The Way To Growth In Christlikeness - Part 8

So we were studying the Sermon on the Mount to the subject of being growing into the likeness of Christ and we first saw the nine right attitudes that Jesus described in verses chapter 5 verse 3 to 12. And then we were looking at from chapter 5 17 onwards the beginning of nine wrong attitudes just to revise them first of all was anger anger. Second was sinful sexual lust and the third was lying telling lies the fourth or the spirit of lying the fourth was vengeance and the fifth was being selective in love to people that's the end of chapter 5 and then the sixth we saw last time was seeking man's honor. Seeking man's honor first of all the Lord says in giving fasting and secondly in praying and third in fasting see these are religious activities giving money to God or giving money to the poor praying fasting these are all religious activities and a lot of Christians, in fact, I would say the vast majority of Christians do not obey this command to do these things in secret. They somehow very subtly let people know that they are praying how long they pray for or how much they give or even sometimes how much they fast. So we have to be very careful because Jesus said in relation to this that there'll be no reward in at the judgment seat of Christ there'll be no reward on earth as well for your prayer. In other words your prayer is not going to be answered if you're praying to get honor from men and if you give there is a reward for those who give because it says in Matthew 6 4 that your father who sees in secret will reward you and he's talking about giving money to the Lord's work or to poor people poor believers there is a reward from the Lord, but he says if you let people know about it then verse 2 chapter 6 verse 2 you've already got your reward there's zero. In other words, you might as well have taken that money and flushed it down the toilet as having given it in an offering box or given to the poor it is an absolute waste of money the only giving that God accepts is that which is done in secret. So look back over your life my brothers and sisters and think of all the times when you tried to let people know in some way that you gave some money for God's work or to the poor and you can count all of that as money that you flushed down the toilet foolish absolutely foolish which only a foolish person would throw money into the toilet and flush it down That's how a lot of believers are we might as well face up to it and the second thing when we pray if you pray it says in order to be seen or heard by men and most public prayer is to be heard by men Not because they just hear us but to get honor from them All such prayer does not go beyond the roof absolute waste of time Any prayer that you pray where at the back of your mind you're thinking Oh, these folks are hearing me now Or if somebody says hallelujah, and you're excited and you say something more to get more hallelujahs You might as well not pray. In fact, it's a sin I believe it's a sin To pray like that. I don't think many believers realize it Most believers i'm convinced do not know the abc of prayer They just don't know it. They pray just like the non-christians many of you believers Pray just like the non-christians and therefore you if god's not listening to your prayer Because you don't follow this simple teaching here it says don't ever pray to impress people And if you've done it repent of it Every time you've done it repent of it And get alone before god and lord. Please deliver me from this sin. It's it's listed in the same list of sins as sinful sexual lust are you as eager to be free from Praying to impress people as you are to be free from sinful sexual lust It's all in the same section the same sermon on the mount. We have to hate the sin as much as you hate lusting after women hate Praying to impress people Or when you pray afterwards you realize oh boy That was just to impress people go home and repent of it and say lord Bring me to the place where i'll be completely free from it. I'll tell you as i've said before i battled this for years Before I became free and if you're serious about it, you finally Find out after a number of years that god begins to listen to you So it's very very important look how children pray they're not praying to impress anybody they pray in the simplicity to their father So that's important The other thing a lot of people think as I mentioned before is they think they'll be hurt because they pray for a long time One hour prayer god will hear about a half a minute prayer god will not we saw this incident of the The prophets of baal praying for hours and elijah praying for half a minute in one king's Chapter 18 and which prayer brought the answer Okay. Now we go on to chapter 6 and verse 8 don't pray Thinking your father does not know your need your father knows your need matthew 6 8 before you even mention it We must remember this when we pray A lot of people give a big lecture to god informing him of a lot of things as we didn't know what is happening We don't have to inform god about anything. He knows a lot more than what we know about what's happening When we are praying we are making a specific request. We're not giving a lecture to god We're making a specific request for something and we know that he already knows it Then you say why in the world we have to pray because he wants us to have the privilege and the joy Of having expressed our need to him and of getting an answer from that is the reason When you're sick and you pray for healing, do you think god doesn't know that you're sick? Doesn't you think god doesn't know that you need healing? Or your child is sick. Doesn't god know about it? Doesn't god know that you want his heal? Let's pray not informing god but saying lord I want to exercise my faith here and trust you. It's what a privilege it is to Cooperate with you in this work. You could have healed my child without my asking But you want me to cooperate with you and have the joy of seeing that I prayed and you did the work it's like the servants poured the water into the jars in marriage in the wedding at cana And jesus turned it to wine. So we do our small part one percent God does 99. This is how prayer really is