HopeUC Secunderabad

Malachi

• HopeUC Secunderabad

Share episode

Malachi shows us that a rebuilt temple and a full calendar don’t equal a living faith. The prophet watched people look busy but love little, and his six disputes with Israel become a mirror for us today. We begin with God’s steady love... grace chosen, not earned... then face the call to honor Him with our best, not our leftovers. Loyalty follows, reminding us that faithfulness in our relationships reflects faithfulness to God. When we wrestle with injustice, Malachi points us to the Day of the Lord, where integrity is refined and shortcuts are exposed. Repentance becomes practical through first-fruits, not as God’s fundraising plan but as our way of putting Him first. And when cynicism whispers that serving God is pointless, we see that He remembers every quiet act of faithfulness. This conversation calls us back to clarity, conviction, and renewed worship, remember grace, bring your best, keep your promises, trust His timing, and resist routine. This is how faith moves from autopilot back to alive.

PRAYER
We are here to pray for you - with you. Please share your prayer request or praise report here - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/3009, and someone from our team will pray for your need through the week.

NEXT STEPS
If you would like to give your heart to Jesus, it's the best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, provide you with resources and get you the support you need on this journey. Please fill the form - https://hopeucindia.churchcenter.com/people/forms/297739, and someone from our team will contact you soon.

ABOUT HOPEUC INDIA
Hope Unlimited Church is an independent, Spirit-filled church with multiple campuses in India, serving young professionals and families from all parts of India in a modern, dynamic metropolitan church setting.
More about us - https://hopeuc.in/

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopeucsecunderabad

SPEAKER_00:

Let's turn our Bibles to the last book of the Old Covenant or the Old Testament, and that is the book of the Book of Malachi or Malachi, whichever way you pronounce the Hebrew word sound Malachi. Meaning my messenger, literally means my messenger. We don't really know if it is the name of a person or it is a designation. Somebody is just a messenger who's carrying the word of the Lord, or maybe a person has the name Malachi or Malachi. But either way, the person decided that he is not important. That's why he doesn't talk too much about himself. But he decided that the message is more important than the person. Let me give a background and then we will get a little bit more deeper into this, deeper into this book. You read the book of Ezra Nehemiah, the people of Israel, let's say the Jew, the people of Judah, the Jewish people come back. They rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they rebuild the temple, and they start worshiping. There is a spiritual revival that took place in Israel. Jerusalem is restored, the temple worship, worship of Yahweh is restored, sacrifices are restored. Everything is going fine. In fact, Nehemiah says when they read out the law, people started crying, weeping. There is a renewal. I mean, there's genuineness, authenticity in their hearts. But then one generation passed, two generations passed, maybe three generations passed. The rituals or the traditions were still going on. Were they still coming to the temple? Yes. Were they still worshipping God? Yes. Everything, the sacrifices, everything was going on. But then God had a problem with them. God started telling, you know, we call it as familiarity breeds contempt. Or in Hindi we say garki murgi. I mean, in a sense, the understanding is you do some things in your life so many times that you will not understand the importance of them. I've known this. I mean, I have attended church, prayed, and worshipped so many times that once or twice in my life I came to a position where it just became another activity. God had to shake me up and say, Don't treat me like this. You know, it is like everything you're supposed to do outwardly, you are doing. But something is not okay inside of, inside of you. You know, it is like people who are in the marriage. Initially, when they got married, everything is nice, exciting. Three, four years, everything is still going on. You're still living under the same roof, you're still doing whatever you're supposed to do. But then you're just doing, man. Something is not okay. You no longer love each other, you're just fulfilling your responsibilities. You're just living under the same roof. You don't really care for each other. Everything has become so mechanical. That sort of an attitude. Malachi is the last book of the old covenant. Seventeen books in the Old Testament are known as the prophets. The primary purpose of a prophet in the Old Testament, prophecy is just a part of it. The primary purpose of any prophet in the Old Testament is to enforce the covenant. What do I mean by that? There is a covenant between God and Israel. Every time there is a breach of the covenant, or every time the covenant is in trouble, a prophet arises. The duty is to restore back to the covenant. Every time people are going here or there, away from the covenant, a prophet will arise to say, come back, you have done something wrong, come back to the covenant. And in order to enforce that covenant, he might prophesy, he might do an object lesson, or he might speak some oracle, whatever it is. But the idea is bring them back to the covenant. Same idea with Malachi. There is