Giving God Our Best

We were thinking how God honors those who honor him. And how we should not be confessing the sins of other people but our own sin. Do you know who is the first person called a righteous person in the New Testament? Joseph. Why was he called a righteous man? It's very interesting to see that. Why does the New Testament begin with describing a righteous man and his one good quality? Why does the New Testament begin with describing a righteous man and his one good quality? Turn to Matthew 1. Verse 18 we read that Mary the mother of Jesus was with child through the Holy Spirit. Verse 18 we read that Mary the mother of Jesus was with child through the Holy Spirit. Now in the history of the world, nobody has conceived of the Holy Spirit. Now in the history of the world, nobody has conceived of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had to be born as a sinless person, no sin in his flesh, then he had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had to be born as a sinless person, no sin in his flesh, then he had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. But nobody knew that because such a thing has never happened in the history of the world. Even Joseph could not believe that his wife was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Even Joseph could not believe that his wife was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Whenever a man is engaged to a woman, before the marriage he hears that she has become pregnant, he cancels the marriage. And people ask him, why did you cancel the marriage? He says, no fault of mine. That girl went and became pregnant. That is what all human beings will say. But Joseph did not say that. It says in verse 19, he was a righteous man. And he did not want to disgrace Mary, so he wanted to put her away secretly. What a wonderful example for us. You think that somebody has done something wrong. You may not even be right. You may have got a wrong impression. Supposing Joseph had gone around saying, Mary just became pregnant. And afterwards he discovers it is from the Holy Spirit. How bad he would have felt that he had gone around telling such false stories. How bad he would have felt that he had gone around telling such false stories. Have you had that experience of speaking about somebody and then afterwards discovering it was not true? How can you take it all back now? It has spread so much. So the best thing is to follow Joseph. So the best thing is to follow Joseph. What is that? Don't disgrace that other person. Put the matter aside secretly. And the Lord will call you also a righteous man or a righteous woman. Because that is so different from the attitude in the world. See Joseph was willing to take the blame. Why have you broken up this engagement? And say, I don't want to say anything. And people will say, what a bad man he is. He gives a promise to a woman and then breaks it. He says, ok let me take the blame but let me not disgrace that woman. He says, ok let me take the blame but let me not disgrace that woman. That is the type of person God chose to be Mary's husband. If you were living in Nazareth brother, would God have chosen you to be Mary's husband? If you were living in Nazareth brother, would God have chosen you to be Mary's husband? Do you have this nature not to disgrace other people? Right in the beginning of Genesis you read about Ham disgraced his father. What his father Noah did was wrong, lying naked after getting drunk. What his father Noah did was wrong, lying naked after getting drunk. But what is that? He was lying inside his tent only. He was not running around naked around the town. In his own tent he was lying naked. That is not such a big crime. Why does Ham have to go and tell other people? You know what happened? He was cursed. And his children were cursed. And Shem and Japheth, the other sons of Noah went backwards and put a sheet on top of their father. And Shem and Japheth, the other sons of Noah went backwards and put a sheet on top of their father. Why is such a small incident written in the beginning of the Bible? And they were blessed. And their children were blessed. That is why Jesus came from the line of Shem. That is why Jesus came from the line of Shem. These are lessons that we must learn. In the beginning of the Old Testament, in the beginning of the New Testament. God honors those who don't disgrace others but cover their nakedness. Don't forget that. Let's develop that habit. And get rid of this satanic habit of accusing others. Let's keep this in mind. God honors those who honor him. And just like God has been good to us, we must be good to others. God knows all the secret sins you did in your life. But isn't it a good thing that he doesn't tell anybody about it? He has covered it, cleansed it and he says I won't even remember it. If God has been like that to you, why can't you be like that to others? If God has been like that to you, why can't you be like that to others? Sometimes, on a few occasions, we have had to put some people out of the church for some serious sin. Even in Bangalore CFC. Not many, just two or three. But I have never told their sin to anybody. All the people in the church don't know. There is no need for you to know. It's quite serious, that's why we had to put him out of the church. It's quite serious, that's why we had to put him out of the church. But if you trust us elders, that