor or they want to become an elder in a church someday or they want to sneakily watch pornography that's the one thing but Paul said there's one thing I do I want to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me I want to become a little more like Christ every year and I want to forget what lies behind okay maybe we messed up our life Paul do you know that Paul messed up his life for 30 years more than any of you did or you or me you never killed any Christians Paul persecuted Christians and got some of them killed he was a driving force behind Stephen the first martyr being killed have you done that no his life was more messed up than yours for 30 years many of you have come to Christ long before you were 30 are you gonna go ahead of Paul no because you don't have the passion to follow like he had dear brothers and sisters let's wake up Paul because he messed up his life so much he said Oh God how can I make up for my lost time I felt like that when CFC started when I was 35 and I began to understand about the new covenant when I was 35 36 years old I said Lord so many years I've not understood this new covenant what am I going to do I better make up for lost time I don't know whether you feel like that when you look back over years where you failed and disappointed the Lord do you feel such a regret and sorrow and say Lord I got to make up for lost time now I got to study the Bible better I've got to know your word better do you have a passion like that I often say if you've been born again for one year and you have not read through the Bible you're not a serious Christian not at all don't think you are you've time to read the newspapers and read so many other books but you don't read God's Word don't think you're a serious Christian if you spend more time on Facebook then on God's book you know where your interests are do you think if Jesus was on earth he would spend more time on Facebook then knowing the Word of God do you really think so don't fool yourself don't say well it's not sinful it's nice it's a question of how much time you spend on it I've got nothing against watching clean television but you can spend so much time on it that you don't have time to spend with God so sometimes we can ease our conscience and say that's not sinful what I'm doing agreed but if you spend so much time on something which is ordinary that cuts out that you don't have time to spend with the Lord and with his Word and you don't have an interest for example to read that book through the Bible that commentary and try to understand more and more of God's Word if you can't understand God's Word by yourself if you can understand God's Word by yourself sure then read it all by yourself but if you can't get a help like that and read it and get to know God's Word because we are living in the last days and I want to say to you if you want to bring up your children in a godly way you better teach them those truths and you won't be able to teach them that if you don't know it yourself that is the reason why I wrote that book so that the next generation can know God so that they can't make the excuse saying I can't understand the Bible a lot of people have told me that I say okay here's a book you can understand now you have no excuse saying I can't understand the Bible and you know I told you this that if you can't afford it you come to me we'll won't even charge you that much there are people we have given it up free because I'm interested that they get to know God money is not the important thing for us we're not interested in making money through our books or our videos or anything so Paul had this passion why was Paul so careful in the area of money for example because he knew that Jesus was very careful in the area of money and you couldn't be like Jesus if you didn't have a right attitude towards money because Jesus said something in one Corinthians sorry Luke chapter 16 to walk as Jesus walked Jesus only taught what he did there is a description of the gospel of Luke you know that Luke is a doctor who wrote two books of the Bible in case you did not know all the other books were written by Jewish people the sons children of Abraham Isaac and Jacob but there was one man who was not a Jew who wrote two books of the Bible that is Luke and Acts of the Apostles he was the only Gentile who wrote in the scripture and he's a very careful writer he writes everything very carefully Luke is the most descriptive description of the life of the earthly life of Jesus than the other Gospels you know that and he includes some amazing stories like the story of the prodigal son which none of the other Gospels mentions so he's a very careful person who made a lot of investigation he didn't live with Jesus but he found out things carefully and wrote it down and he had the same attitude when he came to the Acts of the Apostles and when he writes Acts of the Apostles you know the first verse I don't have time to turn to it but the very first verse and Acts of the Apostles he says Theophilus whom he was writing the book the first account which I wrote Luke Luke's gospel is an account of what Jesus did and taught what Jesus did first and then taught that is how Luke himself in Acts 1 1 describes the gospel of Luke so if there's a title for the gospel of Luke which Luke himself gave it is what Jesus did and then taught okay here is something that Jesus taught in Luke 16 remember he did it first and only then did he teach it in Luke 16 verse 11 if you have not been faithful in the use of money and wealth and property unrighteous mammon is a combined phrase for money shares wealth property real estate house cars everything anything that we can call wealth it's one word for it mammon and if you're not faithful in the use of these material things like money etc how will God ever give you the true riches who will entrust true riches to you but this is not true riches you will discover when you leave this world and go to eternity that money has no value there these are not the true riches but this teaches us that God is giving us earthly riches to test us to see whether he can give us the true riches like if you're teaching your little children how to handle money and you give them 10 rupees and say let me see how you handle that and he's very careless with it and loses it somewhere you're not on you're not going to give him a hundred rupees definitely not that's what God is saying he says I give you a little bit here on the earth to see whether you're faithful with it and you're not faithful with it I will not give you true riches and I really believe with all my heart that that is the reason why many many believers including many of you sitting here do not have really the true riches even if you have plenty of the false riches so I've sought God through the years to understand what the true riches are the true riches are number one the things that value in heaven you know number one is becoming like Jesus Christ there's absolutely nothing to equal that on the face of the earth or in eternity you will discover when you get into eternity that the richest people in heaven are the people who became more most like Jesus Christ on this earth who used all the situations of life to become more like Christ they are the richest people in heaven God tested them through circumstances through temptations through money through people's opinions and a hundred and one things and those who were faithful faithful and became Christ like the other richest people in heaven secondly the true riches are the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit where the power of the Holy Spirit takes over that I don't try to live the Christian life with my own strength that I don't seek to serve God with my own strength and if you have failed and failed and failed so much you know the reason it's because you're not God wants you