Money And Babylon (Tamil)

Yesterday we were looking at the tabernacle as a picture of man. And we saw that there was a fire on top of the tabernacle, which is a mark of God's presence. And we saw that there was a fire on top of the tabernacle, which is a mark of God's presence. Happy with his people, particularly when it was over the temple. I want you to turn to a verse in Ezekiel chapter 10. Ezekiel chapter 10. Ezekiel was a prophet in Babylon. Babylon in the New Testament is a picture of corrupt, counterfeit Christianity. They can do miracles in Babylon, but what they don't have in Babylon is holiness. Babylon is a place of commerce and merchandise. You see that in the book of Revelation. In Revelation chapter 17, we read of Babylon like a woman riding on a beast, which is a political power. We read of Babylon like a woman riding on a beast, which is a political power. It speaks of Christians who are getting involved with political government and earthly things like that. It speaks of Christians who are getting involved with political government and earthly things like that. Right from the 3rd century, towards the end of the 3rd century, early 4th century, the church began to join hands with the Roman government. Right from the 3rd century, towards the end of the 3rd century, early 4th century, the church began to join hands with the Roman government. In the first 3 centuries, the church stayed away from politics and it was persecuted and it was powerful. In the 4th century, the church joined up with the political power and it became corrupt. And today, we find in many so-called Christian countries, the church and the government go hand in hand and the king or queen of the country is the head of the church. And today, we find in many so-called Christian countries, the church and the government go hand in hand and the king or queen of the country is the head of the church. We see in Revelation 17, how political forces use the church for their own benefit. We see in Revelation 17, how political forces use the church for their own benefit. That is the corrupt Babylonian church. This is the corrupt Babylonian church. Even if we call ourselves evangelical believers, it is seen as a corrupt church. In Revelation 18, we read how the church joined up with the businessmen. Money making and being involved with merchandise. Whenever you mix God and money, you have Babylon. In the time of Elijah, the choice was between Jehovah and Baal. In the time of Elijah, the choice was between Jehovah and Baal. But in the last days, we have to decide between the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of money. But in the last days, we have to decide between the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of money. If you turn to Revelation 18, You read how the merchants have become rich through this false church. You read how the merchants have become rich through this false church. You read how the church has joined up with money, business and merchandise. You read how the church has joined up with money, business and merchandise. There is another group in Babylon. There is another group in Babylon. Music power has replaced the power of the Holy Spirit. Like we read in Revelation 18, music power has replaced the power of the Holy Spirit. We see here in chapter 17 and 18 of Revelation, Three powers that the church gets involved with in order to think that it will do God's work. And all those powers are powers of the world. One is political power. The other is money power. And the third is music power. Jesus never got involved with any of these things. He was never involved with politics. He said, My kingdom is not of this world in John 18, 36. But through the years, foolish believers and Christian leaders have thought that if we get contact with the rulers in the government, we can influence the country towards Christ. Jesus and Paul never thought like that. And the wonderful believers in China today don't think like that either. It's people who have been influenced by the spirit of Babylonian Christianity, who think they can use political power to promote the church. And it's when people boast of their connection to the king or the president, And they meet with them and talk with them. This is like Jesus trying to boast that I go and visit with Pilate or Herod. That is another Jesus. It's not the Jesus of the Bible. The same way with money. Today, most of Christian work gives people the impression that the most important requirement is money. The apostles never spoke about money for God's work. You read the entire New Testament. Jesus and the apostles only spoke about money in relation to giving money to poor people. Even where Paul tells the Corinthians to take a collection, it's not for him, it's not for his ministry, it's for the poor people in Jerusalem. Today, money loving pastors and preachers take those chapters and ask people to give money to them. This is Babylon. And the third thing I said is music. Now, I don't say we don't use money in God's work. To organize a conference like this to give free food to all of you. Hundreds of people for so many days. To provide free accommodation for all of you for all these days. That costs money. But we don't take a collection here. We believe that God provides through his people without our asking people. And that's not only in this conference, that's what we have practiced for 34 years in all our 40-50 churches, in all the 7-8 conferences we have every year. Why is it we don't take a collection in our