is enough. There is no need for you to know the details. But if you trust us elders, that is enough. There is no need for you to know the details. And those brothers who left, know that I never told anybody. And those brothers who left, know that I never told anybody. So they have gone around telling lies. That brother Jack did not like us and that is why he put us out or something like that. So I told them, you can tell a lie if you want. But I fear God. And even though you tell a lie, I still will not reveal to others your sin. Because I fear God. I don't want to disgrace you. I have learned from scripture, how God honors those who don't disgrace other people. God has been good to me, I want to be good to other people. Why do you forget how good God has been to you? Why do you forget how good God has been to you? If you can help people, help them. Don't disgrace them. If you see the nakedness of somebody, go and take a sheet and cover it. Leave their judgment to God. Like that we can protect our church. If you have, if there isn't a problem like that, go and tell the elders, but nobody else. Elder must know what is going on wrong. I will give you one example. 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 The Corinthian church was a place where Paul had been staying for one and a half years. God asked him to stay there. Paul was thinking of leaving, but God asked him to stay. I will show you that first of all in Acts 18. Paul went to Corinth, we read in the first verse. We read in the first verse, Paul went to Corinth. He preached verse 4 in the synagogue. In verse 6, they resisted and blasphemed and all that upon him. He said, I am fed up with all of you, I am going to the Gentiles now. And he was going to leave Corinth. But the Lord said to him, don't be afraid. Don't go away from Corinth. You stay here and keep on speaking. I am with you. No man will attack you. Because I have many people in this city. If you go away, who will bring them to me? So Paul said, ok Lord, I will stay. He didn't want to stay. We don't like to stay in a place where people are always opposing us and criticizing us. But the Lord told, stay. And he stayed there, verse 11, for one year and six months, teaching the word of God. That is how he built the church. But a few years later, there was so much confusion in that church. Everybody was just speaking in tongues and creating confusion. They were so excited about that gift. They were spiritually babies, but they were speaking in tongues. Just like a lot of people who speak in tongues today. They think they are spiritual, but they are babies. And not only that, they were fighting and quarreling with each other. They were taking each other to court. All kinds of secret sins. There were sexual sins. And they were jealous of each other. And there was one God fearing lady in this church. It was not even a brother, it was a sister. She was concerned about it. I think she must have gone to the elders and said, Brother, something is wrong here. Are you going to do something about it? Can a sister go to the elders of the church and say something? Can a sister go to the elders of the church and say something? Of course. First of all, she should tell her husband. I don't know, this sister's husband may not have been a believer perhaps. Then she has to go to the elders and say, Brother. But the elders could not do anything. So what did she do? She said, Okay, there is one brother I can write to. I can write to the apostle who stayed here for one and a half years and planted this church. So we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 11. I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's family that there are quarrels among you. Paul must have asked Chloe, Shall I tell them that you wrote to me? Paul must have asked Chloe, Shall I tell them that you wrote to me? I am not afraid of that. What a wonderful testimony. That she did not go around gossiping to everybody but she wrote to Paul. That she did not go around gossiping to everybody but she wrote to Paul. What is the result of one God-fearing sister honoring God by not backbiting and gossiping but writing to the apostle? What is the result of one God-fearing sister honoring God by not backbiting and gossiping but writing to the apostle? You know what is the result? Do you know what is the result of that? 1 Corinthians is the whole letter. Have you been blessed by 1 Corinthians? You know it is the only letter where there is a complete description of the qualities of love in chapter 13. You know it is the only letter where there is a complete description of the qualities of love in chapter 13. Who do we have to thank for that? Sister Chloe. Who do we have to thank for that? Sister Chloe. And this is the only letter in the new testament that describes all the gifts of the spirit in chapter 12. And explains the breaking of bread in chapter 11. And explains why women should veil their head in chapter 11. And many, many other wonderful things about how we should deal when we are unmarried and married in chapter 7, there are many wonderful chapters and how we can discipline a man in the church who is sinning. In chapter 5. And how, because he was disciplined, he came back to the church, we read in 2 Corinthians. So, if there was no 1 Corinthians, there would be no 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians, we read wonderful verses like, my grace is sufficient for you. Who do you have to thank for that verse? Sister Chloe. When I go to heaven, I want to meet Sister Chloe. And I want to shake her hand and say, Sister, thank you so much. That you were not a gossip going around talking to others. You were not a gossip going around. But you humbly wrote a letter to Paul. Because of that, 2 letters came in the Bible which have blessed me so much. You think God does not use sisters in the Bible? 