through that failure to begin to seek God for his power I found in the early days when I started preaching when I was I started preaching when I was 21 years old after my baptism and I found preaching was such a struggle such a struggle even for five minutes it is like a hand pump you pump and pump and pump and pump and then you get a half a bucket of water it was like that my ministry and I said Lord it this is not the way I'm supposed to be you said rivers of living water this with I'm pumping so much and I get so little and I began to realize that I need to seek for the power of the Holy Spirit and I began to seek God for the power of the Holy Spirit I fasted and prayed and said Lord I will not I cannot serve you if I don't give me the power of the Holy Spirit and that's not just for preaching for living the Christian life I was defeated and I wanted to overcome and I realized I cannot overcome without the power of the Holy Spirit you can struggle and struggle and struggle you will not overcome because Satan is too strong the lusts in your flesh are so strong and the world around you is so strong these are three enemies and you cannot conquer them in your own power if you were the sooner you realize that the better so you seek God for power so that's the second richest the power of the Holy Spirit and God doesn't give it to everybody he gives it to those who hunger and thirst for it anybody who hungers and thirsts Jesus spoke about a man who went to his neighbor's house and kept on knocking knocking knocking knocking knocking until he got it and he said if you seek like that you'll find if you ask like that you'll get if you just knock once or twice and give up you will not get and Jesus said if anyone thirsts John 7 37 let him come to me and if you believe that I will give you more than your earthly father will give you things you will receive rivers of living water and I said Lord I thirst I'm willing to give up anything on this earth if you'll fill me with the Holy Spirit anoint me because I know that in eternity that's the only thing that's going to count if I live my life on earth spirit-filled every day that's all I don't care for the opinions of men I want you to be able to look at me every day and say this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased I hope you have a passion like that this is my beloved daughter in whom I'm well pleased do you have a desire like that I'll tell you before God I have a passion that God will say that about me every single day of my life this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased at the end of each day this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased I hope you have a desire like that this is my beloved son my beloved daughter whom with whom I've been well pleased today how can you be a Christian talk about Jesus dying for you and suffering so much for you and you don't have that passion something is wrong so seek for the anointing of the Holy Spirit seek for the mighty power of the Holy Spirit and this is not a once-for-all thing like the Pentecostal say it's continuous I believe in baptism in the Holy Spirit means an immersion in the Holy Spirit and I need to be immersed in the Holy Spirit every day not just once and not just for gifts for life and gifts for the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit fruit is to please God with my life and gifts are to serve him so that I can bless other people and the third riches true riches are first of all become like Christ second the power of the Holy Spirit and third revelation on God's truth in his word this book the Bible is not like any other book you can't study it like you study physics or history or geography or chemistry those books all you need is a clever brain but Jesus said in this book God has hidden things from the clever and the intelligent Matthew 11 25 there is no book in the world that clever and intelligent people can't understand which only little children can understand but Jesus said I have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent and revealed them to babes and you say what do babes have I don't mean that babes intellectual abilities not talking about intellect what quality do babes have which clever intelligent people do not have humility and humility means a humble dependence upon God just like a branch in a tree saying I can do nothing if the branch does not give me sap that is humility he what is the best branch in the world producing so many mangoes or apples and say I can't produce a single apple hey but you've been producing apples and mangoes for 25 years you mean you can't breathe no even if I produce 50 years I can't produce anymore it always comes through my dependence on the tree that is faith faith is not just confessing I believe in Jesus Christ the son of God who died and rose again and he's coming back that's intellectual true faith is dependence upon God like the branch in the tree it's what Jesus said in John 15 5 without me you can do nothing so it's that dependence that's faith and so when I come to God's Word I cannot understand it unless I have humility and have that humble dependence upon God and trust in him so many of you think you know the Bible you don't you know verses verses even the devil knows and he knows it better than all of us but he doesn't have that humble dependence upon God revelation on scripture the devil doesn't have he cannot he cannot have it because it's not given to the proud people I mean the devil can hear what somebody else speaks on revelation from revelation but he gets that second-hand knowledge and a lot of you get second-hand knowledge from someone else who got revelation but it must become revelation to you that's why I say what you hear from the pulpit you must take before God and say Lord make this real in my life so that I don't say I believe it because brother Zack taught it and he's a reliable person no I believe it because Lord you've shown me the meaning of that verse from scripture that is revelation and that is the true riches and if you don't have that all that you have is an intellectual knowledge of scripture and that is the reason why many of you are not growing as you should be think of where you should have been by now spiritually and where you are after all the years that you have sat here and heard and heard and heard and heard and heard why is it that I find some people have come to CFC Church much later than you 10 years after you 15 years after you 20 years after you have gone way ahead of you in terms of spiritual growth maturity and usefulness is it because they are older than you know they are younger than you is it because they know more of the truth than you know you know it your head is oozing with knowledge of all the things that you heard from this pulpit but they've grown ahead of you because they got more humility and they got more dependence upon God they've sought for the part of the Holy Spirit I'm not trying to condemn any of you I'm trying to challenge you not to sit in that kindergarten all your days that's what I'm saying how long will you sit in the kindergarten that's all I'm saying so true riches that's what Jesus said if you're not faithful with money you will not get the true riches it's so simple if I want true riches I've just got to be faithful with the material things God gives us in the Old Testament it was a prosperity gospel prosperity gospel is a gospel but it is an Old Testament gospel is described in Deuteronomy 28 health is an Old Testament gospel is described in Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 is the perfect description of the health wealth gospel that is if you obey God he'll bless you materially you'll have so much money and you'll have many children of course nobody wants that but that's also part of Deuteronomy 28 and if you don't obey God you'll become poor you'll