In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of being careful with our words and the power they hold. He also highlights the significance of faithfulness in handling material possessions and how it determines whether God blesses us with true riches. The speaker draws a parallel between serving God and serving wealth, stating that we cannot serve both simultaneously. He encourages listeners to prioritize seeking revelation on God's word, partaking in His nature, and fulfilling an anointed ministry over accumulating earthly wealth.

So, I was mentioning that in order to be an effective spokesman for God, there were three things. Those are not the only three, there are others, but I thought of three that I should mention. And first of all, I mentioned that there must be a recognition that it is a very serious responsibility to be a spokesman for God, to speak as God. See, nowadays there are so many people who say, thus said the Lord. Particularly in Pentecostal charismatic circles, interpretation of tongues and all, thus said the Lord. And we also can sometimes very lightly say, God told me this and God told me that. Now, it's true, God speaks. But we mustn't say it lightly. You know, one of the great chapters for preachers is Jeremiah 23. Just like a great chapter for shepherds, Ezekiel 34. These are two chapters that you should read. Ezekiel 34 for shepherds, Jeremiah 23 for preachers. And see what he says here in Jeremiah 23 in verse 2. This is what God says to the shepherds, you have scattered my flock and driven them away and not attended to them. And in verse 9, the Lord says, as for the prophets, my heart is broken within me. And Jeremiah is experiencing that. I have become like a drunken man. Jeremiah says that because of the Lord and because of his holy words. And there is a lack of purity among the preachers because there is adultery in their minds. And I have found their wickedness in my house, it says here in verse 11. And further down in verse 17, the Lord says in verse 16, don't listen to the words of these prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you to futility. They speak a vision of their own imagination and not from the mouth of the Lord. And this is so true of a lot of preaching today. Because they say to those who despise the Lord, you will have peace. And for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his heart, calamity will not come on you. So as the message Bible says, their sermon is, everything will turn out okay. They make up their messages. And their sermons are, nothing bad will ever happen to you. That's their message. That nothing bad will ever happen to you. Even though people are living according to their own will. Then he says, verse 18, have any of these prophets bothered to come and meet with me, the true God? To absorb what I say, to listen and live out my word first. Then he says in verse 21, I never sent these prophets, but they ran anyway. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. If only they had bothered to sit down and meet with me, they would have preached my message to my people. Then my people would have gotten back on the right track. But instead, they tell lies to each other. Verse 25, I had a dream, I had a dream they prophesied. So how long do I have to put up with all this? They exchange dreams with each other, it says in verse 27, and try to distract my people. And then in verse 30, the Lord says, I'm sick and tired of these prophets who get all their sermons secondhand from others. They make up the stuff and say, this is what God is saying. There's a lot of this going on today. I never authorized even one of these prophets, verse 32, and they do nothing for these people. And verse 33 onwards, 34, if anyone goes around lightly saying God's message, God's message, I'll punish him and his family. And then he says further down in verse 37, 36 and 37, in the message Bible it says, don't go around saying God told me this, God told me that. I don't want to hear that anymore. Only the person I authorized speaks for me. And further down in verse 38, don't pretend that you know all the answers. And stop all this, God told me this, God told me that type of talk. You know, a lot of people try to get some authority by saying God told me this. Does God speak? He certainly does. But I'll tell you one thing, God is never boring. God is never judgmental on his people. He doesn't scold. And very often we have all failed in all these things. I just went through that chapter to show you how seriously God takes those who take his name and preach something. And we saw the importance of our being careful with our tongue. See another area, the third one which I want to mention now. It doesn't look as if it's got any connection with preaching. But our faithfulness in the use of material things is one of the important areas that determines whether God gives us the true riches. See, I see the true riches as revelation on God's word. Partaking of God's own nature and fulfilling an anointed ministry. Those are about the greatest riches we can get. To get revelation on God's word and his will and to partake of his own nature and to have an anointed ministry so that we really accomplish something on this earth