churches but keep a box at the back? Why is it we don't take a collection in our churches but keep a box at the back? Because Jesus said you must give secretly. And you must give cheerfully. When you show a bag or plate in front of a man, how do you give secretly? You are making him disobey God's word. So that's why we kept a box saying you give secretly and cheerfully. If you don't want to give, don't give. And we have not made money the most important thing in our ministry. Even in our poor village churches we do that. What is the result? God has honored us in all these 34 years. We have never been in debt for a single one of the hundreds of conferences we have conducted. We have never been in debt for any of the church buildings that we have built in the different villages. And we have never sent a report or photograph asking anybody for money. Because we wanted to stand against this Babylonian spirit. We have needed hundreds of thousands of rupees to do all these things but God has provided. We read in Luke chapter 8 that certain rich women supported Jesus. But Jesus never asked anybody and never told anybody his need. So if we don't have a right attitude to money in our personal life, in our church life, our church will end up as Babylon. The reason I emphasize this is because we are a new generation coming up, new people coming to our church who need to understand our values. The reason I emphasize this is because we are a new generation coming up, new people coming to our church who need to understand our values. Those of you who have been with us 15-20 years, you know these values. But we have a new generation growing up, they must see these values. And they must see that God has honored our stand for 34 years in all our churches. And they must see that God has honored our stand for 34 years in all our churches. In our personal life, in our family life, in our church life, we need to have a right attitude to money. We read in Romans 13 verse 8 that no man is indebted to anyone. You know if you turn to that verse, Romans 13, it says there are certain things we are told not to do. I want you to listen very carefully. Please listen carefully. Romans 13 verse 8, verse 9. Romans 13 verse 8, verse 9. Number one, don't owe anybody anything. Verse 9. Don't commit adultery. Number three, don't murder. Four, don't steal. Five, don't covet. No. See, these are five things mentioned in verse 8 and 9. Number one, don't owe anybody anything. Number two, don't commit adultery. Number three, don't murder. Number four, don't steal. Number five, don't covet. Why is it people obey two, three, four and five and don't obey number one? Why is it people obey two, three, four and five and don't obey number one? Lord, I am the one who knows which of your commandments should be obeyed and which should not be obeyed. How proud is a man to say that he is the one who knows which of your commandments should be obeyed and which should not be obeyed? Don't owe anybody anything. If we don't have the money, we won't build a meeting hall. That's all. If we have only money to build the pillars, we build the pillars and wait till we have more money to put the roof. You know, money is a very, very important thing. And out of these five commands, three of them have got to do with money. You shall not steal. You shall not covet, which is also you need the material things. And don't owe anybody anything. Three out of these five commands have got to do with money. I must not steal. If I have stolen, I must return it. I must not desire somebody else's material things. If they have it, praise the Lord. Let them have it. And I will not owe anybody anything. There are many preachers I know who have lost their integrity because they are in debt to people. There are many preachers I know who have lost their integrity because they are in debt to people. I am not talking about the church. I am talking about the church. Jesus did not drive out the money changers in the temple. He drove the money changers out of the temple. We have to be very, very careful that money has no power over us. That we never feel that God's work is dependent on money. I mean, I have followed that in my personal life for 70 years. I have never been in debt. When my wife and I didn't have enough to buy something, we never bought it. That's all. When my wife and I didn't have enough to buy something, we never bought it. That's all. When we could afford it, we bought it. Why? Because I feared God who said, don't owe anybody anything. And I will tell you something else. Jesus said in Luke chapter 16, Luke chapter 16, Jesus spoke so much about money in relation to our ministry. Now yesterday we spoke about the Holy Spirit. It is necessary for me to speak about money today. Because this has replaced the Holy Spirit in Babylonian Christianity. Now before I come to this, let me show you this verse I was quoting in Ezekiel chapter 10. I turned you to Ezekiel 10. I want you to see there something. It says here in verse 4, The glory of the Lord went up from the church to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. And then we read in that chapter how that glory slowly departed. And we read further down in verse 18, the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple. So at first the glory was over the temple. By the time you come to the end of the chapter, it's gone. But when you come to the latter chapters of Ezekiel, In chapter 43, You read this new covenant. From chapter 40 to 48 is a picture of the new covenant