become sick and your enemies will overpower you that's an Old Testament gospel in the New Covenant the equivalent of that is remember everything earthly and material in the Old Testament is spiritual in the New Testament if it was a material physical lamb now we look at Jesus the spiritual reality is there in the Old Testament they asked you to give 10% in the New Testament God asked you to give your body not 10% of your money but your body as a living sacrifice to God in the Old Covenant it was many earthly children in the New Covenant if you're faithful you'll have many spiritual children yes you're supposed to have spiritual children that means through your life other people should be born again other people should be blessed and grow through every one of us that's not just the calling of a preacher just like every you know how some families I met who long and long and long and long to have children they say please pray that we'll have one child at least like Hannah prayed in the Old Testament and like Rachel prayed in the Old Testament give me children or I die that was a prayer how many of you have a prayer like that Lord I haven't brought anybody to Christ give me at least one baby one spiritual child I can bring to Christ some of you've been born again so many years that shows there is zero spiritual desire if you didn't have children in your family boy you'd be praying to God but spiritual children no desire something is wrong we are fooling ourselves many people are fooling themselves because they say I belong to CFC I've got a good name that's what the Jews came to John the Baptist and said we're the children of Abraham and John the Baptist said don't say you're children of Abraham God can raise children from these stones and I would say God can raise disciples from these tiles more than you saying oh we belong to CFC or we listen to this brother or that brother no faithfulness with money material things is very very important and Jesus uses another expression for money verse 12 I don't know whether you realize that this is also money if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is somebody else's who will give you that which is your own do you know that refers to money and material things one Corinthians 1026 says everything on this earth belongs to God 1 Corinthians 1026 the earth and everything in it including all the material things and all the money belongs to God if God has allowed you to earn some of that every month it belongs to him it's a loan your monthly salary is a loan God gives you the interest you get in your bank from which you live is a loan God gives you because it belongs to him so here money is called that which belongs to another God and if you have not been faithful in money which belongs to God who will give you the real wealth which is yours what is what are we supposed to have Christ likeness that's the wealth we are supposed to have and in order to give us that he tests us with money that belongs to somebody else how many of you knew that all the money you have in your bank account belongs to somebody else and even the house you got registered in your name belongs to somebody else I remember that when I very first house I had registered in my name I yielded it to the Lord the day one and I said Lord it's in my name in the registry office but it's yours I will never treat it as mine it's yours 100% I will not say it's mine if it's yours that which is another's please remember my brother sister all the earthly things you possess remember it belongs to somebody else it belongs to God he's given to you as a loan and there's another description of money in verse 10 it's all referring to money he who is faithful in very little is faithful also in much what is very little money material things do you know that all the wealth you have is described by Jesus very little and in that very little in God's eyes 10 paisa all the wealth you have he says you're not faithful with that then you won't be faithful in the more important things like your spiritual growth and being a blessing to others God told Abraham I'm gonna bless you and you'll be a blessing to the whole world every family you meet will be blessed do you know that Galatians 314 says that is God's will for you and me that every family we meet will be blessed if that's not happening why not I want to challenge you today then he went on to say in verse 13 there are only two masters in the world very important in the Old Testament nobody knew that they thought it was God and Satan and you go to any religious person they'll say God and Satan God and Satan God and Satan but Jesus said no it's God and money and I'd rather believe Jesus than anybody else there are two masters God and mammon verse 13 that means all wealth so there are two masters that are trying to control your life not Satan I don't think you will allow any of you will allow Satan to control your life so there's no need to even think about that but do you think money is controlling your life then that is your master whether you know it or not and here's the test I always say which I apply to myself how do I know who is my master is it God or money it's very easy to find out in a particular situation I know that God wants me to do this and the pull of money wants me to do this something else here's money here's God to must two masters trying to control me God says do this and money says do this which do I do that will determine whose servant I am and you find yourself in a situation where you can tell a lie and make a little more money money says do it God says keep your conscience clear don't do it who are you going to listen to many of you have faced situations like that and you've decided whom you want to serve and more than one you decide again and again and again you serve a particular person whether you know it or not whether you sat in CFC for 30 years you are the slave of money because you are listening to it you cannot serve two masters and you see the effect of that in your life you the effect is you're very sharp in money matters very sharp nobody can fool you but you're very dull in spiritual things you have no spiritual discernment even after so many years because you're serving money dear brothers and sisters I have to warn you I cannot change your attitude only you can do that even Almighty God listen to this even Almighty God cannot change your attitude if he could he would have changed the attitude of everybody in the world nobody would go to hell you know how many thousands of people in the world went to hell just in the last 24 hours thousands of people died in the last 24 hours and I've gone to hell did God try to stop any of them saying no no don't go don't go no he let them go because all their life they chose that they'd said we don't want God and some of you may not be saying I don't want God but when money pulls you you are saying I don't want God if you listen to that you think money doesn't pull me it's put me for 50 years I refuse to listen to it money will keep on pulling you all your life money is part of the dust of the earth when God made man there were two parts to man one is dust all of you know you know our body is basically mud mud means dust plus water that's what we have there's a lot of water in our body and dust so we call it mud that's one part that's always pulling us down because the earth is mud but then God breathed into man a conscience which animals don't have he never breathed into animals animals have got the physical breath but they don't have the breath of God which is conscience when God breathed into Adam it's not that he started breathing physically the animals were breathing physically without God breathing into them it was conscience that came into Adam at that moment the voice of God the breath of God came into him and so there's a part of man that's pulling him down