something wrong with the people and their relationship with God. So God raises up Malachi. And Malachi, let me tell you, the verse 1, chapter 1, verse 1, starts like this. It says, This is the oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through my messenger Malachi. Now the word oracle over here literally can be translated as this is the burdensome message. It's not a message which Malachi got. I mean, he sat down, prayed, and God gave him part. One big long message. No, no, no, no. It's like Malachi was walking around Israel. He was observing everything. He absorbed them doing their sacrifices. He saw their attitude. He saw their talk. He looked at the way people were living. And I'm sure every evening he would come out, come back to his home, write it on a sticky note or whatever, whichever way, put it on a wall. He would keep collecting all of those things. At one time he was not able to bear it. Maybe he just put it like a prayer request, telling God, why am I seeing things like this? Why are people talking about you like this? But one day he just couldn't take it. He took all of them. Maybe he fasted, maybe he prayed, but he wrote down everything with burden in his heart, with some level of intensity. Sometimes he is pleading, sometimes he's shouting, sometimes he's frustrated, but then he is talking to his people. Man, God is not happy. Let's fix some things. Or in other words, you know what God is telling through this book? He's telling Israel, I have issues with you. To that, Israel also is telling, we also have issues with you, God. Then the Lord said, Let's sit and talk. If this relationship has to continue, let's sit, let's set our priorities right, let's set our lifestyle right, and then we will continue in our relationship. You know, believe me, at every now and then we will come to a position where we need to pause, we need to recheck our priorities, we need to recheck why we are doing whatever we are doing. We need to align our priorities with that of God and then move on in our life. Lest we become complacent, lest we start taking things of God for granted. Every now and then we need to come to a position where we say, God, let me think through whatever I'm doing. I might be attending the church, but am I really attending to worship you or is it just another Sunday activity? Six things that the Lord says, I have with you, six issues that we need to discuss. Then we can move forward in our lives. That's what we're going to look at today, and then we will respond to this message. The six issues are I'm calling six disputations, or six disputes or six discussions that the Lord has. He has a discussion about love, the second one is about respect, third is about loyalty, fourth is about justice, fifth about repentance, and finally about unbelief. Let's look at the first one. The first issue that the Lord has with them is about love. Chapter 1, verse 2 to 5. Verse 2, God makes a powerful statement. He says, I have loved you. Well, that's a nice statement when God, like you know, speaks to me, telling, I loved you, wow, it makes my day. Now I found it to be strange, arrogant, arrogant for Israel to respond like that. 400 years this group, people group were slaves in Egypt. If God didn't rescue them, they would have been wiped out of existence. For all the time they rebelled, God responded by showing them mercy and compassion. These people are supposed to drown in the Dread Sea. If the Lord had not split it open to make a way for them, God got them into the land of Canaan, land that flows with milk and honey. God wiped off those enemies, those Canaanites. God gave them victory every now and then whenever they cried. After seeing all of those things, after experiencing all of those things, when the Lord said, I love you, the immediately the answer was, when and in what way have you loved us? You know, the biblical definition of God's love is agape. Israel does not deserve the love of God. Neither do any one of us. Why does God love us? Because He is love, His character is love. He doesn't love me because I qualify, He doesn't love me because of X, Y, and Z in me. He loves me because He is love. So the Lord answers. Verse 3 onwards, was not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord. Yet I loved Jacob, but in my comparison, in comparison with my love for Jacob, I have hated Esau and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and I have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness. There's a context to the answer. Because if you just read the book, it might not make sense. God says, I love you. Israel says, Where did you love me? How have you loved me? And the Lord says, Israel I have hated, Jacob I have loved. So what answer is that? There's a context to that. Long time ago, there were two twins, they were two brothers rather, Jacob and Esau. Wow, you know the story, good job. And out of Jacob came the Israelites, out of Esau came the Edomites. You really know. Okay, the Edomites. And it's an ancient hatred. They hated each other from the womb, in fact. The hatred just continued, continued, continued. Even when they became powerful nations, the hatred still continued. To one extent, when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, when he destroyed Jerusalem, you know what Isa, let's say Isa or Edomites. What Edomites did? They stood aloof and then they clapped and rejoiced. They were happy that their brother Israel was being defeated, killed, and taken captive. Read the book of Obadiah. It's all about a prophecy against Edom. So they rejoiced. That day Israel cried. They cried