before we leave. What is greater riches than that? All the money you can make on earth is nothing compared to that. All the comfortable life you can live on earth is nothing compared to this. See, it's only if you value these things that you say, Lord, how can I have these true riches? And the Lord says in Luke 16 and verse 11, If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you? So there you see the connection between God giving us true riches and our being faithful with money. Somebody once calculated that 1 out of 6 of all the verses that Jesus spoke referred to money. That's a very high percentage. That's about 16% of everything Jesus spoke related to money. And he wasn't telling us how to be prosperous like today's preaching. But most of the time he spoke about being faithful with money. And it's not just money. Mammon means all material things. Now in the great wisdom of God, he has not given us all equal amounts of money. He has not given us all equal amounts of intelligence. He has not given us equal amount of spiritual gifts. Grace all of us can have according to the measure in which we humble ourselves. So the important things, the really important eternal things all of us can have as much as we fulfill the conditions. But other things God determines. For example, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It's very clearly written in 1 Corinthians 12, God gives it as he chooses. And if at all there is one gift we are all told to ask for, it is a gift of prophecy. That is to proclaim God's word in a way that will bless other people. Everybody can ask for that gift. Not necessarily from a pulpit. We can, like I said, speak words of encouragement to people. That's like prophecy. That doesn't mean you will be a prophet. All are not prophets. 1 Corinthians 12 is very clear. But all can prophesy. That's like saying, all are not evangelists. But all are to be witnesses for Christ. Even if you are not an evangelist, you still got to be a witness, tell somebody the gospel. In the same way, all may not be teachers, but all can share something of God's word with other people. So, all are not called to be prophets, but all can prophesy. And all can receive grace, depending on how much they humble themselves. All can progress in likeness to Christ equally. All can be overcomers. But when it comes to certain other things which are not so important, God is not given all equal. Some are good looking, some are not good looking. Some are very intelligent, some are not intelligent. God in his great wisdom has made people of different colors. Given people different abilities to earn money. And some have more and some have less. Some people, the circle is very big. That means their income is very big or their wealth is very big. Some people, it is very small. But whether it is small or big, God wants us to be faithful with the material things we have. Now to be faithful, here it says, if you are not faithful with mammon, how can you get true riches? So therefore, when God gives us earthly things, he is actually testing us. Now we don't have to become fanatics and legalists and keep condemning ourselves. See, religious people tend to go to an extreme. You know where some people think faithfulness means I can't buy an ice cream because that's not necessary. Or I can't have three shirts because only two is enough. You know, or maybe I should have only one bedroom in my house or something like that. There are so many things like this. People tend to become fanatics. So, I want to say, it's got nothing to do with that. God is not checking up how many shirts and pants you have. Or how many rooms there are in your house. That's not the point. I mean, God is a loving father. He leaves you free to choose all that. But he sees basically what is your attitude to these things. What is your attitude? Are you faithful in the use of these things? Do you recognize they all belong to God? You know, a man can live in a very small hut and be a very carnal person. And a man can be a very wealthy man and be very faithful. So, it's unfortunately among Christians we think that if you are poor you are spiritual, if you are rich you are unspiritual. Just examine your own self perhaps. See, obviously some of your brothers earn very little. What is your definition of poverty? If I were to ask you, are you a rich man? You say, no, no, no, I am a poor man. See, there is something in human nature which always likes to pretend that we are very poor. If we were to ask the people who live in the slums of Bangalore, they would say, what poor people? You are all rich people. But your definition of poor means what you earn, that's poor. But if you go to the slum person he will say, you are rich. So you see, this matter of poor and rich is a relative thing. But we have this tendency to think anybody who has got more than me is rich. If you don't get delivered from that attitude you will destroy yourself. Anybody who is more than you is not rich. You yourself may be 10 times richer than the poor people in India. In fact, my guess is that even the poorest brother sitting in our midst is richer than 50% of India. If you are richer than 50% of people in India, how can you say you are a poor person? So we should get