and there's a part of man that's pulling him up that is the voice of God the breath of God pulling us up in the dust of the earth pulling us down you make a choice every day which you're going to yield to when your conscience tells you this is wrong you know and the mud part of you pulls you down and say go ahead and enjoy that whether it's pornography or some other type of filthy thing it's the dust pulling you down sexual desire look at the animals they don't have a voice of God pulling them up no that's why a dog will go and have sex with any female dog anywhere anyone it doesn't matter it doesn't have a wife or anything any female dog will do and so-called Christians who open their computer and watch any female stripping herself they're no no different from that dog who goes out for any female dog absolutely not no different the guy who sits and enjoys pornography no different from that dog was pulled by the dust of which it is made and yields to it and yields to it yields to it but that dog can't be blamed it doesn't have God what about Christians who claim to know God and are pulled towards that to watch watch that filthy thing just to satisfy their sexual lust you are what you are today because of many such decisions you have made and somebody else who felt the same pull this way and pulled by God upward responded to God and you see he is different he's not because God blessed him in any special way it's because of the decisions he made day after day after day after day when he resisted something denied himself took up the cross and I want to say to you if somebody is more spiritual than you it is because he the decisions he made and you are what you are today because of the decisions you have made when you're tempted to get angry at somebody who got angry with you you take a decision the dust part in you says get angry with him it's like even a dog barks at another dog this dog I mean glares at it and shows its teeth that's what you're doing to somebody shouts at you and shows their teeth and you like a dog show your teeth back that's dust but a godly person responds God says don't leave him alone keep quiet forgive him there are people who take that type of decision you see them ten years later they progress so much near God while you're still in the gutter you can sit in CFC and be in the spiritual gutter all your life so I want to try and wake you up today I want to say is a little more about this money how shall we it says you're about being faithful with money faithful with money now if you want to be faithful with money you've got to first be righteous with money you can't go to college before you finish school school is being righteous with money college is being faithful with money please remember don't try to be faithful with money before you're righteous with money don't try to go to college before you finish school to be righteous with money means first of all that you give all money back that you cheated somebody off we may have all cheated I don't know about you but the rest of us have all cheated in our unconverted days could be taxes or somebody else we took money never returned it and or we have stolen something from someone I remember when I was 12 years old and I used to collect foreign stamps as a hobby and we used to exchange stamps with others and when when somebody else was not looking when I was exchanging stamps with I stole one of his stamps I wasn't all that spiritual just by the way when I was 12 years old I wasn't even converted and about eight nine years later when I got baptized the Lord said you remember that what you did nine years ago one worthless stamp I'd stopped collecting stamps ages ago that person I knew and also stopped collecting stamps ages ago the Lord said apologize to him I look so stupid to write to him and say I'm sorry nine years ago I stole a stamp from you please forgive me it doesn't matter if it cost nothing it was not mine the Lord was testing me the value was zero but the humbling myself boy that was more difficult I decided I'm gonna write it and taxes that I owe to the government in my unconverted days the Lord said return it and I had to save four months salary to return and I took a long time and one day I saved it emptied my bank account and said here it is I give it away if I had not done that 56 years ago I would have been dragging a chain on my foot all these years and trying to run the Christian race and I know where I would have been and that's where some of you are you got chains on your legs I'm just encouraging you to give them up I was glad to give away a four-month salary because I wanted a clear conscience I was glad to give away that mud in order to get more of the breath of God are you you cannot serve God and money there may be people you have cheated who don't even know that you've cheated them Zacchaeus you read in Luke 19 had cheated people and when the Lord came to him he said Lord I'm going to set everything right why did he give four times back what he took from people you heard me say this many times because Zacchaeus was a great meant I mean he was a very intelligent man he's a tax collector he knew how to calculate interest very quickly and he knew that money means interest if you take money from somebody I've seen people borrow money from others if you borrow money from a bank try and go and borrow money from a bank they'll charge you 12% if you put money in a bank they'll give you 7% at the most one year deposit if you borrow from them they charge you 11% 12% that's how they make money righteously so you don't borrow from a bank you borrow from a brother in the church and you cheat him you cheat him of that 11% he's a brother you know that's cheating you God will never bless you you can make your money brother you and your children will find financial loss you believe my word I don't want my children to suffer because I cheated somebody of interest or tax or anything I decided that I will not bring a curse upon my children like Gehazi brought upon his children through taking money wrongfully and I believe some of you are going to do that and you may not live to see that curse coming upon your children but it'll come 10 years after you're dead and gone I don't want that to happen I don't want a single paisa in my account that I did not earn righteously I do not want a single paisa that is I owe as interest to somebody from whom I borrowed money you know why it is righteous if I borrow let's say I borrowed one rupee from a brother I'm just taking a small figure so that we don't go into high figures 50 years ago I borrowed it and I never returned it and I'll tell you about the value of money changes if I give him one rupee back today I've not given him one rupee when I was in the Navy 55 years ago petrol with which I used to fill my scooter was believe it or not 80 paisa for a liter of petrol I used to fill my scooter for four rupees 80 paisa a liter I remember it so clearly today it is 80 rupees almost a liter the petrol hasn't changed but the value of money what was 80 paisa then is 80 rupees today 100 times so if I took one rupee from you 50 years ago and I give you a hundred rupees back today I haven't given you any extra I just returned your money and if you add on that the interest I should give you for 50 years it'll become immense but if I just give you back that one rupee it is a hundred rupees I have to give you that is a simple principle of economics if you haven't understood it it's good to understand it I cannot borrow one rupee from someone and give him back one rupee after one year I've got to give him one rupee and ten paisa at least if I borrow a hundred rupees I must return a hundred and ten rupees after one year that is righteousness otherwise you're cheating him yes of course you may borrow a hundred rupees from a person and not return it that's another thing but I