and if you understand it it delivers you from a lot of foolish wasteful praying And then jesus told us how to pray. He didn't say you must always repeat this matthew 6 verses 9 to 15 He did not say you must always repeat this every day But he did say every prayer of ours must be in this way According to this pattern so the important thing here is Not to memorize this prayer, but to understand the pattern a lot of people have memorized this prayer and repeated. They don't know the Pattern here I used to repeat it as a child I'm glad my parents taught me to pray this every morning when I got up from my bed as a little boy I would pray this prayer before getting out of bed. I'm thankful for it But as I grew up, you know paul said when I was a child, I spoke like a child when I grew up I gave up childish ways And so those who are still repeating it like an empty prayer are still children No, we must be mature in our understanding So what does it mean when he said pray in this way? Then you've got to study this prayer and say what is the lord trying to teach us in this prayer? You've you've seen that this comes under the section of seeking man's honor And we don't pray seeking man's honor we seek the glory of god we seek the glory of god in Our giving money we seek the glory of god in our praying we seek the glory of god in our fasting So here this prayer also is teaching us how to seek the glory of god And not even to seek our own The opposite of seeking god's glory is to seek something for ourselves So that's the that's the main emphasis here throughout this section Do you give money to get something for yourself some honor some credit? That's a sin Do you pray in order to get some honor for yourself? That's a sin Do you fast in order to get something honor for yourself? That's a sin and in the prayer itself You see you're not to be seeking your own. That's the emphasis here, but seek god's glory And that's why in the six requests that we see here you see the order of them the first three are Seeking god's kingdom. No, sorry god's name god's kingdom and god's will Lord let your name be hallowed i'm not bothered lord what people say about me or ruin my name or despise my name or make fun of me or Say that i'm a liar or a heretic or whatever. They may say my name is not important. I don't want people to know my name I want the name of jesus to be glorified My dear brothers who are listening sisters are listening to me. Can you honestly say? That you don't care one bit that people should know who you are or What you're doing or how important you are or how important you think you are That lord, I want to die to all that. I want to be like a dead person buried in the grave I want your name not my name your name to be hallowed respected And if you really have that attitude you will not be disturbed When people say something bad about your name or your family name, that is absolutely unimportant to you Oh lord, let your name be glorified you'll have a you'll have a concern when the name of jesus Is being dishonored in the country The name of jesus is being dishonored in every land in every country on the face of the earth And if you're truly in fellowship with god, you'll be concerned that that name is being dishonored I know I've prayed for years lord. Your name is so dishonored in india. Please let me to do something In a small way to glorify that name The reason why we try to build a new covenant church to glorify his name When we see so many churches being built with pastors are only after them after people's money And they're so disturbed at this time when there's a lockdown and people can't come to a church building You know what they're concerned about not the spiritual growth of those people at home They're not sending them messages to listen to them at home They see some way you can send you sending your checks and i've heard even people say go and slip the offering Under the church doors so that they get it So crazy after money. These are how it is with the vast majority of today's preachers They're not seeking the glory of god's name. They're seeking in their covetousness. They're seeking their own in the midst of such Babylonian christianity god is seeking to establish a few new covenant churches where people are not interested in their money But interested in leading people to live for the glory of god And live pure lives For god's glory so hallowed be your name lord. Your name is so dishonored in christendom, especially And we want to that name to be glorified. I want to ask you my dear brothers think seriously When you look around and see the corruption in babylonian christendom today, does it concern you that god's name is being dishonored? Oh, you say oh, well people are like that well Then you don't know how to pray here. Hallowed be your name lord Let your name be hallowed first of all among christians And then in the rest of the world secondly Lord, I want your kingdom to come This is not just speaking about his return to earth when his kingdom will come. I want it to come lord Jesus come soon. It's a good prayer to pray But also lord that kingdom is beginning now The kingdom of god came to earth on the day of pentecost And it was established in that first church of 120 people and every church True church where christ is the head and the only head is a picture of god's kingdom It's a small manifestation of god's kingdom and we want the principles of god's kingdom to rule in that Lord, let the principles of your kingdom be manifest in our local church And one day your kingdom will flood the whole earth as the waters cover the sea And then lord, we also pray that your will be done on earth. It's not being done in the Most places on earth the vast majority of human beings 99.9 percent of human beings God's will is not being done even among believers. They don't seek to do god's will but you're saying lord Your will be done exactly as it is done in heaven And that must begin with me before you pray that your wife or your husband will do god's will you start with yourself? Thy will be done in my life lord And the only way god's will can be done in Anyone's life is if he denies his own will Jesus said I come from heaven not to do my will for the will of my father. So