church. And in this new covenant church, we read of the glory coming back in Ezekiel 43 in verse 4 and 5. The glory that departed in chapter 10 comes back in chapter 43. And from that temple in verse 47, rivers of living water go out in many directions. And it says here that there is one law for this new testament church. I want you to see this. In the old testament temple, there was only one small area I told you which was most holy. The altar was the holy place on the outer court. That was the old covenant tabernacle and temple. And the glory rested only on that most holy place. But here in the new covenant temple, when the glory comes back, It says in chapter 43 and verse 12, This is the law of this house, the new testament church. The whole top of the mountain will be called most holy, not just a small little compartment. The whole church is going to be most holy and the glory of the Lord will be over the whole church. This is a fundamental difference between the new covenant and the old covenant. Because when Jesus died on the cross, When he cried out it is finished, The veil in the temple was torn, Opening up the most holy place. Not only man could go into the most holy place now, But like it says here, the glory from the most holy place could come out and cover the holy place in the temple. Not only man could enter, but the glory from inside could also enter and fill the whole church. These are all old covenant pictures, but they are reality in the new covenant. And if we want the glory of the Lord to be covering the church, Remember Ezekiel was a prophet in Babylon. He was the only prophet in Babylon. And he preached to the people as to why God sent them to Babylon. You read Ezekiel, you see God, he is telling the Israelites, this is the reason why you fellows are in Babylon today. And we need prophets like that in the church today to tell Christians why you are in Babylon today. But Ezekiel's message was not a message of condemnation and discouragement. A true prophet will be like a surgeon, A true prophet will be like a surgeon, Who cuts open a person, removes the cancer, First of all he does a scan and shows the person, this is your condition. Then cuts it open, removes the cancer, Stitches it up, Gives him painkillers, Whispers some words of encouragement to him, Helps him to recover and go back to work. Ezekiel was like that. In the early chapters he gave a scan to the Israelites saying, this is why you fellows are in Babylon today. And there is a lot of secret sin in your midst like he said in chapter 8. And the glory has departed. But he didn't end with that, he said the glory will come back. And the rivers of living water can go out from you. But the Lord told Ezekiel, don't give this message to everybody. There are certain type of people only to whom you should give this message. And I want you to see this. In Ezekiel 36, He speaks of this new covenant like this. Verse 26, I will give you a new heart, And put a new spirit within you. I will take away that hard heart of stone and give you a soft heart of flesh. And then, after I have renewed your spirit, Verse 27, I will put my Holy Spirit within you. And now listen to this wonderful thing. I will not command you to walk in my statutes, I will myself make you walk in my statutes. The old testament God commanded his people from outside saying, Do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this. In the 10 commandments and all the other 600 commandments. And they tried and tried and failed. That's why the old covenant was abolished. But now the Lord says, I will come inside you by my spirit, I will put my spirit within you. See God could never do this till his spirit came inside man. But when his spirit comes inside me, From within, God says, I will make you keep my commandments. And as I make you walk in my commandments, You will become very very careful, verse 27, to observe every little thing I command. And he says in verse 32, I am not doing it for your sake, I am doing it for my own glory. So if you seek the glory of God, he will do it for you. And then what will happen? Verse 31, Then you will remember your olden days, how you lived in evil. All the deeds that you did that were not good. And listen to this wonderful word. You will hate yourself and loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and your abomination. If that has not happened to you, I would say you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit. Here it says, when the Holy Spirit comes within us and fills us, Don't just speak in tongues. The fundamental mark is I begin to hate myself and loathe myself for all the wicked ways in which I lived in my past life. Has that happened in your life? This is very important. Because it is only to such people that God leads them on to the next step. See in Ezekiel 43, He gives them the pattern of the New Testament church. It's all symbolic language just like revelation. But the Lord says this, Verse 10, Ezekiel 43, 10 Describe the temple to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Again the same thing, that they should be ashamed of their sin. You know why many people never get victory over sin? Because even though they confess their sin, they are not ashamed of their sin. Supposing you get angry with your wife, or with your husband, And you go and ask forgiveness from God and from your partner. That's good. But you are not thoroughly ashamed that you lost your temper like that. You will never get victory. 