that out of our head, that I am poor and somebody else is rich. You will be satisfied with the circle God has given you and if God gives you an opportunity to expand it, expand it. Because you know, faithfulness does not mean what you own. Some people think we must always live in a rented house. We must not buy any property. Well, that's fine. If that's your conviction, you should live like that. But we must not judge other people. But it is in this area of material things that believers judge other people the most. You see, for example, so many believers who don't wear ornaments judge other sisters who wear ornaments. You see, the God's word says, don't wear any gold. And look, you are allowing your little daughter to wear gold. How much does that ornament earring cost, which that girl is wearing? I don't know. I never bought these things, so I don't know what its price is. Maybe 1000 rupees, is it? Or 2000 rupees? But you who criticize that girl for wearing earring, you spend 20,000 rupees on your bathroom fittings in your house. But you see, Peter doesn't say don't have expensive bathroom fittings. You go to the plumbing shop and there are various types of taps. Why do you choose that little more expensive tap? When you choose to put flooring in your house, why do you choose that particular flooring instead of ordinary cement flooring? Because Peter didn't speak about mosaic or spartic or marble or any such thing. I am just trying to show you the amount of legalism there is in our midst. And all who are judgmental are legalists. We tend to think, I am alright. If you live at my level, you are a wholehearted brother. If you spend more than me on your house, you are a rich man. If you wear more expensive clothes than mine, you are a rich man. I have a scooter. If you have a car, you are a rich man. The chap who has a car says, I am a poor man, but if you have a Mercedes Benz, you are definitely a rich man. The chap who has Mercedes says, I am a poor man, but this guy with three Mercedes, he is a rich man. And you go to the chap in the slums, he says, a whole lot of you are rich. What are you talking? I don't even have a cycle, he says. Do you see how this is all relative? Now, the brother who is free from this is the brother who doesn't judge anybody. I hope you are like that. I hope you can look at a sister wearing ornaments or somebody's daughter wearing ornaments and have zero judgment. Always say to yourself, my bathroom fittings are more expensive than what this girl is wearing. Say that to yourself. The tiles on my floor in my house cost more than this chain this sister is wearing. This is going to determine the anointing on your ministry. Be faithful with material things and leave other people alone. I will never forget in all my life a story I heard of Francis of Assisi was one of the great Roman Catholic saints who lived in 11 or 12 hundred AD. Now, some people feel that you can't be a saint if you are in the Roman Catholic Church. Because their doctrines are wrong. Because we think that right doctrine means you are spiritual. The people who had right doctrine in Jesus' time were the Pharisees. And they were not spiritual. And a lot of us who have right doctrine are Pharisees too. Some people with wrong doctrines are more acceptable to God. For example, does God listen to the prayer of a non-Christian? If a Hindu man gives money to the beggar, will God see that? Does God take note of that? Let me show you an example in Acts chapter 10. A heathen man who is probably an idol worshipper, who didn't know anything about Jesus, never prayed in the name of Jesus. But he feared God, gave money to the poor people, and verse 2, prayed to God continually. Not Jehovah, not Jesus. I don't know which God, some God he prayed to. And the angel came to him and said to him, Words that will shock us. Verse 4. Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. I tell you, we are going to get a tremendous shock when we stand before the Lord, when we see whom all He accepts. In the day you will see so many people with the right doctrine going to hell. So many people whose doctrines were a little wrong here and there in God's kingdom. They will all be saved by the blood of Jesus. Nobody is going to be in heaven without being saved by the blood of Jesus. But it won't be on the basis of right doctrine. Anyway, Francis of Assisi was a godly man. And he had a group of people who were his brothers and they all took a vow of poverty. To be poor. They will not own anything, they will not maybe one or two pairs of clothes. No. And some of his disciples were very godly men, they were very sincere. And I have heard two stories of one of his disciples called Juniper. He would everyday go out and help people in the cold climate. And he would always come back shivering without a coat. I said, what happened to your coat? I saw one poor beggar shivering there, I gave it to him. So they would give him another coat and he would come back without a coat the next day. So they made a rule. Juniper, you cannot give your coat to anybody. And you see, their law was not only poverty but strict obedience also to the leader. So he went and he saw another poor beggar somewhere shivering. He said, brother, I would