want to explain something so clearly to you at least those in CFC in future cannot say I did not know unfortunately you came to this meeting and now you know you can't escape I always tell people that if you have no interest in obeying God better not come to this church go to some other church you won't be condemned for anything but if you if you're serious about following the Lord this is the best church to come to but if you don't want to obey God it's much better to go some other church otherwise I guarantee your condemnation will increase in the day of judgment and all those who listen online as well and listen to these messages online your condemnation will increase a lot of people say oh brother zag I'm so excited to hear you fine but do you realize that your responsibility before God is also increasing as you listen to me proclaim the truth of God your life can go to great heights or it can sink to great depths you know a donkey could never become the devil because not smart enough you know who became the devil the most intelligent most capable of all the angels became the devil the highest of the angels they call him Lucifer he had opportunity to go to great heights but because he used his intelligence the wrong way he sank to great depths a donkey can never sink and become a devil no but a donkey cannot be the leader of God's worship team either so when we are at a very low level we can't increase go up much and we can go down much but the smarter and more intelligent and more capable you are the higher you can go in the lower you can go as well so faithfulness is very very important what does the Bible say this is what Zacchaeus did he gave back he calculated and said so many years I borrowed from these people I've got to give back four times today I told you a hundred times over 50 years he was saying four times because he hadn't borrowed for a 50 years he calculated and say yeah I took a hundred did denarii from then now I got to give 400 back because interest has come to that over so many years and you know what Jesus said when he heard that in Luke 19 and verse 9 salvation has come to this person he just heard that one thing that's all he heard Zacchaeus calculating and saying I'm gonna give back not only what I took but I'm gonna give back with interest and Jesus said salvation has come Luke 19 9 is he gonna say that about you you think salvation is just breaking bread here saying I've accepted Christ don't fool yourself where did Jesus say the only time in all the four Gospels where Jesus's salvation has come to this house was when he saw a man being absolutely righteous with money when he saw that Zacchaeus could have eased his conscience by saying I took a hundred denarii and I gave back a hundred denarii but when he saw this man such a lover of money saying I took a hundred denarii from him but that is many years ago and I know the value of money has increased now I have to give him back 400 denarii to help him to have what he what I took from him he said boy salvation has come to this guy without a doubt salvation from what? Verse 10 the Son of Man has come to seek and to save those who are lost lost in what? Lost in the love of money let me tell you something every child of Adam is lost in the love of money every child of Adam loves money the richest people in the world don't you think they love money of course they do the poorest beggar in Bangalore he loves money too show me a beggar who doesn't love money every human being loves money and when I read that verse I said Lord I love money if there's anybody here who thinks he doesn't love money you're fooling yourself I went to the Lord and said Lord I am lost in the love of money will you please save me like you save Zacchaeus because it says the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost I said Lord I'm lost in the love of money will you please save me completely 100% I don't want a 50% salvation from it I want a hundred percent salvation from it I was determined to get it and that's what God did in my life I hope he'll do it in your life otherwise I'll tell you you will never serve God you will never in your life serve God you will not be a disciple of Jesus Christ Jesus did and taught this is how he he lived himself this is how he lived himself he never took advantage of anyone it's a wonderful thing and the other thing was Zacchaeus said half my goods I give to the poor verse 8 and that's because he did not know the mailing address of so many people he had cheated from what do you do with if you have money which you've stolen from someone and you don't know his mailing address now you don't know where he is maybe you stole it 25 years ago you don't even where that guy is but you know you have with you a thousand rupees that you took 25 years ago which you don't have you got to multiply that and say well I've got that's probably worth about 50,000 rupees today what shall I do with the 50,000 rupees in my account I can't return it to him because I don't know where he is I'll tell you what you should do put it in the offering box give it to God that's what in those days they do give a gift to God by giving to the poor that's why Zacchaeus decided to give half to the poor you see there are so many people I borrowed took and money from I'm not I can't keep it it's not my it's not in my it's not righteously earned have you prayed to God like this Lord I don't want a single rupee in my bank account which is not righteously earned I pray that many times I said Lord I don't want show me what it is I want to give it away if I don't know where the person is I'll put it in the offering box if I know where the person is I'll return it I want to hear the words from Jesus salvation has come to Zacpoon and this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased that means more to me than having a billion rupees in my bank account I'll tell you before God it does mean more to me than that I don't know whether it means more to you but that is true Christianity and that's the Christianity that Paul lived as a preacher he says in 1 Corinthians and sorry 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 that's a great word here 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 2 Paul was saying this to the Corinthian Christians he says make room for us in your hearts you know they despised Paul even though Paul sacrificed so much for them risked his life for them was beaten up preaching the gospel for them and yet they didn't value him it's a great tragedy that so many people don't value the true servants of God they did not value Paul and look what his testimony to them he's just he says here is my threefold testimony 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 2 we did not wrong anybody we did not corrupt anybody we did not take advantage of anybody and you have that testimony I have not wronged anyone I have not done any harm to anyone if I accidentally hurt someone even stamp their foot I apologize but knowingly I have not wronged anyone I've not taken advantage of anyone I've not corrupted anyone do you know that you sisters listen your sisters you can corrupt a young man by dressing immodestly yeah you have corrupted that young man because you want to wear these tight-fitting dresses with blouses that show half your back and tight-fitting dresses and exposing more and more of your body okay you cannot say we corrupted no one you have you corrupted a lot of people when you walk down the road when you go to work in the office when you go to college when you come to the church you're corrupting people all the time and if your parents don't have the sense to teach you to dress modestly go to the Bible yourself and learn yourself so what if people don't think you're stylish if God will approve of you God will say this is my beloved daughter in whom I'm well pleased I'm not asking you