50 years from now you will be doing the same thing. Supposing, shall I give you a picture of what shame is? Supposing you and your husband, or husband and wife are having a big yelling, fighting with each other in the house. And suddenly the door bell rings. Immediately the fight stops. And you open the door and somebody who you respect very much has come to see you. And you are sure he has heard what happened. What are you? Ashamed. That's the meaning of being ashamed. Why were you not ashamed before he came? It's only Jesus who is here in the house. We are not bothered about him. That is the tragedy. If this brother hurt me, oh that is terrible. But if only God is here, we don't care. You know most Christians don't fear God. They fear the loss of testimony before some brother in the church. They are not ashamed of their sins. Only God can give you victory over sin. I tell you, you can try for a hundred years, you won't get victory over any sin. Only God can give it. And to whom does he give it? Not to those who are ashamed because some brother saw them, but those who are ashamed that almighty God is seeing them all the time. Not to those who are ashamed because some brother saw them, but those who are ashamed that almighty God is seeing them all the time. Those who are ashamed that almighty God is seeing the thoughts that are running in your mind. Listen to this. If they are ashamed of everything that they have done, then show them the whole form of this church. Then show them the glory of this church. That is, show them that the glory of God descends not only on the brain, but on all parts. I know so many people who have come to our conferences in Bangalore. And they see the fellowship, they see the ministry, they see what God has done. And they say, oh brother Zach, we would like to have a church like this in our hometown. What are they thinking of? They are thinking of a pattern. You know, we try to organize a church and follow the same pattern that they have here, and we will have a church there. I am telling you, you are wasting your time. It does not work like that. There are many churches in our country connected to CFC Bangalore. Why is it they are not all equally spiritual? Why is it some of them, even though they are connected to us, they are pretty dead? Why is it some of those churches, the Sunday meeting is boring to death? Why is the elders of some of those churches authoritarian and spiritually dead, instead of humble and servant-like? They glory that they are connected to CFC, just like the Jews told John the Baptist, Abraham is our father. Just like the Jews told John the Baptist, Abraham is our father. John the Baptist says, so what if Abraham is your father? God can make children of Abraham from the stone. Don't glory that you are connected to some church or some man of God. Listen to God's word. If you are ashamed of your sin, If you are ashamed of your thought life, If you are ashamed of the words you speak, If you are ashamed of the way you have handled money, If you are ashamed of the arrogant way you deal with your fellow believers, Then almighty God will show you what the new covenant church is. It's so clear here. If they are ashamed, show them the plan. Otherwise, they will go to conferences and understand a lot and try to duplicate it, there will be no glory there. You know the Philistines, if they got a copy of Exodus, they could have made a tabernacle just like Moses made. But they could never have brought the glory down from heaven on that. You can look at another good church and copy it exactly. You can listen to my sermons and preach that in your church. But who will bring the glory into your church? That's only imitating a pattern. That's only copying somebody's sermon. The glory you can't copy. And that's the most important thing. What a fool a person is to think that imitating the outward things, you will get a new testament church. So now we come to Luke 16. This is a very important principle here. Verse 11. If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? Jesus speaks about being faithful in these three verses. In verse 13, he speaks about two masters. These two masters are not God and Satan. God and money. Money, property, land, business. That's why he didn't use the word money. He used the word mammon, referring to all material things including money. It could be sarees. Or clothes. Or cars. Or houses. Lands, property. Shares, stocks. Whatever it is. Anything that has got monetary value. One big name for it is mammon. Jesus said that's a God like Baal. Jesus said that's a God like Baal. We wonder how old testament Israelites could worship Jehovah and worship Baal. You say I would never have done that. Are you worshipping God on Sunday and mammon on Monday? That is exactly what they did. And now, three things. Which you need to know about mammon. Remember, he is talking about mammon in verse 8. Verse 9. And he is talking about mammon in verse 13. Read it carefully. Please read the bible slowly. Don't be in a rush. I want the bible to go through me at least once in my life. More than me going through the bible 50 times. So verse 9 speaks about mammon. Verse 13 speaks about mammon. Verse 14 speaks about mammon. And the whole chapter from verse 1 onwards is talking about mammon. So therefore I believe. That verses 10 to 12 also speak about mammon. Now you will understand something. He who is faithful in a very little thing will be faithful in much. He who is unrighteous in a very little thing will be unrighteous in much. What is this very little