and they cried and said, God, look at how my brother treats me. When I'm suffering in my life, you know, the lesson that you need to learn is like, you know, when somebody is suffering, don't laugh. Don't rejoice. Because if the Lord sees and that person cries, God will turn against you. There is no place for wickedness in the house of the in the house of God. That day when Israelites cried, God got hurt. And the Lord said, Edom, I will make sure I will destroy you. Because you laughed at the destruction of your brother. And the Lord said, I will restore Israel, but Edom will not be there. When this book was written, Edom was very weak. But Edom was very confident, telling, I will come back, I will bounce back. Let me read some verses for you, verse 4. Though impoverished Edom says, We've been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins. To that the Lord answers, they may build, but I will tear down. And then men will call them a wicked territory. The people against whom the Lord is indignant forever. Basically telling, Edom, try your best to come up. I will destroy you. I will destroy you. They say Edom tried. From that time by the birth of Jesus Christ, Edom is wiped off. You know, open any international news channel. At least one of the first three newses, you will hear the name Israel. Either the Gaza conflict, that this or what? The name Israel is still there, the nation still Israel is still there. There is nothing called the nation of Edom. The last Edomite mentioned in the Bible is Herod the Edomite. After him, that people group, that country vanished out of existence. God fulfilled his promise. So God looks at Israel and he says, If I had not loved you, why will I destroy Edom? Edom stood against you. Edom wants you destroyed. But I destroyed a powerful nation because I love you, Israel. And now you question me. Now you question my love for you. You know, it is like, you know, one of those Indian parents, Indian parents are very sacrificial, believe me. I hear about like parents all over the world and all. When every parent all over the world are planning their vacation, going on for nice vacation tours and all, Indian parents don't go because they'll save that money so that their children's fees can be can be paid. I have seen parents, you know, working overtime sacrificially taking care of. I have seen, I've seen my mother, my parents, people who take care of me when I had sick, the whole night they will not sleep. Next day still go and do the regular work. And if some child who goes through that kind of a treatment, when the child grows up, looks at the parent and says, When did you love me? How will the parent feel? What will go in through the heart of that parent? God also fed hurt that day. 1988, I remember. I was like a small kid that time, but that's one of the times when I heard about this one earthquake. That was a big earthquake. It happened in a country that existed during those times, the Soviet Union. And that too, there's this province called Armenia, and there was a huge earthquake, 1988, December 7th. I still remember. And later on, I studied this story coming out of that event. I've studied for the first time in one of Max Lucardo's books, and then many times I read it in Reader's Digest. And it talks about a lady called Susanna. Susanna went to her sister's home, and her sister lived in the fifth floor of, let's say, a nine-storied building. She took a four-year-old daughter, she went to her sister's home just to try on a new dress. And as she was trying on a new dress, the earthquake struck and the whole building would collapse. And when the whole building collapsed, she it was flattened. She was just lying on the ground. The roof is right above her, maybe three or four inches, and she was not able to move. Her sister is crushed underneath the concrete, but a four-year-old daughter was alive. She was alive, four-year-old daughter was alive, and after a few hours, the daughter starts crying and telling, Mama, I'm thirsty. Susanna could not move. She searched here and there, she found a jam bottle, and she took that jam bottle and gave it to the daughter. The daughter ate it off in two days. After the second day, the daughter again started crying, Mama, I am thirsty. And in the night, Armenia is a cold country. It was getting very cold. So the little clothes Susanna had, she took them off, she wrapped the daughter with them. Then, when the daughter started crying, I'm thirsty, she did something remarkable. You know, the story became famous just because of that. She looked around, found a glass piece, she cut her finger, put it in the mouth of the daughter. The daughter drank the blood. She was okay for some time. Then again, after some time, the daughter again said, I am. So for every time the daughter said like that, one of her fingers would go. Eight days later, they found them alive. And it became like an international use. And people started thinking, how far can human love go? Why was a mother willing to go to that extent to take care of her own daughter? I think that's love, right? It's only love. I also know a person who shed his blood for me on the cross, who died for me on the cross, who gave his everything for me on the cross. That day Susanna was scared. But then they say the opposite of fear is not courage. Courage is never bravery is not the opposite of fear. They say love is the opposite of fear. Because when you see your young ones about to die, your love will make you do things. When you see your small ones burning inside a house, the mother doesn't care about fear. Her love will make