2 letters in the Bible came because 1 sister, God fearing sister had a concern for the church. A lot of people give credit to Paul for those letters. He was like the tree. The root was Sister Chloe. Sometimes we do not realize that. If you are 1 God fearing person, you can have such an influence in the church. Honor God by not going around speaking here and there. Speak to those who have responsibility. And once you have done that, leave it with them. Leave it to them to decide what to do. I do not think Chloe kept on pestering Paul. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? She said, I have left it with Paul. Now it is between him and God. See, there is such a small little verse that teaches us the root of these 2 letters. There we have an example of a sister who honored God. Never forget that. 1 sister honored God and we get 2 letters in the Bible. I think most believers have not even noticed it. She does not get any honor with most Christians. I think many of you also may not have noticed it. The day the Lord comes, she will be honored. So that is an example for us how 1 person can have a tremendous influence on hundreds of thousands of people who have been blessed by those 2 letters. What did that sister decide? I will not gossip to anybody. There are problems in this church but I cannot sort it out myself. So I will write to some godly brother and ask him to sort it out. And whatever he decides, I will accept it. That is the example of a sister who honors God. And God used her to bless millions of people around the world in 2000 years through those 2 letters. So that is an example how little things we can do to honor God, God will honor us. The whole Bible is full of examples like this. There are also examples of people who did not honor God. For example, you read the Old Testament. The Old Testament begins with Genesis and finishes with Malachi. And we see 1 thing there. At the beginning and the end of the Turn with me to Genesis chapter 4. See whenever we are grateful to God, we like to bring something as a gift to him. You know just like if a doctor has done a very expensive surgery on you and charged you nothing for it saying I will do it for you free. You will be so thankful to him. You will take some fruit or something to his house. That is how we come to God. See compared to God we are all beggars. What can we give him? We can only give him what he has given us. You cannot give him anything that he has not given you. If your little children want to bring you a birthday gift, they have to ask you for the money. Please give me money so that I can bring you a gift. That is how we give gifts to God. There is nothing we have that we have produced ourselves that we can give to God. Some people think oh I have made such a big sacrifice I have given to God. I gave 5000 rupees. Whose money? You took it from your father and you gave it back to him. You didn't produce it yourself. You could have been born with brain damage. You would never have earned 1 rupee in your life. Don't ever think that your cleverness and all that produced anything. If God has given you the ability elder brothers to preach God's word, don't be proud of that. Who gave you that ability? God. I know in my own case God has given me that ability to speak his word. I can make God's word simple because God gave me that ability. I cannot take credit for it. I could have been born with brain damage or like a stupid person. I would never have been able to do God's word. So none of us can take credit for anything. We cannot say we make some big sacrifice for God. Even if I give God 100,000 rupees it is money he gave me. Even if I give 10 rupees that is what he gave me. If I serve him with my health, that health is what he gave me. We can't take credit for anything. If any of you think that you can take some credit for some sacrifice you have made for the church and you sit down in your room and you think oh what a lot of sacrifice I have made for the church. I am not like these other lazy elders who don't do anything. I am a hard working elder. I want to tell you to your face you are the biggest fool in CFC. You are the biggest fool of all. Because you think it is your ability and your cleverness that you did it? You are just like a child who go to the father and say daddy please give me some health and money so I can give some gift to you. So the Bible says what have you got that you did not receive? Can you think of one thing in your life that you did not receive? Have you got a good family? A happy marriage? Don't look down on some other family who has got a difficult marriage. Some people do that. Oh my marriage is so happy. That's because God gave you a good wife. Don't despise that poor brother who has got a very difficult wife. Never do that. Are your children following the Lord? Do you despise somebody else whose children are wayward? Who gave you the grace to bring up your children in a godly way? God. Don't be proud of