thing? What shall we call a very little thing? One peanut. One peanut. Has it got any value? Very little thing. All the money in the world Jesus calls a very little thing like one peanut. Number one, you need to see money as a very little unimportant thing in God's word. You must see it as a very little thing. Very little thing in your life. Important things are holiness. Humility. Loving others. Forgiving others. Being fervent in spirit to serve the Lord. Worshipping God. Praying. Reading the scriptures. Obeying God. Those are the big things. Money is a very little thing. But the Lord says, I am testing you with faithfulness in that very little thing. More than reading the Bible, I am testing your faithfulness in this very little thing. Because if you are faithful in this very little thing, then you will be faithful in the big things like God's work and ministry. But if you are unrighteous in this very little thing, you know we handle money every day of our life. We men always have money in our pockets. It's a very little thing. Or if you have the bad habit of using a credit card to buy all types of things you cannot afford, you know the number of people who have destroyed themselves with that. How can God give a ministry to such people who get into credit card debt? I don't believe that God will ever give a ministry to such people. Because they are not faithful in a very little thing. They are unrighteous in a very little thing. Secondly, verse 11. If you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? If you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? Unrighteous mammon is money and material things. What are the true riches? Number one, to partake of God's nature and to behave like Jesus Christ. Not externally behave like Jesus Christ. Lot of people try that. But inwardly to partake of God's nature and that nature comes out of you as the nature of Jesus Christ. Those are the true riches. That's the greatest wealth God can give anybody. And then, the riches of revelation on God's ways in His word. And another thing, a mighty anointing from God to be able to serve Him in your particular ministry. Those are the true riches that will produce fruit for eternity. And if you want those true riches, If you want those true riches, God says, First of all, you have to be faithful with money. Thirdly, If you have not been faithful with what is another person's, who will give you what is your own? What is it that belongs to another person? It belongs to God. 1 Corinthians 10.26 says, The earth is the Lord's and everything on the earth belongs to the Lord. All the money on the earth belongs to God itself. That's why He doesn't allow you to take any money out when you go into the grave. That's why He doesn't allow you to take any money out when you go into the grave. But when you leave this world, God allows you to take what is yours. Whatever God's nature you partook during your earthly life, that's yours. So, remember that money doesn't belong to you, it belongs to God. So, remember that money doesn't belong to you, it belongs to God. Whether you earn a thousand rupees a month or a hundred thousand rupees a month, it belongs to God. In the old covenant, they believed 10% belonged to God and 90% belonged to me. But Jesus taught us that everything belongs to God. That doesn't mean I have to put it all in the offering box. But that I must use it faithfully, recognizing this is not mine. It belongs to another person. So, we have to be faithful with money. Otherwise, our church will be part of Babylon. What we need is the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are faithful with money, God will give us the power of the Holy Spirit continuously. Many years ago, when I started preaching, I remember the Lord telling Jeremiah in chapter 15 verse 19, I will make you my mouth. I said, Lord, can you do that for me? Can you make me your mouth? The Lord said, yes. If you do what I told Jeremiah to do, separate all the filthy things out of your speech. And keep what is valuable. Speak only the valuable things and throw away the rest. And secondly, Luke 16 verse 11, Be faithful with money. So, the Lord said to me, Watch your mouth and watch your money and I will be with your mouth. And I have tried my best in these areas. I am not perfect, but I am trying. Because I will tell you honestly, I have a desperate desire and passion to be God's mouth. You may not have that passion, I have it. I don't mean just when I stand in the pulpit. When I talk to people personally, and that's where all of you, brothers and sisters, can be God's mouth. Don't you talk to people? Every day you are opening your mouth and talking to so many people. Do you have a passion to be God's mouth? Do you have a desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit? That's what God wants to do for you. Be careful with your speech. And be careful with the way you handle money. Otherwise, your church and you can drift towards Babylon. And the glory will depart. Depend on the Holy Spirit. Say, Lord, I want the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. And be faithful in this area. Let's pray. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father, Help us to recognize the things that are valuable in your eyes. And to experience the delivering power of the Gospel from the love of money. To make money our slave, which has been our master for so long. So that we can build the church of Jesus Christ on this earth. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.