when we pray Father thy will be done We are actually saying lord. I want to get rid of my will first I don't want my will in this particular thing. I'm praying for I don't want my will I want your will To be amazed to see how god will honor you when you pray like that You'll get answers beyond your expectation Thy will be done first of all in my life And let me deny my will in every situation where I find my will coming up And how is god's will done in heaven the angels don't go running around trying to do something for god, you know Sometimes we find zealous preachers say come on do something for god. Don't just sit around there go and do something for god You think some angel exhorts the other go on go around do something for the god here Don't just sit around in heaven doing nothing. No You know what the angels do? How is god's will done in heaven and it says here we're going to do it on earth as it is done in heaven the angels wait upon god And they hear what god has to say And then they go out and do it You know, there's a beautiful paraphrase of this verse in one corinthians in chapter four where it says here in one corinthians four and verse two It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy in the living bible. It says The most important thing about a servant the most important thing about a servant is That he does just what his master tells him to That's the meaning of being faithful one corinthians 4 2 the most important thing That the angels do they just wait upon god and do what he tells them to do They don't go around heaven trying to do something for god Like a lot of believers are trying to do something for god They don't want to take time to wait upon god and say lord. What do you want me to do? God's work is so messed up on the earth because a lot of believers are trying to do something for god Instead of waiting on god and saying lord. What do you want me to do? I will be done on earth as it is done in heaven And heavenly angels wait upon god and when god tells him to do something he does this is how jesus lived He never did anything without being prompted by his heavenly father. I've often quoted the example Of the lame man in acts chapter 3 who was healed by peter and john who'd been sitting at that temple for 40 years Begging for money. Jesus must have passed by that man numerous times and he never healed him. He only gave him money Why? Why would jesus not heal that lame man when he did greater miracles than that because He prayed the father said no And because he obeyed the father and did not heal that man all the three and a half years that he went into the end And out of that temple one day after jesus ascended Peter healed him and 5 000 people were converted You read in chapter 4 acts That's how God's work is done when people Follow jesus example of not doing something just because they have the power to do it Or just because they feel oh, this is a needy person. No That's how most people operate. Oh, that's a needy person. Let me do something Let me not pray about it at all or here. So I got far to do this. Let me do it here I have some money. Let me give it jesus never operated like Thy will be done on earth as the angels do it in heaven my dear brother sister Learn to pray like that and learn To seek god's with the thing is we are too lazy to seek god's will most believers That's why they just we live from the tree of knowledge of good and evil Oh, I feel this is right. The knowledge of good and evil in me tells me this is right. That's the life of adam The tree of life is waiting upon god. What does the father want me to do? That's implied here. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Those are the first three requests concerning god's glory and god's will god's kingdom And then comes to our requests lord. Give me that daily daily bread one would think the first prayer should be forgive my sins And deliver me from evil. No that comes second and third God is so interested in our physical life Don't think god is not interested in our physical needs When the first three requests concerning god are over the next three requests begins with our physical need A lot of people are so super spiritual. They think god's not interested in their physical needs physically. I want to tell you god is interested in giving you food clothing shelter in healing from your sickness in providing a house for you to live in And providing education for your children so that when they grow up They can earn their bread that they will have money to buy clothes. They'll have a house to live in So I see god's interested in food clothing a house to live in and education for your children minimum And it's perfectly right to ask it Even before asking for forgiveness of sins. He said give us this our day our daily bread That really blesses my heart to see it at the same time. He's not asking for the daily ice cream He's not asking for luxury lord. Give me my daily ice cream. No This what is necessary, I mean god may give you cakes and ice creams and all as an extra bonus thrown in but lord I'm asking only for necessities I'm asking for what I need My god shall supply all your need philippians 419 not my god shall supply all that you want. No There's no promise which says my god will supply all that you want But if there is a promise which says in philippians 419 my god will supply all that you need give us this day our daily bread Just just for today lord, just give me enough And the next request is forgive us our sins or forgive us our debts our sins are a debt to god lord, forgive us that because There's a reason Um, jesus has died for us, that's why we can be forgiven, but I also want to qualify that by saying Just as verse 12 we have forgiven those who have sinned against us Every one of you who are listening to me listening to me I'm sure you know people who have sinned against you done evil to you or done harm to you deliberately or accidentally whatever it is you suffer because of Somebody did something against you or your family or your children now the question is Have you forgiven them before you ask god to forgive one sin of yours Make sure you have forgiven every single person that you can recollect who has harmed you in your entire life Now that's