it. Your pride will destroy you and it will destroy your children. I have seen it happen. I have seen people whose children are brought up in a very good way and they become proud of it. And God's grace departs from their life. Be careful. Whatever ability you have, whatever what you call sacrifice that you have made for God, you have not understood that it is all God's gift. Honor God by saying, Lord, I have really given nothing to you except what you have given me. It's what you think in your mind. I hope you realize always in your mind, I have only given what he has given me. I am saying this for your own salvation. Then you will never compare yourself with other believers. You remember the story which Jesus said about the people who came to work at the first hour of the day? And they were given one denarius, one day's wages. For working for twelve hours from six in the morning till six in the evening. And there were other people who came at the eleventh hour and worked only for one hour. You read that in Matthew 20. And the master gave them also that one denarius. And the people who worked for twelve hours got angry and they were jealous. How can you make these junior brothers equal to us? Do some of you elders feel like that? How can you make these junior brothers who came last year equal to us who have been here for twenty five years? You find God gives that young brother an anointing which is superior to your anointing. I want to tell you that seniority is in government service, not in God's service. In the military and all they have seniority for promotion. In God's work there is no such thing as seniority that I came to CFC thirty years ago or twenty five years ago. That young brother who came three years ago may be more spiritual than you. Because he has got more humility. And so he is getting more grace. And you can sit there saying I came at the first hour. And God's grace has gone away from you. You may think you are a very important person. God doesn't think so. Maybe you have worked very hard. You know those people who worked for twelve hours they must have done a lot of work in that vineyard. They could have told the master see this whole area we only did it twelve hours. What has this fellow done in one hour one small patch? Yes you have done a lot of work in twenty thirty years. And God doesn't look at you like that. Because when God draws a line in the church He doesn't put senior people one side and junior people the other side. Those who have been in CFC more than fifteen years those who have been in CFC less than fifteen years. That is how man divides. God does like this. All the proud people this side all the humble people this side. And the humble people may be somebody who came two years ago. The proud people could be the people who have been there thirty years. And God says I'm going to honor all these humble people. I'll give them grace. So remember it's got nothing to do with seniority. There is no partiality with God. If you are humble you must remain humble even after fifty years. Otherwise God's grace will go from you. Honor God. Honor God by acknowledging that everything you have is from Him. And honor Him by saying Lord you can give a greater honor to a young brother. I'm quite happy for that. That was the trouble with Saul. He could not believe that God would honor a young boy like David. I'm thirty four years old. I'm forty years older than David. How can God honor him? When David was around twenty years old Saul was about sixty. Because David became king when he was thirty. And if Saul had reigned for forty years then he died when he was seventy. Now if you are sixty years old and you have served God for thirty years can you honor some young twenty year old fellow who is coming up in your church with great anointing? No it's very difficult. It's very difficult for a sixty year old man to respect a twenty year old brother. I'm nearly seventy four years old. But I'm happy to honor young brothers. I say wonderful. You know it's like some good football player came into our team. So what if he is younger than me? He can score a goal for our team. Can you look at it like that? I'm sorry to say there is so much of jealousy and strife even among our CFC believers. You are not honoring God. You are proud of your seniority. Let's get rid of that this year. Let's finish with that. We have heard about it so long but we got to finish with it now. God is looking for those who will honor him. And he honors especially the humble. Some of us were very humble when we came to the church first. One of the things I tell brothers in CFC is this in Bangalore I say brothers remember the first day you came to this church. First day. You were a good for nothing sinner. Maybe just born again. You knew nothing about the bible. You knew nothing about the new covenant. You knew nothing about a spiritual life. You came and sit in the back of the church. And you were so thankful that you got a place in a good church. But now you have been here 20-30 years. And it has swollen your head. You think you are such an important member. Think of the day you first came to this church. And always remain with that same humility that says I am not a senior member. I am a sinner saved by the grace of God. And I am very thankful I have got a place in this church. If we have more brothers like that we will have a wonderful church. If we have more brothers like that