like to give you my coat but I can't. Because I have to obey my authority that I can't give you my coat. But while I am standing here you can take it off me if you like. So the beggar took it off. He came back. You disobeyed. I never gave my coat to anybody. I stood there, one beggar took it off me. Anyway, this man, one day he was going along the road. And he saw another one of his brothers dressed a little more stylishly. And he said to himself, No, not one of his brothers, one of the other Catholic people in that area. And in the same church. And he said to himself, Perhaps under his fine clothes he has got a humbler heart than I have under my simple clothes. What an attitude. That we don't judge others. I remember hearing a similar story about John Wesley. John Wesley was a great man of God who lived in the 18th century. And there was another great man of God at that time called George Whitfield. But these were wholehearted people who would preach in the open air and love Jesus. And brought hundreds to Christ. And they had their own groups of followers. But they had very strong difference on one particular doctrine. George Whitfield taught, once you are saved, you can never be lost. John Wesley taught, you got to be faithful and endure till the end if you want to be saved. So, but these men loved one another very much. And they respected one another. But you know, like always the case, the followers are usually more intent on a doctrine, not on God. So, when George Whitfield was getting sick, he said, if I die, John Wesley must conduct my funeral, not one of any of my followers. Because he had more respect for John Wesley than any of his followers. Because he knew that God is not checking doctrine. So, George Whitfield died. John Wesley conducted the funeral. Now, a lot of John Wesley's followers, how can you conduct the funeral of this guy who has got all these wrong doctrines? It's like, if you are asked to conduct the funeral of some Catholic man, what will all the people in your church say? But you know he was a believer. Anyway, John Wesley wasn't bothered. He just went ahead and conducted the funeral. So, after the funeral, one of his followers asked him, Brother John, are you going to see George Whitfield in heaven? John Wesley said no. Because he is going to be so near Jesus and I will be so far away, I don't think I will ever see him. That is the attitude of a man of God. That we don't judge others. And certainly not for some point of doctrine. There is an expression in English called dotting your I's and crossing your T's. I don't know what you say in Tamil. There is an expression in English called dotting your I's and crossing your T's. It's like you are trying to prove that every little thing in the world is compatible with you. That's not the point. If he is faithful with material things, that's the thing. Juniper, who was the disciple of John Francis of Assisi, he used to say that the only reason why God gives us material things is that we can bless other people. If you got a house, you can use it for God to bless other people. God can bless you so that you can bless others. If he has given you plenty, then you can bless others with it. See, that's why I praise God that all of you brothers, you don't take any money from your local churches. There is no other group of churches like this in India. See, where everybody serves and is happy to serve, we are not taking any money from our local churches. Because God has given us enough. Why should we depend on other people? Let's serve them without taking anything in return. In area after area after area, we have to be faithful. Why do we take such a stand against dowry? Because all of this nation is after dowry. It's part of the darkness of India. And in Christian churches from Catholic to Pentecostal, it's exactly the same. The same darkness in the world is in these churches. And in some churches, they get a percentage of the dowry, so how can they preach against it? So, we may say, well, those are not the main things, they believe in Jesus. I want to show you a verse in the Old Testament, this connection. In 2 Kings, chapter 19, chapter 17, sorry, verse 33, They feared Jehovah, but served their own gods. How do you do that? How can you fear Jehovah and serve your own gods? That means they did certain religious activities, which Jehovah had commanded the Israelites to do. But then, they continued to serve their own gods also. You see that a number of times in Israel and Judah, that they, yeah, they had a great devotion to the Lord, but the high places were still there. Now today, what is the equivalent of that? You know, the Lord Elijah told the people, if Jehovah is God, serve him. If Baal is God, serve him. Choose this day whom you want to serve. What is the choice we put before people today? It's what Jesus said in Luke chapter 16. It's God and money, God and mammon. Luke 16, 13. There are only two masters, he said. Just like Elijah said, Jehovah and Baal. You hate the one and love the other. Now what would you think if you were living in Israel in Elijah's time, and you saw one fellow worshipping Jehovah one day and Baal another day? That means he's really living for the Lord on Saturday, and Sunday he goes