very very important forgive us our sins debts as we have forgiven our debtors And then he goes on to speak to the next thing which is Don't lead us into temptation. That's the prayer of a weak person Some people are so bold and say oh i'm ready to conquer any temptation. No, no, no, no He's told us to pray father. Please. Don't lead me That means don't allow me to face a temptation which will be too strong for me Now god has promised in 1 corinthians 10 13. He will not allow you To be tempted beyond your ability then you say why do you need to pray? Well, your heavenly father knows what you need verse 8, but he still wants you to pray He still wants you to pray lord. Don't lead me into temptation Lord, I don't want to there are things it's a humble prayers the prayer of a humble person Lord, there are temptations that are too strong for me And don't let me ever face them because I never want to sin So don't lead me into any temp don't let me ever face the temptation which is too strong for me. Please help me to Face only what I can handle because I never want to dishonor your name by sinning but deliver us from evil that's not just from Temptation, but all deliver us not only from sin, but from every satanic deception evil every tactic of satan that he does to harm me deliver us from evil or from the evil one Deliver us from any contact with satan Lord any unconsciously is any contact with satan in my life? Do I have a habit or some practice in my home, which is unconsciously connected with satan lord deliver me Give me light on it. First of all and help me to be free from it. I want to resist satan in jesus name and And drive him away because here it says here In the margin of this that this could refer to deliver us from the evil one okay, then the Prayer finally concludes with in verse 13 the last part yours is the kingdom the power and the glory forever so ultimately it begins with expressing The need our desire that god's name be hallowed and it ends With giving all the glory to god, that's how we must End our lives and every day of our life lord. Everything I do Is for your glory the power is yours. I don't want to do anything with my power The kingdom is yours. Amen is also an important word whenever we pray Amen is an expression of faith For many people the word amen is not an expression of faith That shows how much we have drifted From true christianity Amen is a hebrew word Which means we could paraphrase it as it will be so So i'm praying a prayer And then that's not the end at the end of it. I express my faith in god by saying it will be so Because i've asked for god's glory and I've asked in his will So here we see six requests the first three are concerning god and the next three are concerning me the point is that I have to Put god first. It's a prayer teaching me to be delivered from self-centered praying Lord, I don't want to pray for my backache or my headache or my other needs or my need for money first. No your kingdom your name your glory your will then my needs even my need for food or Survival comes next your name your kingdom your will So it's a prayer teaching us to be free from self-centeredness. It's God-centered way of praying we all need to learn to pray in a god-centered way most praying Of christians is in a self-centered way And we're not christ-like jesus prayed always concerning the glory of his father So that's the main thing we got to learn here and now I want to come to this very important part I left it till the end and jesus left it till the end too After concluding this prayer and saying amen, it will be so an expression of faith He says out of these six requests. Jesus says I want to pick out one There are six requests I mentioned to you But I want to pick out one which is the one which you are most in danger Of not praying properly And that is forgive us our sins as we have forgiven others He says I want to mention that again verse 14 if you there's a condition for forgiveness repent If we confess our sins, we know 1 john 1 9 if we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness There's an if we bet in 1 john 1 9 if condition If we confess our sins, he will forgive us Everybody knows that for that 1 john 1 9 that if you don't confess you won't be forgiven. Let me tell you show you another if capital if if You forgive others It's as important as 1 john 1 9 Your your sins will be forgiven So, what do I mean 1 john 1 9 if I confess my sins it'll be forgiven what if I don't confess my sins Everybody knows it won't be forgiven What if you don't forgive others that's also capital if He won't be forgiven. How many people see that as as important? as 1 john 1 9 and he Emphasizes that in the next we're saying let me also clarify If you don't forgive others what matthew 6 15 your father will not forgive your sins I'm absolutely convinced That the vast majority of people who call themselves believers Their sins are not forgiven Now you don't have to believe me if you don't want to but i've seen enough believers in the 60 years that i've been a believer myself In many parts of the world and i've seen the bitterness And the wrong attitudes That they have towards people who hurt them in some way They've got grudges in their heart against them. They haven't forgiven them I want to say to every such person in jesus name Your sins are not forgiven Let me tell you that straight if you're listening to me You will thank me in the day of judgment for telling you the truth Most preachers don't tell you that if you do not forgive one single person in the whole world Who harmed you or hurt you in some way in your entire life that you can recollect that you can remember? one person All the sins you committed in your life are still on your head You're not forgiven one of them It's not enough to repent Of your sins it's not enough to confess your sin to god. It is also necessary to forgive others Who have sinned against you well It's very very important forgiveness is a very important has somebody done something wrong to you forgive him Even if he does not ask for forgiveness Like jesus forgave on the cross father forgive them But they don't know what they're doing. They don't even know how necessary it is to ask me for forgiveness They don't know it