we will have a wonderful church. And all the people who came at the first hour if they are willing to humble themselves and be equal to the people who come at the 11th hour we will have a wonderful church. Those who came at the first hour and those who came at the 11th hour will be united. By the grace of God we will have a wonderful church. There are so many older sisters who think they are so senior. They can't help the younger sisters because they come like some big matron in some hospital. They can't help the younger sisters because they come like some big matron in some hospital. That's not the way to come. Jesus came underneath everybody. He was born in a cow shed so that he could be underneath everybody. He came to wash people's feet. That is how we honor God. By humility. Going down. Esteeming others as more important than ourselves. If you want to honor God in your life and if you want God to honor you esteem others as more important than yourself. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 4. We read of two people who came with a gift to God. We read of two people who came with a gift to God. I told you when we bring a gift to God we are only bringing what he gave us. Like if my 10 year old wants to buy a birthday gift for me he comes to me and says, Daddy can you give me 25 rupees? Why do you want it? I want to buy a gift for you. So I give him. He goes and buys a gift. Daddy here is a gift. Now I know that is from my money. But I am so happy that he did that. But if he becomes proud that I spent 25 rupees to get something for my daddy that is how some foolish believers are. Who think I have done something for the Lord. Do some of you feel like that? What have you done for the Lord? You could have been born like an idiot into the world. You would have been able to do nothing. God gave you intelligence. God gave you health. God gave you wisdom. God protected you from accidents on the road. And God preserved you. And you did something. It was his gift. Don't look down on others who cannot do what you do. It says here that Cain and Abel brought a offering to God. And there was one big difference in their offering. It says here in verse 3 Cain just brought an offering. But Abel brought the best of his flock. Do you know the difference between an offering and the best you can bring? I will give you an example. Supposing you are being invited for the wedding of some neighbor whom you just know for a few days. His son and his son is getting married. You hardly know them for one week. Naturally it is decent to take a wedding gift. How much will you spend on that gift? He won't spend 10,000 rupees to get a gift for this neighbor whom you knew just for a few days. No. Maximum you may find 20-30 rupees. Or maybe 50 rupees. But supposing it is your son getting married. Then what type of gift will you take? What a difference! Because your son is so precious to you. All that you have earned in your life you want to give him. And if you are a very rich man you may even give a house as a gift to your son for his wedding. Or a car or a scooter. Why do you give such an expensive gift? Because there you are showing you are so precious to me, my son. The type of gift you give shows how much you value that person. We may be invited to 10 different weddings. But the type of gift you take to each wedding will depend on how much of a relationship you have with that person. Why did Abel bring the best offering for God? Because he valued God so much. Why did Cain just pick up some grain and bring it as an offering to God? That shows how little he valued God. There is something we can learn here. It doesn't say God punished Cain saying why you brought only so much. No. God loves a cheerful giver. He doesn't punish us if you bring a small offering to him. But it says one thing. Verse 4 The Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering. And verse 5 The Lord did not have regard for Cain. And verse 5 The Lord did not have regard for Cain and his offering. So there is a difference between Cain's offering and Abel's offering. And as the Lord looks at all of us sitting here and two of us standing here also in one sense there is no partiality with God. He loves us all equally. Jesus died for all of us. But like it says here The Lord has regard for some people here. And the Lord does not have regard for some people. I am not saying he will punish you. He did not punish Cain. He punished Cain later for killing his brother not because of his offering. Cain never got any punishment for bringing a cheap offering. And you will not be punished if you bring a cheap offering to God. But right in the beginning of the Bible it is written the Lord has a special regard for those who give him the best. Because that shows how much they value him. Like I told you the type of gift you give at a wedding shows how much you value that person. Difference between the way you give to your son and to a stranger is how much you value that person. Many people give to God like they give to a stranger. And by gift I am not talking about money only. It could be our life. It could be our time. Our energy. How much we do for the church. We may not give one rupee to a stranger. But we may give a lot to the church. There are some poor people who don't have much to give like the widow. And the Lord says that is more valuable to me than the thousand rupees that the Pharisee put. So he