to wear 18th century clothes but I say don't corrupt anyone don't provoke people and when you put on your dress don't ask your mother your mother doesn't have the eyes of a man ask your father a man has the eyes of a man ask your father to tell you dad do I think do you think this dress of mine is sexually provocative your mother will not be able to tell you maybe she will if she's a godly woman there are very few like that but your father will be able to tell you even if he's an unconverted person because a man's eyes can immediately detect in a way no woman's eyes can that is sexually stimulating because there's no way to define it but there is something that's sexually stimulating and a man can see it immediately that's why I say ask your dad the way you dress if you're serious if you're a serious Christian you don't have to listen to me you can listen to yourself but this is if you want to don't corrupt anyone and we took advantage of no one that's another thing Paul never took advantage of anybody you know Paul said that I have every right as an apostle to be supported by you people of course the Bible says he who labors in the gospel is worthy to be supported of the gospel Paul had every right to be supported but he didn't do it he didn't take advantage of it see for example he says in Galatians in chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 verse 6 let me paraphrase this if somebody teaches you the Word of God you must share your material things with him to support him Galatians 6 verse 6 now Paul is writing that he's the one teaching God's Word was he trying to hint give me some money he said no I don't want any money I'm just telling you God's law is that if you have received something spiritual from somebody I mean you go to a doctor and you get healed of a physical disease and you pay him here's somebody who's healing you of a spiritual disease Paul says don't you think he should be paid but he says I won't take it I won't take it because I want to be an example to you and that is how you have seen the elders in this church Ian Robson and I all these 42 years we have taught you the Word of God exactly like it says there we don't take money from you if you come and give it to me I'll put it in the offering box go and ask brother Sebastian how many lakhs I and my children are put into the CFC offering box we don't take it we're an example but he says it's right but he says we have not taken advantage of anybody but in a church like that some of you go and borrow money from others in this church please give me money why can't you live within your income you want to build a house and you want to build it bigger than you have money for so you go and borrow go and borrow from the bank that's okay and pay them their interest nothing wrong in that or from somebody outside but you go and borrow money from somebody within CFC because you know you can get it without interest shame on you are you a believer or an unbeliever are you talking about new and living way and all this high sounding stuff and when it comes to money you're worse than an unbeliever that's what I mean in a church where you have exemplary elders have set such an example for you you want the honor of belonging to CFC and you take advantage of the goodness of somebody else in CFC dear brothers and sisters take this seriously this is why you've not grown spiritually even though you acquire so much knowledge of so many things knowledge is not spirituality please remember this I'll tell you how faithful Paul was so let me show you 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 it says sorry chapter 3 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 8 we you know this is when Paul was staying in Thessalonica for some time preaching the Word of God he had every right to be supported and so somebody supplied him with food Paul couldn't cook all the time because you're so busy traveling preaching that there were good believers in the church in Thessalonica who would come regularly and give him food probably every day breakfast lunch and dinner and he said we paid for it 2nd Thessalonians 3 verse 8 we did not eat anybody's food without paying for it can you imagine an apostle who's blessing people with teaching them teaching them praying for them praying for the sick and healing them and and that when they come and give him some food he pays for it I don't mean that he you know you don't pay for it don't be we're not being ridiculous here that somebody gives you one meal or something no he was staying there say for some years and every day somebody was supplying him food and such a case definitely he should pay for it as a Christian he need not because he's an apostle but he said no we pay for the food we got and how did we get that money to pay for it we worked hard and earned our living ourselves so that we may not be a burden to any of you please show me some preachers like that in the world today I would like I really would like to meet some if you find someone like that who's preaching his soul away and does not take any money from the people but even pays for the food that he receives I really would like to feed meet some people like that in the world if you come across someone anywhere in the world let me know that I'd like to at least correspond with them and learn something from them yeah sometimes we don't you know like we say children sometimes don't appreciate their parents till they go away from home or till they hear stories about how some other parents have brought up their children then they begin to appreciate their parents and I feel that for many many people who have grown up in CFC for 40 years I sometimes wish that you would go away from CFC for five years to some other church you'll come like they say running back here with your tail between your legs and saying brother this is where we want to be you don't realize what it is out like they're out in the rest of Christendom especially in the area of money they'll keep on taking money from you and they won't even give you 10% of the things you hear here learn to value the church and I want to say to you don't take advantage of others learn to live within your income if you can build a house only this size build it that size why you want to build later bigger one and burden somebody in the church who's building it for you that's a crime it's absolutely evil and I asked those who are builders I said these brothers for whom you're building houses do they pay you your commission you ask Ian when he made some carpentry work for me in my house and ask him if I didn't pay him his commission not just the amount he paid his labors and the wood material I should put your commission put your 20% and add that he's a brother of mine I worked with him 42 years but I won't take advantage of him anybody it's wrong just because a brother is in the church doesn't mean you don't pay him his commission he's got to take care of his family and that guy can't beat your house and say just according exact amount of material you pay for that he's got to support his family you got to pay him his 20% Commission if you're not doing that you're a crook you're a cheat and if you owed him that five years ago calculate the interest and give it back this is righteousness I'm not preaching some high standard I'm still talking on the subject of not faithfulness I haven't come to faithfulness yet I'm talking about righteousness faithfulness is college let's finish our school education first before we go to college you don't need to know about faithfulness you just need to know about righteousness right now this is very very very important so this is what righteousness means that I don't owe anybody anything I clear all my old debts and I don't take advantage of people in the church saying can you give me this can you give me that and I want to tell you also