forgive them lord. I don't Am asked that they should come and ask me for forgiveness The only place where they should ask for forgiveness is if you want to build fellowship with them There jesus said in matthew 18 verse 14 onwards If your brother sins go and tell him if he doesn't listen take two others three others with you And if he repents well and good, otherwise if he still doesn't repent Then treat him like an unbeliever and then you don't have fellowship with him But when he's an unbeliever, then you forgive him like jesus forgave him on the cross So you finally do forgive him too But your fellowship with him is no longer there a believer who sins against you and does not repent of his sins You can forgive him because you treat him like an unbeliever, but you cannot fellowship with him But the only way to forgive him is by treating him as an unbeliever. That's very clear in matthew 18 verses 14 onwards So very often when we compare scripture with scripture, we get the full truth And i'm sorry to say most bible teachers do not teach the full truth Because first of all, they don't compare scripture with scripture. Probably they don't know the other scriptures And the next section is verse 16 to 18 where he speaks about fasting. It's again the same theme That is seeking man's honor in fasting Fasting is a good habit Jesus never said these words if you fast do this. No He said when you fast notice here also verse 16 whenever you fast verse 17 when you fast And even in other places there's never a place where I see jesus as if you fast It's when you fast in other words Jesus expected every believer Sometime at least to fast And fasting doesn't mean Being completely without food. You can fast for one meal Because you want to see god about something You can fast for a whole day You can fast two or three days But some type of fasting in fact, we read in the book of daniel that he fasted from Special foods and they had a very simple meal. That's also time of fasting. It's amazing. There are very various ways of fasting you fast from Watching on television for a few days seeking god about something fast from something that you Enjoy doing food is something you enjoy eating and I give up that for In order to seek god I believe fasting is a very good discipline that all young people particularly should have And it's very very good I remember in my younger days how? It was a discipline in my life And it helped me so much How much it Because jesus said when you fast I said I want to fast So I want to encourage you to do that in your life and if you've done it you can Tell others to do what you yourself have done and don't let other people know it when you're fasting Don't give any impression to people at that time that you're fasting You can encourage others to fast later on And say that i'm only preaching what I practice, but you don't have to tell people How many years you fasted or any such thing? No keep that secret what you do in secret you get a reward I believe that a lot of people who have fasted And told others about it and they got zero from god zero Because it says in verse 16. They got their reward from men. You know the amount of fasting that believers have gone into which Accomplished nothing They might as well have eaten because they got nothing from god But he did not told anybody about it Then there would have been a reward Okay, now we come to a wrong attitude number seven And that is the love of money That is it's a section that goes all the way from verse 19 to verse 24 It's a wrong attitude to money is not something that many people think of as a wrong attitude You know when the to love money I mean is not people think of as a wrong attitude Well, they say everybody in the world loves money Well, it's very easy to find out if we love money or not He says here he's speaking about storing up wealth and treasure for yourself He says do not do it Because it's you must store up treasure in heaven verse 20. I want to be very True to what jesus said here in scripture. I don't want to bypass anything. He said he said don't store up for yourself He's talking about yourself treasure on earth But store up for yourself treasure in heaven Where thieves cannot take in because where your treasure is There your heart will be also that is the verse that gives me a clue to find out Whether i'm storing up my treasure on earth or not So ask yourself What is more important to you The amount of money or wealth you have on earth or How much your life will glorify god that it'll bring some glory to god in all eternity What is primary in other words is? What he says here about treasure in heaven I want to do something for the glory of god with my life That's far more important to me than how much i've accumulated on earth Or what wealth you have on earth if the kingdom of god is uppermost in your life And your treasure is there and you're frequently thinking about How you can be more useful to god and how you can serve god more How you can be more upright and righteous and bring glory to god by your life You you may be a person who's working 10 hours a day in a secular job In fact, 99 percent of believers are like that more than 99.9 percent of believers are like that They don't have to give up their jobs and to do christian work In fact, a lot of people who are in full-time christian work preachers and pastors are not seeking the kingdom of god first They're seeking their own gain all the time. They're always asking people for money sending reports to get money for themselves Where are they seeking god's kingdom all those other people in secular job who are giving money to these pastors They are seeking god's kingdom far more than these pastors. Don't be deceived. It's not preaching and Trying to do religious work that makes you spiritual no It's where your heart is If you're always thinking about money who's going to give me some money. That's how a lot of pastors are Who will give me some money? Will I get some money if I go and preach over here? Crazy to think that such people are serving god. You got to be off your head to believe that Do you think jesus ever went somewhere thinking? Oh, I hope these people will give me some money when I preach there So don't misunderstand I believe