her to run towards it. God also ran towards me. Because he knew that if he doesn't run towards me, I would burn in hell. You look at a God who did so much for us. And just because of some small setback that we have in our life, when we look at God and say, When do you love me? In what way do you love me? What do you think goes on into the in the heart of God? What do you think he feels for all that he has done? You look at him and say, God, you don't love me. God got hurt that day. And the Lord told, See, I loved you, man. I loved you. Isau, I have put aside. But Jacob took care of you. And the Lord said, Now my name will go to the nations. They will honor me for the way I have loved you. Issue number two. Issue number two is respect. Three questions that deserve an answer over here. Chapter 1, verse 6 to chapter 2, verse 9. The Lord all-powerful says, A son honors his father, a servant honors his master. I am a father, so why don't you honor me? I am a master. Why don't you respect me? But then the Israelites again they have the audacity to ask, How have we shown you disrespect, God? How have we disrespected you? Every week we came to your temple, we offered the goat, the sheep, the bull, the ox. We put our money in the treasury, we sang those songs, we gave in our harvest, we did everything, God. How can you say that we have not honored you? And then the Lord says, Whenever, verse 7, you have shown it by bringing unclean food to my altar. But then you ask, What makes it unclean? Did we not do? Whatever was the requirement, did we not do? When the worship leader said, Lift up your hand, tack, it went on like this, right? Did we not do? But then the Lord says, When you bring those blind animals, those lame animals, that is wrong. You have dishonored me then. When you bring those crippled animals and sick animals, that's wrong. You should not worship God like that. Don't offer to God anything that is substandard. Don't worship if your heart is not really enrolled. Worship God because it deserves our best, right? Give him your best. God doesn't need a half-hearted devotion. Jeremiah says, Woe unto you if you serve the Lord half-heartedly. Give your best to the Lord. Think about this again. When heaven's best was given to me, when his only begotten son was given to me. First of all, anything that we give is nothing compared to it. But we better give our best to the Lord, right? Let's not dishonor him. You know, when you binge watch till three o'clock on a Saturday or a Sunday morning and walk into the house of the Lord and your eyes are closing because you didn't really. I mean, I think it's dishonoring God. Believe me. When you prepare and come, it's like you honored God. God does not need a half-hearted, our half-hearted worship or a half-hearted sacrifices. You know, to this the Lord answered. The Lord answered and he said, verse 11, From the east to the west, I will be honored among the nation. I mean, I found these answers a little weird, but they are very true. The question was, You don't honor me. The Lord gives a reason how they don't honor the Lord. But the answer that the Lord gives says, From the east to the west, people will honor me, and they will bring clean offerings. Let me read it for you. Everywhere they will bring incense and clean offerings to me, because I will be honored among the nations, says the Lord. So what did the Lord say? Okay, if you don't honor me, then I will go into the nuke and the corner, into the gullies, into those nations, those third world or whatever nations you call, I will raise up worshippers from there. In a way, we are the answer to that, right? I have seen people who are very poor but very passionately worshiping God. In fact, let me tell you, sometimes I go around telling I'm a fifth generation Christian. But sometimes I'm ashamed because somebody who received Jesus Christ five months ago, they have more zeal than me. Five months ago, a new Christian they are showing more zeal, more enthusiasm because I think they know what they have found. But for people like me, I think I've spent so much in the presence of the Lord, I'm taking things for granted. So the Lord doesn't deserve anything cheap. I think he deserves our best. Whatever you do for the Lord, give the best. Everything else, I don't think you know they deserve anything. God deserves the God deserves the best, whether it is your time, talent, or your treasure. Whatever it is, give God the give God the best. You know, in fact, uh you'll see this in the Bible. When Abraham was asked the best thing that he ever had, the son of his old age, Abraham for the very first time used the word worship there. We will go up the mountain, we will worship the Lord. David was also offered the field of Arauna to build the temple for free. Obed Edom wanted to give it free, but then David makes a statement telling, I will not take this free, I will pay for it. 20 shekels of silver. He gives and he buys that field because he understood that God deserves the deserves the best. The third one, third issue, chapter 2, verse 10 to 16. The Lord accused Israel. Verse 13, he says, This another thing you do, you cover the Lord's Pulter with your tears, you cry, you mourn, because he doesn't accept your offerings and is not pleased with what you bring. So, what is the issue over here? Israelites, at least over here, they're very dramatic. They came with their offerings, they did everything, and somehow they figured out that the Lord is rejecting them. How? I don't know. The Lord is rejecting everything that they are giving. So they come and they cry. Why are you