to the temple of Baal and worships there. You'd never think that that person is a disciple of the Lord. But do you know the number of Christians who feel you can worship Jesus one day and worship money the other day, they're still disciples of Jesus. There's no difference between Jehovah and Baal and Jesus and mammon. That type of choice is exactly what people face today. It's the same type of contrast. There it was Jehovah or Baal. There it is Jesus or mammon. Those are not my words. That's what Jesus said, there are only two masters. You hate the one and love the other. You're devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. He didn't say you can't have wealth, he said you can't serve. In other words, you must say, Lord, my goal in life is not to get more and more money. I mean, if you don't earn enough for your family, definitely you must seek to earn some more. We have to feed our children and our families. We have got to clothe our families. We need a house in which they are to live. And we have to educate our children. See, that's very important in our day. Because in the olden days, they were all farmers. You didn't need to be educated, just know how to plough the field. Food, clothing and shelter. Why do I add education today? Because in our day, that is what determines whether our children will have food, clothing and shelter in their generation. I have seen in CFC, number of cases of parents who never cared to give an education to their children. They grow up, they are married and they are struggling, struggling, struggling, struggling, struggling, struggling, endlessly. People ask me, why do you encourage people in CFC to study and get the highest degree possible? Because that gives them more flexibility in what job they can choose. And I have seen in these other cases, how much these poor people suffer, because their parents didn't bother about it. I am not saying education is to be our God, any more than money should be our God. But I don't believe that you are spiritual if you just finish 10th standard and stop. Those are all crazy ideas people have. And usually the people who say that are the people who could never pass beyond 10th standard themselves. So, I am not talking about that. But I say that God decides the size of your circle. By number of factors, over which you had no choice. One was the standard of living into which you were born in your parents' home. You didn't choose that. Second, the amount of intelligence God gave you when you were born, which also you didn't choose. These are usually the two factors that determine how much you get educated and what type of financial circle you have today. I didn't choose these two in my life and none of you chose it in your life either. But the Christian is the one who says, Lord, you chose that. And I believe that if God had allowed me to be born in one of the poorest villages in India and I didn't know a word of English, and if I had found Jesus and become his disciple, I would have been as happy living in a little hut. Because my happiness does not come in the size of my house. I just accept the circle God put around me. And because he has made it today sufficient that I can take care of my needs, I don't need to depend on anyone. So, we don't run after these things. We accept the circle God placed around us. And within that circle, we seek to bless other people and serve them. So, we have to recognize these are two Gods. And you see today how much Christendom is following and worshipping Mammon. All the begging for Mammon that goes on in prayer letters and television and everything. It is the worship of Baal. And where is the Elijah who says, If Baal is God's servant, they have all been silenced by the devil. How does it, supposing the devil finds a fiery preacher as a young man, he will get some rich fellow to stuff money into his mouth. What can he speak when money is stuffed in your mouth? Quiet. The devil knows how to silence people. It has happened. It has happened in numerous places in India. So, we have to see these very clearly. Money clearly has two Gods. And that's why money must have no power over me. Let me ask you. Does Vishnu or Rama or Krishna or Ganesh have any power over you? Of course, you will say no. There is no difference between that and money and Mammon. If it has power over you, it will hinder you from serving the Lord. You can earn a hundred thousand rupees a month and money have no power over you. Or you can earn five hundred rupees a month and money can have power over you. As I said, it's not a question of how much you earn. It's not a question of whether you own a cycle or a scooter or a car. Ultimately, it's something only God and you know. I don't believe any of you know whether I love money or not. My wife who has lived with me for 37 years, she doesn't know. Only God knows and I know. And I will tell you honestly what I have seen in myself. I have seen that the love of money is so deeply rooted in the flesh that I am battling it even today. Because it's like an onion. You peel off one layer and say, I finished with it. And then some other situation comes, you find it's there. You peel off that and say, at last I have finished with it. And then you come out of some other