there's a tremendous amount of deception just like in the days of the pharisees They fooled people that they were religious a lot of preachers and pastors to the fleet who are fooling people that they are spiritual Don't follow their example Where your treasure is there will your heart be also a person whose treasure is in heaven? His heart will be in heaven all the time Just like that man whose mind is on money is always on where can I get more money and will I get some money here? Or will I get some money there? Now I want to be very practical about this Did jesus say that we must not have any savings at all You want to understand this properly? Should you have a savings account in a bank? Well, i'm telling you jesus had a savings account, too His bank was judas iscariot. Of course. It was a bit of a corrupt bank but Whenever people gave him money, he didn't spend it all the same day He told jesus put it in a bag put it in your bag That was a savings account Because jesus had the responsibility to feed 13 people himself and 12 disciples And a number of them like peter were probably married They had to send money to their families because they had given up their fishing and other jobs I don't know whether matthew had a family But it's quite likely because many of these people were 30 years old And among jewish people by the time you're 30 years old you were married many of these disciples were married then They had to support their families and Where did they get it from? Jesus told them to give up their jobs and from the offerings that came they were sending money to their families So jesus didn't say spend it all today right now no Save it and use it wisely. So savings is right. That's the first thing we learn The other thing we learn about jesus giving was is um The other first of all the other thing that the word of god says about saving is in second corinthians in chapter 12 In second corinthians in chapter 12. It says in verse 14 The last part of it parents must save up for their children Now don't save up for yourself that's what jesus said in matthew 6 and verse 19 But in second corinthians 12 14, the holy spirit also said but save up something for your children They need to be educated they need a good start in life so save up something for them Parents are responsible. It says to do that So if you don't care for your children and you don't provide for your children The bible says you're worse than an unbeliever. Did you know that? It says in 1 timothy and chapter 5 1 timothy 5 Speaking about widows being supported in the church And here it says that if anyone went timothy 5 And verse 8 if anyone does not provide for his own especially for those of his own household He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever Who is worse than an unbeliever? Which believer is worse than an unbeliever according to 1 timothy 5 verse 8? One who does not provide for his own family His own family, especially So it's the responsibility of every born again child of god to provide for his own family and like like I said that may include a savings account because There's so many needs that come up in the future Even in the world they have a saying save up for the rainy day And very often people who do not save who say they are trusting god in a foolish way End up dependent on other believers to support them so We have to be wise to save up something for ourselves. We don't have to Give away everything we have Even to the lord's work You know, it says in acts chapter 2 that A lot of people actually after four a lot of people sold all that they had uh in Acts chapter 4 in verse 34 Those who had lands and houses would sell them all and bring the proceeds of the sales and later the apostles They were very zealous. Nobody asked them to do it And personally, I don't think it was wise Then or now to sell all your property and give it to god's work or even to the poor Now what happened because of that? It's quite likely that that's one reason why later on they were so poor that they had to get gifts from Philippians and corinthians paul tells the philippians and the corinthians sent some money for the poor saints in jerusalem So there is wisdom in saving But and in our giving also we must be wise coming back to this matter of two masters He said jesus said no one can serve two masters Matthew 6 24. He will hate the one and love the other Be devoted to one and despise the other so I mentioned here about It's right for us to save something for our families and to provide for them And there each person might decide what is needed for their own home But now when it comes to spending There's one verse in the bible, which I found helps me to know How jesus spent his money In john 13, we saw how jesus saved his money Now john 13 29 It says jesus had the money box Whether it was a bag or a box judas kept it and When he told judas to go and do whatever he's supposed to do he was actually telling him to go and Complete that act of betrayal But the other disciples did not know that they thought He was asking to judas to do what he always asked judas to do which is Buy something that you need Acts john 13 29 Or give something to the poor in those two statements I find how jesus used his money Buy what you need and give to the poor Now when it comes to what you need it's different for different people if you're living in some poor village where The richest man owns only a bicycle your needs will be very little You probably don't need a bike at all a bicycle at all because everybody walks in that village But you live in a city where there's no public transport. You probably need two or three cars if you have family members or working So we're not here to judge someone else who has more than we have No If he's not getting into debt And he's not doing anything unrighteous Well, let him get what he needs buy what you need You decide what size of house you need don't judge another person. No, we'll come to that later But buy what you need and don't judge another person thinking that he needs only what you need No, he may need 10 times more what you need Very often believers have the habit of judging other people. Please listen to me carefully Believers have the habit of judging others who Have a better