is not counting the money. He is saying, I have sacrificed so much for God. When I was born again 54 years ago I decided from the beginning God is going to have everything in my life. I was already working and earning a very big salary as a naval officer. But I said, Lord from this day onwards money will never be important for me. And I can say before God money has never been important for me for 54 years. I learnt at the beginning of my Christian life if I worship God I must have money. I have no interest in money. Money is an idol just like all the idols many people in our country worship. What do you think of a Christian who comes here and praises Jesus and goes home and bows down to some idol? I realized that many Christians are like that. God is not first in their thinking. If it is money money becomes important. Now we all need money to take care of our family. I have also spent a lot of money taking care of my family educating my children. But I never did anything wrong to get money in my life and I never worshipped it. And I taught my children don't worship money. So I am not talking about money first of all I am talking about our attitude to God. I am not talking about money Lord, there is nobody more important than you in my life. I don't want to please my wife and displease you. My wife is not my idol. I will not bow down always to please her if I have to displease God. Of course we should please our husbands and wives that is a mark of love but not at the cost of displeasing God. Abel brought the best God, you are everything to me and God had regard for his offering. That is written at the beginning of the Bible. We also are grateful for all that God has done for us. Abel knew nothing about Jesus dying on the cross. We know all that. Abel did not have the Holy Spirit God has given us. I say Lord if that ignorant man Abel could give you the best what am I going to do? I want to honor you by giving you the best in everything in my life. I will never complain saying I am too tired to serve God. I will never complain saying oh I can't sit up so late serving God. Never I will never complain saying even if I am 100 years old God has to get the best from you and me. When we say we understand the new covenant what did Jesus say? This cup is the new covenant in my blood. That is the only time he spoke about the new covenant. It was not a doctrine for him. The new covenant can be a doctrine for us which we are preaching to others. But for him it was his blood, his life. He had to pour out his blood and say this is the new covenant in my blood. Don't speak about it in some cheap way that you have understood some doctrine that other churches don't know. If you are not willing to give your blood and your life and your energy for it you have not understood the new covenant. Maybe you understood it by hearing me so many times and you can preach it. But for Jesus the new covenant was his blood. The Bible says the life of the flesh is in the blood of the flesh. The Bible says the life of the flesh is in the blood of the flesh. So when Jesus gave his blood he was giving his life. That is the new covenant. And the one who is willing to give his entire life and energy and everything for God that person has understood the new covenant. So I want to ask you are you thankful to God for all that he has done for you? For forgiving your sins bringing you into a wonderful church how are you going to show your gratitude? Like bringing a small offering like cane or saying Lord you take my life all my life I am not asking you to give up your life I am not asking you to give up your job and go as a missionary. No, I am asking you to keep your job but say Lord my life is yours. All that I can do for you in one life I want to do. I don't want to have an attitude which says what is the minimum I have to do just go for a few meetings one conference I don't want to go to the church to think of what I can get I want to go to the church to think of what I can give And I am not only talking about money I am talking about our life God is not a beggar He doesn't want our money first You know why in all of our churches even in our conferences we don't go around collecting money Because Jesus loves us Jesus never did it when he had a meeting He preached to 5000 people whom he fed He never went around with a bag Why? Because he wanted to show God is not a beggar going around, give me your money, give me your money Who comes to your door? Beggars! God is not a beggar And we want to show that in our church That's why we don't go around passing a bag around People who go around like that they make God into a beggar And they send letters Oh give us money, give us money, give us money Give us money, give us money That's why we keep a box Those who want to give, give, those who don't want to give, don't give Because God loves a cheerful giver And you know I'll tell you something God asks us to give so that our attitude will be changed Not because he needs money So dear brothers and sisters Let's give to God Let's follow Abel Say in everything Lord I want you to have my whole life I want to die to myself In everything I want to please you That is the offering we are to give to God That's how we honor him Let's pray Let's bow before God Our Father Help us never again to insult you by giving you cheap offerings Help us to honor you by giving you the best in our life Pray in Jesus name Amen