rejecting God? You know, I did so much, I bought this thing. The Lord just starts rejecting them. Then the Lord brings up the issue, the third issue. And the third issue has to do with their lifestyle, or let's let's say the way they treat God and the way they live their lives. So the issue that the Lord, let me read it from the word of the Lord. Verse 14, it says, You ask why? It is because the Lord sees how you treated the wife you married when you were young. You broke your promise to her, even though she was your partner and you had an agreement with her. You people must persevere their spirit and not be unfaithful. So, what is the issue? The core of the matter is that the Israelites, in front of God and in front of the congregation, they looked into the eyes of this lady. I'm talking about men, but it applies to both. And they made promises. You know, just like in Christian marriage, we make promises, right? We take those sacred vows. All you married people, kind of please educate me. You say in sickness or in. I mean, say it loudly, Baba. For better or for worse, for richer or for whatever happens till death do us, but I've seen a lot of people as long as everything was better, they are together. Once the worst time happens, okay, be quiet. That's the problem. What's the problem with the Israelites? They got married, and suddenly, when they saw an Egyptian, a Canaanite, a Philistine, they started going behind her. So God has an issue. Over there, you gave your commitments, right? You you gave your promises, and you can look at that lady. You're not able to fulfill your promise, you're not faithful to the person whom you can see. What kind of faithfulness you will show towards God? What kind of loyalty you will show towards? Show to God. In other words, God doesn't like when we live one thing outside and behave crying and weeping in his house, right? I see a group of people who will weep in the house of the Lord, but outside there is a different thing, it's like bipolar disorder. No, God says no. Be faithful, read the chapter. Your chapter says, I hate divorce, man. I hate it. I brought two people together and it's a bond for life. You said in front of God till death to do us up, but stick to it. But in other words, it is directed towards their relationship to God. If you committed yourself to God, be committed. You know, one thing is guaranteed, and let me tell you, some of you might not like it, but Christian life is not going to be easy all the time. Okay, be quiet again. You will have problems, you will go through persecution, you will go through difficult times. And I feel that it is great to worship the Lord when everything goes well. But authentic worship will be tested when we go through a hard time. So my question is, why worship God only when we go through a good time? He is worthy of worship whether we go to a good time or bad time. So when you go to a bad time, think about this as I'm preaching. Let some part of your mind come to a conclusion. God, I don't care what I go through. I might go through pain, I might go through happiness. I really don't care. I will worship you as long as I have breath. I will praise you no matter no matter what. Make a commitment. I'm telling you, think through it. Think through all the problems that you might face in your life. But as you're thinking through it, may your heart make a commitment to God. Telling you will be my God no matter what, good or bad, I will still love you. I will still worship you. Amen. Again, I saw this movie long time ago. I saw this movie, and the message was powerful. Then I googled it and I found it to be a true story. The name of the movie is called Hachiko. Some of you might be knowing it. It's about a dog, it's a Japanese dog. 123, 1923, sorry. That's when this dog was alive around 100 years ago. And somewhere in Japan, a man buys this dog, and it was three months old when he bought it. And he had a habit, you know, he would live in the suburbs of Tokyo, and every day he would go to Tokyo, take a train, go to Tokyo, come back in the evening. And this dog had a habit of accompanying this man till the railway station. And when he comes back, it will again go to the railway station. Three years later, 2025 or 2026, this man dies. He has a stroke and he dies. But for the next nine years, every day, this dog was going to the railway station in the hope that her master will come back. That is some level of loyalty. And the only thing that stopped this dog from going is its death. So, in honor of that, the people made a bronze statue. It's still there. Google it and see, you will find it out. It is still there. That's loyality, man. God wants us to be loyal to him. No matter what we go through, God wants us to be loyal to him, good times or bad times. Say, God, whatever I will never leave you. Never let go of you. The fourth one, it's about justice. Chapter 2, verse 17 to 3, verse 5. Then the Lord says, You have tired the Lord with your words. And then the Israelites, they respond back, telling, How have we tired you, Lord? And the Lord responds and tells, The Lord, when you say that the Lord thinks anyone who does evil is good and he is pleased with them. Or whenever you ask, Where is the Lord who is fair? You know, whenever you see the injustice that goes around us and you say that the Lord is happy with everybody who is doing bad. You know, we keep accusing, right? We keep accusing God. Maybe not you, but like you know, some of us do. You know, there was a time when I when when I studied very hard. Let's say I studied very hard, wrote my examination and failed. But