standard of living than them They always think my standard is the best standard the right standard Anyone who has less than me can come up to my standard anyone who has more than me Oh, he must be living in luxury who taught you that that's conceit of the first order You're not the standard if you want to look at a standard look at jesus he won't nothing No Buy what you need and don't judge another person as to what he needs Don't ever judge another person if he buys 10 cars, that's his business So long as he's not borrowing and begging and stealing that's his business between him and god Don't ever compare your standard of living with somebody else's that is evil evil Buy what you need And help those who are in need and now we're coming back to Matthew 6 24 He's he says money can be a master that's the point here god can be a master or money can be a master Verse 24 of Matthew 6 and no one can serve both Have you understood that that you cannot serve god and money well You cannot live for god and for wealth. You have to make a choice Live either for wealth making wealth or for or for god. He's not talking about how much you're earning He's talking about what you're living for Every child of god must live 100 for god even in a secular job And money is to be like a servant Let's understand this properly because we want to deal with this In a right way in a way that honors god. We don't want to avoid some of these difficult verses But let's look at it. There are two masters verse 24 God and wealth mammon is another expression for wealth And let's apply that to verse 24 carefully Matthew 6 24 He will hate one and love the other let's go step by step you Love money whether you know it or not. You hate god Do you get any other interpretation from there? You if you love money you hate god I'll repeat that if you love money you hate god It's that serious and if you are If you're devoted to god, you will despise money. That's also written there And if you're devoted to money you're despising god I don't think many believers have ever Put that into that verse and tell me if am I saying something wrong. It's absolutely clear here He will hate the one and love the other He'll be devoted to one and despise the other i'll tell you you can have a tremendous liberation in your life If you face up to scripture, honestly It'll make you a spiritual person instead of if you try to get around that verse and so somehow Bypass it to overlook it and go on to the next verse. That's how many people miss out on god's best We have to come clear in this area of god and money. I'm not to serve two masters I must be devoted to god and despise money I must love god and hate money. Now. What does it mean to hate money? In another place, let me explain it Jesus said in luke 14 26 you got to hate your father You got to hate your wife Have you read that luke 14 26? What did he mean? It's very clear. He wasn't saying I got to Reject my wife or reject my father. No In that in the context you compare it with what he said in matthew 10 If anyone loves his father more than me you compare scripture with scripture matthew 10 with luke 14 26 You find that what he's trying to say is You must love jesus far more than you love Your father and mother and brother and sister and wife and children. That's why That's why he used that word hate in luke 14 26. Now. I apply the same Meaning of the word hate here What do I what does it mean to hate money in exactly the same way that means god means more to me than money Any day If it's a choice within god money, I always choose god. I will never choose money above god I mean the practical application of that is if you're if you can make a little more money by Violating your conscience. I won't make it No, if you can make a little more money by cheating on your taxes, I will not do it You know how many believers they're all cheat on their taxes just to make a little more money. They hate god I'll tell you that straight Yeah, if you're doing that I want to tell you in jesus name you hate god Because you love money you're willing to violate god's laws to make a little more money There are a lot of believers who do that tell a small lie here and there and sign false statements etc well At least you know today whom you are serving Now, what about the amount of money we have? Let's recognize money is to be my servant And he said here your eye or he's connected with verse 22 and 23. If your eye is clear My eye will be clear when only god is my master and nobody else I've often used this example to illustrate Whom i'm serving Think of god and master god and money as two masters Who are you serving it's very easy to find out Here's God and let's say, you know, there are two people. Let's take a human example two men say that you are their servant A sitting on one side and b sitting on the other side both say you are their servant And say i'll find out very simple both of you call him And let's see who he goes to If he goes to a then he's a servant of a if he goes to b he's a servant of b. It's so simple Now apply that here god and money Both are inviting you to do something The one you respond to you're a servant Where you respond to the choice of money more than the calling of god Whatever you may think of yourself, whichever new covenant church you think you belong to you are a servant of money You make a choice on the basis of money Not on the basis of god a lot of people i'm not saying you should not take a job with a higher salary The cost of living goes up. It's good to get a job with a higher salary or a secure job. That's perfectly. Okay It's good to provide for your children. It's good to get your children a good education. All that is okay But the point is behind it all are you serving god? Do you make a choice with god seeking god's will? Or do you say I don't need to seek god's will I can make a lot more money here, so I will go here And then i'll see if there's some church there then i'll try and ease my conscience and go and sit in some church But my basic aim and going there is to make more money Dear brother sister Please ask yourself. Don't get a judgment. Don't get a surprise in the day of judgment To discover god telling you and all along your life you all you were