those who are very generous in your heart please be wise in giving money we made a rule in CFC many years ago and we still follow that rule if anybody asks you for a loan of more than 1,000 rupees please ask the elders first before giving that money let me repeat if anybody in this church I mean if you want to go and give the beggar 10,000 rupees that's okay but someone in this church asks you for a loan of 1,000 rupees or more please go and ask the elders permission first and if anybody has taken a loan from you and has not returned it within one month please go and tell the elders who that person is and how much the money is we're not going to put him in jail we're going to help him to be a better Christian that's all we're not police people but we want people to enter the kingdom of God joyfully and not miss out on God's kingdom not go to hell because he didn't settle a debt with you we're trying to save people from hell that's the reason why we give this instruction and that's when people are spiritual babies you got to treat them like babies if they were mature there's no need for such instructions these are very simple things by which we can help people to be free and say what about when the Bible says we've got to help the poor I'll tell you how to help this you read in the Acts of the Apostles how we should help the poor please turn to Acts chapter 4 in Acts chapter 4 is a time when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they really loved one another and they wanted to help because many of them in that church were poor so what do they do it says in verse 34 Acts 4 34 there was not a needy person among them but all who were owners of lands or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the Apostles feet and it redistributed to each as any had need Acts 4 was 34 and 35 there were a lot of poor people in those in those among those Christians and some of the rich people what they did was well I find it I don't agree with this but I'll just tell you what they did they sold all their lands this is in Jerusalem they sold all their lands and all their houses in a great zeal and gave all the money away you know the end result of that was many years later 15 years later they became rock-bottom poor they couldn't survive these Christians and Paul had to tell the Christians in Corinth please send some money for those poor people in Jerusalem and to the Philippians he says please some money to send some money to the poor people in Jerusalem okay and they got other Christians provided for them that's okay so what I learned from that is I don't have to sell all my lands and houses and end up rock-bottom poor and then I have to wait for the Christians and Corinth or Philippi to send me money no it's much better to if you have something to invest it wisely so that you don't become a burden on others that's what I decided that I will not be a burden on others if I've received something from my parents I'm going to invest it so that I don't become a burden to anybody at any time some people are foolish like that they say I'm gonna trust God and they go give everything away and afterwards they become helplessly dependent on waiting they're always waiting for a handout from somebody else no so I'm not saying you should do that but I see one thing there that there was a goodness you know sometimes in our zeal we can do something with a good heart but it's pretty foolish it's like these people who say I'm gonna trust God I'm sick but I won't take medicines I don't trust in doctors I don't trust medicine and they die that's foolishness God has also given us common sense common sense didn't come from the devil by the way in case you didn't know it's God who's given us common sense and by the way all these men what things which you call medicines they are all minerals and from plants which God created do you know that the devil never created any minerals or plants everything that you find inside a tablet inside an antibiotic everything inside that was found some some plant or metal that God created on the earth it's food so if you can eat oranges and vegetables and chicken you can certainly eat that tablet that was also created by God the only thing man has done is put it all together because they know it's good for your body so they're crazy people who say no no no we won't take medicine then you then you shouldn't be eating food either that's what I mean by sometimes people are very zealous but foolish and are calling in the churches to put some instruction in their mind and see some common sense is also a gift of God yes you read in the Bible that Philip was once lifted up by an angel and transported 50 miles away if you start praying Lord I want to travel today and I'm in a hurry to go please do what we did for Paul I'll tell you it won't happen what you did for Philip it won't happen you know once when Paul was caught in Damascus and he had become a Christian and the Jews were waiting at the gate to kill him and he was hiding in a house fortunately the house was on the compound wall of the city that was one person who could have prayed Lord please take me up like you lifted Paul let Philip please take me out out of this place but he didn't do that you know how he escaped from there they put a rope outside the window and here's Paul climbing down Apostle remember climbing down to escape from the Jews common sense that's how he lived so I'm just saying there is a lot of situations where you got to use our common sense and don't say I'm trusting God and do something stupid I'm gonna jump off the roof of the temple and I think the angels will protect me no they won't you'll be committing suicide so what I say is be wise in what you do so what did they do with this money that's what I want to point out when you want when they wanted to give to the poor what did they do they said we don't know who the really poor people are listen to this one person who's poor who is a bit of a crook man could man convince me in a very subtle way in a spiritual way that he's needy but he's convinced 25 others also that he's needy and he gets money because he's a very smart guy he got money from 25 people and the simple guy who doesn't come and advertise his need gets nothing and he may be more needy than that guy that guy's got 25 times more than he needs because 25 stupid people gave him money oh he's poor let me give him you don't realize that 24 other people have also given him it's like some of these orphanages in India this is the absolute truth the Catholic orphanages are the best by the way Protestant orphanages most of them are crooked except one or two and those orphanages what many of them do is they send the photograph of an orphan and they send it to Netherlands would you support this orphan another one goes to Britain another goes to Australia same picture of same person to Australia different parts of America and so one orphan is getting from 25 people but he and each of those 25 people think I'm supporting an orphan in India they don't realize that the other 24 people are supporting him that goes into the man's pocket who is running the orphanage it's a racket I know because I live here a lot of people living abroad don't know it they think I'm supporting an orphan they're being cheated so the same thing happens can happen in CFC where somebody gets from here and from this and that person that person you don't know that 20 others are giving that guy some need and that some other really needy person gets nothing for that the only solution is you the rich man the rich philanthropist the rich benefactor who wants to help people and get a name that you are a helper of people let me give you a little advice please humble yourself and say I may be rich but I'm stupid Lord please help me to humble myself and let me give it in a godly way and you know the godly way they laid it