the guy next to me did not study very hard. He put all the cheats and he got first rank. I went, I cried before God. God, I did something right. Why did I fail? God, that fellow, God. That fellow he's a cheat, God. Right? Something similar happened in our lives. Sometimes we looked at different situations and say, God, I lived a good life and I'm suffering. He did something wrong and he is prospering. We have those complaints. Why is it that the wicked prosper and the evil suffer? That's the question repeatedly. The Bible answers it. Book of Job answers it. Book of Habakkuk answers it. There are multiple books in the Bible that answer this question. Multiple answers that too. When you say that God is okay with everybody who does bad, but only good people suffer in life. To that the Lord answers. And the Lord answers and says, I mean, verse 2 onwards. Chapter 3, verse 2 onwards, it says, Nobody can live through that time. The Lord's answer is the day of the Lord is coming. The day of the Lord. It's a scary thing for an unbeliever, and the day of the Lord is a day of hope for a believer. For the righteous, it is a day of redemption and rescue, relief. But for the wicked, it is a terrible day. He says, Nobody can live through those times. Nobody can survive when it comes. He will be like a purifying fire and like a laundry soap. Like somebody who heats and purifies silver. He will purify the Levites and make them pure like gold and silver. The Lord's answer is, man, don't think that you can do something wrong and you will get away with it. You might do something wrong or you might reap the short-term benefits of sin. But sin in the long term will only produce wrong results. Numbers talks about it and it says, your sin will find you out. Someday or the other day, your sin will come back to haunt you. You know, one thing I have seen in my Christian life is, man, if you have done something right and you're suffering, even if the whole world condemns you, your heart will say you didn't do anything wrong. Somewhere in the core of your heart, you know, I didn't do anything wrong. You know, that's my greatest strength. When you can stand up and say, I am clean in my heart. But even when the whole world is praising you and you've done something wrong, you can go to your sleep and your heart is condemning you. In your heart, you know you are a sinner, you are a cheat. You have done something unclean which the Lord doesn't like. Your sin will find you out. Many times I have seen, you know, people when they do something wrong, they use their influence and their position to cover it up. Another observation I have made is position and power and influence are never permanent. They are all very fluid. You might have the power, you might be well known, you might have the influence now, it will go away one of these days. When it goes away, your sin will catch you. And there will be nobody to help you out. No way you can cover it up. So the best way to deal with this is stay righteous. Stay righteous. Your heart will not condemn you, and you know that you have not done anything, anything wrong. Let's look at the fifth one. Chapter 3, verse 6 to 12. It's about repentance. So the Lord again talks to the people of Israel. And the Lord says, From the time of your ancestors, verse 7, from the time of your ancestors, you've been disobeying my rules. And the Lord says, Return to me, and I will return to you and restore you. The immediate question the Israelites ask is, How can we return back to you, Lord? And the Lord says, Return to me by stop robbing from me. And the question was, How have we robbed you, God? And the answer is, whenever you have not given a tenth, we call it the tithe. Whenever you have not brought your tithe into the house of the Lord, you have robbed the Lord. So the idea behind that is in the old covenant, everybody would bring tenth of everything they have: money, produce, or whatever they have, and they would offer it unto the Lord. And you know, whenever I do offering in the church, the terminology, at least like the way I do is, or what I believe is, we do not offer our tithes to the Lord. That's the wrong way of understanding. We offer our gifts and our offerings to God, but we return our tithes to God. Because the understanding is tithe does not belong to us, tithe belongs to the to the Lord. So you don't offer what already belongs to Him. You return your tithes plus your offerings, right? And like, you know, Pastor Rufus is the one who gave me this idea, and I think I really liked it. He says, like, you know, let's say if you get 10 rupees and you divided it into 10 equal parts. So your attitude should not be God, but two rupees for my education, five rupees for my expenses, that, this, and all, and the tenth is for you. Wrong way of thinking. The right way of thinking is God, the first tenth will go to you, and I will survive on the 90 that is left. That's the attitude. Because you honored God with the first tenth, everything else will go well. You can adjust and you will have enough within the 90 that is left. Everybody okay? Now, again, the principle with this is you know, it's not that God needs some money. But the Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart is. I mean, it's like what you are interested in, that's where you will invest. When you work very hard, when you sweat it out, when you labor and earn money, then bring it into the house of the Lord or the cause of the Lord, that means you really care for the Lord. Because it is your hard-earned money. You know, the early Christians they even tested whether you're