interested in was making more money You went wherever you could make more money. That's all you were interested in and you didn't seek my will at all So what should what should you do now? If you have done made such choices in the past where you chose to go to a place only to make money I'm not asking you to give up that job now So difficult to get jobs these days and I would never ask you to give that up I'm not not asking you to go to back to the place where you came from but At least acknowledge before god that you sinned I tell parents whose children are wayward Acknowledge to god that you did not bring them up properly then ask god to Um help them to come back to you But if you don't acknowledge your own fault, then you're not Qualified to ask god to bring your children back to you If you've made a mistake acknowledge it. Did you go somewhere seeking out the money tell god lord? I was only interested in money when I went there. I didn't seek your will at all But forgive me help me in the days to come at least to seek your will first and seek your glory first Now I believe that many christians do not grow in their christian life as they should Because they have not faced up this issue squarely. They sort of bypass this verse It's like you're plowing the field and there's a big rock in the middle of your Farm and you just bypass it and go around that rock will always be there Dig it out That's what i'm trying to do here Let's make sure that money is not our master is not our god that we always choose Jesus christ above that we'll never do one unrighteous thing To make money. I hope you will be able to say that that you clear all your debts As soon as possible is the attitude god sees Not how much you just like in giving the widow who put two mites Two cents into the offering box. She gave what she had So it's the attitude we have. I want to be righteous lord in the matter of money. I never want to be in debt to anybody I want to ask all of you. Do you have a credit card debt? Why are you not paying it back? Why are you not denying yourself certain things in order to pay it back Well, you have to you know that you're keeping on paying more and more interest. You're losing god's money First of all, you should use a credit card only for what is absolutely essential Now i'm not Telling you what i've not practiced myself. My wife and I were extremely poor when we were married and we made sure we never get into debt I have the authority to speak on that because for 80 years of my life. I've never been in debt even one single day In the 52 years of our marriage we have never been in debt one single day when we had little we lived with little If we could not afford a washing machine, we never bought a washing machine. We washed with our hands the way jesus washed his clothes so If you want to please god, you just have to deny yourself a little bit And you'll see the tremendous rewards that come to you spiritually as a result of that. I have been immensely blessed by god Just because I decided i'm going to follow divine principles in the area of money And I want to say to you in jesus name Many of you are missing out a lot and what you're gaining is garbage You're missing out on the true riches Ask god to show you today who you're serving. Is it god or money? I'm not saying you can't earn a lot of money. You may be a millionaire or even a billionaire can follow jesus That's just like saying I've got a lot of servants. Some people have only one servant in their house abraham had 318 servants But he still served god What if a person has 318 million Dollars or rupees in his account. Can he serve god? Of course provided he keeps them all as his servants But if you've got one servant in your house only one And he takes over and runs the house Even though you're earning very little Money is your master. It's not a question of how much you earn It's a question of is money your servant whether you have one servant or 10 000 servants Is money your servant? Not the size of your bank account but Who is the master in your house? So I hope this will be clear And I believe where we are coming short. We should ask god to help us lord. I don't want to remain A slave anymore i'm missing out on so much in the christian life because i've not settled this matter And I believe many of you have not settled it Please settle it before god today because don't think god is a spoilsport don't think he'll tell you to go up your job and go and Get some other job which pays you 10 percent of what you're Earning today, then you don't understand god. He's a loving father. Will your earthly father tell you to do that? No Is your earthly father more loving than your heavenly father? God is a good god. We must begin with that understanding So because there's so many wrong concepts about god that people have that if you give everything to god He'll tell you he'll let you make he'll allow you to have a miserable life Live in a little hut and not have much money and not have a bank account. That's a lot of garbage. That's the Devil trying to pollute people's minds God is a good god He wants us to be righteous He doesn't want us to worship money as an idol You know how much he hated idolatry in the old testament So I believe it's when we know god is a loving father. Everything's dependent on that. He loves me like he loved jesus he never allowed jesus to Sleep on the roadside or to be a homeless person putting up on Board saying please help me. I'm poor. No, he'd never allow his children to come to that state Because he cares for his children as he cared for jesus So remember this but he wants you to have the best life Possible in terms of eternity not in terms of this earth May god help us Let us pray heavenly father as we Think of these difficult topics and yet topics that are so important for us to get a right understanding of We pray that you will Explain these truths lord. It's difficult for me to explain these things, but your holy spirit can Take the feeble words that have spoken and apply to each life that hears it today Help us to honor you in our life And not to judge others Thank you for hearing us and above all help us to forgive every single human being Who's ever done any harm to us? We pray in jesus name amen