situation, you find it's there. So my only hope is to reduce the size of this onion as I grow older. And Jesus, there was no onion, it was zero. I want to get there. I haven't got there yet. But I am determined to get it as thin as possible before I leave this earth. And I will tell you that God tested me by giving me an onion. He was giving me little. And now he has tested me by giving me much. I see it's all a test. Little was a test, much is a test. And I have to say, now Lord, what shall I do? So, you will find that this is an area in which you really have to keep devoted. Some of you can start very well when you are young. I don't know what you will be like forty years from now. I hope you will keep peeling that onion till the day Jesus comes. It's not only in the area of money. Purity towards women. That's another onion. I don't believe any of us have come to the place where we can look at a woman, the way Jesus looked at her. Are these things important? These are some of the main things Jesus spoke about. He didn't speak about doctrine in the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke about the love of money in Matthew chapter 6. He spoke about anger in Matthew chapter 5. And lusting with the eyes. And he said, if you listen to these words of mine and do them, you will build a house which will never collapse. That's the message which Christendom needs and is not being preached. Today we have all this fancy preaching with all this psychology and all that. It's all the way the devil leads people into this, that and the other, just so long as they don't preach discipleship. There are so many Christian groups preaching all types of fantastic things. Which we study in Bible schools and Bible colleges and seminaries and all that. There are so many words being used nowadays, half of them I don't even understand. I can understand what Jesus said, but I can't understand what these fellows are saying. I know what Jesus meant when he said, if I want to follow him, I have to deny myself and take up my cross every day. If I want to be his mouthpiece, I must control my tongue. If I want to have true riches, I must be faithful with money. And faithful with material things. That I can understand. And that's all you need to understand, brother. It means I shouldn't get into debt. You must try your best, by God's grace, never to get into debt. I don't mean borrowing to build a house. See, a debt is where one side you have taken money, the other side of the balance, there is nothing to show. If you have taken money from a bank and you got a house there, there is no debt there, because the balance is equal. Or you took a loan from a bank and you bought a car, that's equal. But you took a loan from a bank and spent it on your wedding, what is there now? There is nothing there. Or you went on a vacation, holiday. That's a debt. That's a debt. Or you wanted to buy some more extra clothes, or eat better food, or something like that. You know, we have an obligation to educate our children, that I'd say it's okay even to take a loan to educate your children. Because there is something there, they have got the ability to earn, to repay that. Or you take a loan to start a business, because there is an ability there to repay that. But you got to make sure that it is not beyond your ability. Debt. We must owe no man anything. I believe that a man who is in debt and is not making an effort to repay that debt, should never be an elder in any of our churches. How can he preach, owe no man anything, if he is not making any effort to repay himself. We have to give back all money we have cheated people from. It's very important, like Zacchaeus did. If you have cheated the railways, go and buy some tickets and tear it up. Whenever we have cheated people in the past, keep a clear conscience. Be righteous with money. Be faithful with money. Be faithful with material things. Don't waste them. Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes and there was so much and he said, don't waste anything, let's gather them up. Don't have a wasteful way of life. You will not get true riches then. Now don't condemn yourself through all that you heard today. And don't judge others. It's very important. Don't think that becoming like John the Baptist, living in the jungle and all, you are faithful with money. It's not becoming a sanyasi or running out to the forest and becoming a hermit. But that we are not attached to these things. If God gives us the ability to have something, we use it. But we are not attached to those things. I don't know how it is. But I have seen one thing, that when I listen to a man and he has nothing to say to me from God, I can say certainly that man is not faithful with money. And he is not faithful with his mouth. That's why God is not giving him anything to bless me with. Consider yourself whether that could be the reason in your case. Now don't condemn yourself. But say, Lord, I am not going to condemn myself. I am going to enjoy life. Even worse, in 1 Timothy 6, God has given us richly all things to enjoy. So we don't have to look miserable. We don't have to eat locusts and wild honey like John the Baptist. We don't go to extremes. May God help us to be wise. Let's pray.