bringing genuine money or all scandal money or whatever it is, scam money. And that's and the apostles would decide if you are bringing earned it in the wrong way, they will reject. We don't need an offering man, go. Well, the idea is bring your hard-earned money into the house of the Lord. Because that shows you care for the house of the Lord. And now in the New Testament, it's not just about money. Bring your hard-earned talents into the house of the Lord, your well-groomed skill set into the house of the Lord. Bring your family, bring everything into the house of the Lord. That shows you really care for the house or the things of the things of the Lord. The fifth and the final one, or the sixth and the final one. Chapter 3, verse 13 to 4, verse 3. It's unbelief during the during the hard times. Verse 13, the Lord says, You said terrible things about me. But then the Israelites ask, What have we said about you, oh God? What terrible things have we spoken? No, it is during those times when you said, It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the Lord all-powerful that we were sorry for what we did. So we say that proud people are happy, evil people succeed, they challenge God and get away. Again, I'm guilty of this. There were times in my life when I said, God, I don't think it is worth living a good Christian life. I'm sure you can be quiet, but somewhere, somehow, somebody must have told those things. You must have thought in your heart, God, it's not worth living like this. If you are not come to that position, hang on, be a Christian. Someday you will come there. So, God, people who do wrong are getting away. It's not worth being in this place, not worth honoring. I questioned like that out of my frustration, I poured it out to God. Nothing wrong in pouring out. Because in pouring out, the Lord ministered to me. In venting out that frustration in the presence of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me. But nevertheless, I went to a position like that, a situation like that. I feel ashamed that I doubted God. I should have done better, but I did go through. So will every one of us. So the Lord also looked at them, looked at those people who suffered because they were standing up for Christ. They suffered, they were insulted, they were ridiculed, they were taunted because they stood up for what is right. You know the answer that the Lord gives to them is that I have written down your name in the book of remembrance. Or it that's a great honor, by the way. Or in other words, you know what God said? You know, in that college when people were making fun of you because you said you're a child of God, because you said you will not drink, smoke, or you will not do whatever, get into an unhealthy relationship because you're a Christian. The day when they laughed at you, I remember those days. I will remember that event, and I will never forget the way you took a stand for me. Someday when you stand in front of God, the Lord will say thank you. For when they insulted you, you stood up for me. I'm sure God will stand up, clap his hands, and say, Welcome! Welcome. For some of us will reap the reward here itself. The Lord will honor us here itself because we took a stand for him. But I've seen a good number of Christians who took a stand for God and they just got killed. That doesn't mean they lost their reward, heavens welcomed them jubilantly with celebration. The Lord says, Every time you represent Him, every time you take a stand on the word of the Lord, He notices it. He doesn't just like gloom past and say, Okay, he took a stand. He'll be like, My child stood up for me that day. I will honor my child, I will lift up my daughter. Six issues between God and Israel. And the Lord says, If we have to continue, let's deal with these issues, let's come to a conclusion and then move forward in our life. Can we stand in the presence of the Lord? Issue number one or question number one is about love. God said, I loved you. Israel says, Where did you love me? Where did you love me? The answer that the Lord lives gives is from the nations I will raise up people, man. They will come running to me, praising my name. Don't you understand? I have vanquished your enemies and I have protected you. Question number two the Lord says, Where is my honor? Where is my respect? And the answer that the Lord gives is, If you don't honor me, I will raise up worshippers from the unlikeliest of places. So consider it an honor, my brother, my sister. If we have an opportunity to worship God today, consider it an honor to worship Him and praise Him. Question number three is about loyality. The Lord is telling, Hey, whatever you are outside, outside of the church, you better be the same thing inside of the church. Loyal in your relationships outside, royal to your commitments to the Lord also. The fourth question, when people question says, Where is the Lord who is fair? And the Lord says, I will not let the guilty go unpunished. When the right day comes, justice will be done. The fifth one is basically, God, how can I return to you? Come back to God by prioritizing God in your life. It is given in the form of return your thanks to the Lord. But basically telling, put God way up, way up in your priorities. The sixth question is whenever we tire the Lord by telling God, it's not worth serving you. But for those of us who said, God, even when I go through a bad time, I will still stand up for you. He will honor us, he will look at us, he will clap for us, he will rejoice over us. Zephaniah says he will dance over us whenever we take a stand for him.