verse 35 at the Apostles feet they gave it to the elders they were humble enough to say we are rich but we are foolish we give it to you elders you decide who are the really needy people so that some crooked fellow does not collect from 25 people and some needy person stars we don't want that what wisdom these believers are not as smart as some of us but they are more common sense and the Apostles the elders distributed to each according as each person had a need so that is the best thing to do but put that money in an envelope market for the poor and let the elders distributed don't put somebody's name on it and put in the offering box it will not be given to that person because we don't do that we are not a distributing agency no that we are not courier service that you got to go to the courier service we are not courier service distributing envelopes if you put an envelope with a name on it will just be open and added to the poor fund and the elders will give according to there's need we do it the godly way because we are not a courier service so the right way to do it is you put that money in an envelope and put in the offering box and the elders will see who is need and if you know sometimes the elders don't know if somebody's in need you know somebody who's in need please tell the elders they will investigate it they'll make sure there's an rightful distribution according to the need you know that we give not just lakhs millions of rupees every year well over a period of years to the poor churches in Tamil Nadu to build their halls to educate their children in schools and colleges it's been doing we've been doing it for years we don't advertise it but I'm just mentioning it at this point to say that we believe in caring for the poor but it is not by any Tom Dick and Harry going and giving here and there we investigate who is the needy one what their fees are what is the expense they have and according to the need so that there's a wise utilization of God's money this is just being righteous we're still in school righteousness with money so I want to encourage you to do that in future so that we are a church that cares and that we care for all equally otherwise if you're a father and you find that one and say your children are all left home and they are all needy one or two are needy and some are doing well won't you have a concern that the one who's needy should be helped more this guy's earning a fantastic salary let me have that one was more needy that is right that is how God is God is a loving father so that's exactly how the elders are elders are like spiritual parents who want to help those who are needy in the church so brothers and sisters I want to encourage you to please be faithful in this area begin by being righteous and then faithfulness let me give you one sentence about faithfulness and that is faithfulness means even after I finished with righteousness I paid back my debts I'm not in debt I stopped cheating everybody I'm paying everything correctly then I recognize at that point even what I have is not my own and I say Lord this is yours tell me how to use it tell me how to use the money you've given me I'll give you one closing illustration people will say didn't Jesus say give to him that asks of you and if someone wants to borrow from you don't deny there is a verse like that you read in Luke 6 when I was a young Christian this is a true story I was 23 years old I was very zealous Christian I read that verse give to him asks of you and him from him that would borrow don't turn away and that was a you know a young married man was a not young he was a middle-aged married man converted from a Catholic family I was an officer he was just a sailor I earned a lot of money a lot a lot of money so this chap was in the same church and he came to me one day and said brother Zach can you please give me some money I'll return it to you next month I said sure how much do you want remember the words I had in my mind give to him ask of you I gave him whatever he wanted so the first of the next month he said brothers I am sorry I couldn't make it this month can you give me a little more I'll give it to you next month I said sure the verse was give to him who asks of you and so I gave him first of next month he comes along says brother I still couldn't make it there's a gramophone record you know it just stuck he's going round and round and round same same thing same tape playing again again can you give me some more so the verse was give to him who asks of you I gave it and after four or five months like this the same old story he never returned anything then he got transferred somewhere else and I heard he had backslidden from the Lord and was drinking then I said what's this he's got money to buy alcohol and drink but he can't return I mean if he gave that money back to me I'd give it to some other poor person I didn't want it I was not in need but I was furious that money that I earned which belonged to God was now going to the devil to the alcohol industry so I wrote to him and I said hey brother I mean if you're going to spend money on alcohol you better return that money to me because I can give it to somebody else who is needy and he replied to me hey even the Catholic priest didn't harass me like you're harassing me oh am I harassing you by asking you to not spend your money on alcohol but return what you borrowed from me is that harassment I said okay I won't ask you again I never asked him again and I never got the money back but I did go to the Lord and I said Lord what does this mean I did what your word said give your money to the one who asked of you and the Lord taught me something in 1963 which I've never forgotten you acted as if that money was yours that's why you gave it away I learned my mistake I thought I have the money I can give to anyone who asks that is also in scripture and give to him that asked but there's another verse you know how the devil tempted Jesus with one verse his angels will protect you but the Lord said there's another verse thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God that's the balance of scripture there is a verse which says give to him that asked of you but there's another verse which says nothing that you have is yours so if you balance the both you know what to do then I realized that the money I earned every month as a naval officer on the first of the month was not mine it was God's and if somebody gave you 10,000 rupees to keep saying just keep this I'll come back later and take it and somebody else hears about it and say hey brother Zach I hear you have some money with you yeah can you give me 3,000 rupees from that I'll say sure but let me ask the one who gave me this money and if he allows me to give it to you I'll give it to you that's what I should have done when this man asked me I should have gone to the one to whom the money belonged I thought it belonged to me so I didn't ask the one to whom it belonged God I just gave it away and I learned a lesson but I'm glad I learned a lesson just giving out about 1500 rupees or something those days but I learned a lesson for life that what I have did not belong to me that if I wanted to give it I should ask someone and after that I did that that when somebody came and asked me I would go to the Lord and ask him sometimes the Lord say yeah many times the Lord say no you know you shouldn't give it to him do you do that when you don't do that you're acting as if money is mine I've got plenty and you sisters you are even more foolish if it is your husband's hard-earned money that you go around distributing to others utterly foolish so I've spoken words which are to help you to a higher Christian life if you're faithful here you can enter college you don't want to wait till you're 60 years old to enter college spiritual college I mean take God's Word seriously