How the Altar of God is Defiled — Santosh Poonen

The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Every Generation

It's timely that the primary class has memorized that verse this past week that their old men will dream dreams, their young men and women will see visions. It talks about sons and daughters. God wants to pour out His Holy Spirit irrespective of gender, irrespective of class or rank in society.

Old people when Peter quoted that verse, I imagine that there may have been an old Jew, a God-fearing Jew who thought, I'm at the end of my life. I wish I could go back 50 years and the day of Pentecost could happen when I was 20 and I could be filled with the Holy Spirit or 30.

He could have looked at Peter and said Peter you're about 30 years old and you've got a whole life ahead of you and you can be filled with the Holy Spirit but what about me? I'm 90. What good is it for me now at the end of my life to be filled with the Holy Spirit and Peter said the promise is for old men and women too.

Because God is not limited by time and if you have wasted a lot of your life or even you haven't known God hasn't opened your eyes to see the truth until later in your life, that's okay. Today is the day of salvation.

Today if you hear his voice and don't harden your heart he can do a miracle that you could end up far ahead spiritually in eternity than somebody else who had the privilege of knowing Christ from a very young age.

The First and the Last in Eternity

I believe that there will be some tremendous things in heaven that we won't expect. Have you thought about that? What things won't you expect and that you get to heaven? It's like I wasn't expecting that.

There'll be lots of it. You know you could think about the physical beauty of heaven will be far beyond what we could have ever imagined. I'm almost certain ninety nine point nine nine nine nine nine percent of what I actually see in heaven will be like not unexpected completely unexpected.

We can understand to some extent what heaven is like but we're going to be our socks are going to be blown off like the idiom goes just completely mind-blowing what heaven is going to be like. But among many other things in heaven what we will realize is that the first are last and the last are first.

It's a mystery that we don't fully understand now. On earth the first are first and the last are last and it tends to stay that way and you know you do hear success stories of people who work their way up but in eternity have you thought about what Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

And I think one of the ways in which that is true is that there will be people in in heaven who maybe grew up in a Christian home and had the privilege of knowing Jesus from a young age. Gave their life to Jesus at a young age but it was sort of this I haven't really done that much bad not that bad of a person so they kind of coast through life.

Somebody else who didn't have the privilege of growing up in a Christian home but came to know the Lord at some point and was so grieved over their sin maybe they committed a lot of sinful things in their life but they were so grieved over it that they turned around and ran a hundred percent after Jesus and finished way ahead.

There's a parable and old it's called a fable Aesop's fable talks about the tortoise and the hare. At the beginning of the race everybody would have put their money on the hare, the rabbit. He's definitely gonna win.

They know the tortoise. His maximum speed been tested and proven and I know the maximum speed of the hare and you know how the story goes that the hare got complacent and his speed was a hindrance to him.

His capabilities were a hindrance to him because he had confidence in them and so he took it easy and took a nap. Slowed down and that's tortoise that was just slow and steady won the race. So many who are last will be first many who are first will be last.

God's Glory Manifested Through Human Participation

I've been thinking this last few weeks about something that I thought I would share with you about how God wants to manifest his glory and if you look turn with me to John chapter 2. God's glory has always existed from the beginning of time.

He hasn't needed, his glory is self-contained as it were. He doesn't need anything to show his glory. His glory is just there. It is but it's a wonderful thing to think to see that his plan has been for us to be partakers of his glory.

He says I am God I will share my glory with no other. That's what they heard in the Old Testament and then under the New Covenant he says I want you to partake of my divine nature to see my glory and to experience it in a way that nobody else could experience.

But when you think about the glory of God being manifest on earth when John says in chapter 1 you'll that we have beheld his glory verse 14. We saw his glory John 1 verse 14. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth.

Why did Jesus have to come down to this earth to show his glory? Couldn't he have done it from there? Couldn't he have somehow shined, shone his light so bright and his glory so bright from heaven that here on earth we can look up and see wow I see the glory.

But when God actually chose to manifest his glory and show his glory he came down to this earth to show it. And there's something really wonderful there and now we'll look at John chapter 2 verse 11 it says that this beginning of his signs, this beginning of his signs or things which point literal word there my margin shows me is attesting miracles and it explains that by saying is that which points to the supernatural power of God in redeeming grace.

So these miracles were a pointer to the glory of God and we'll keep reading. The beginning this beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory. So when John says in chapter 1 we saw his glory he says then in chapter 2 how did we see it he did it he say it was through these signs and his disciples believed in him.

Problems as the Setting for God's Miracles

So what I see there and you know the context is that it's at the miracle in Cana where somebody didn't plan right. Somebody made some other mistake there wasn't enough wine at the wedding and instead of just looking at each other and blaming each other somebody actually and that was his mother was able to go to Jesus and say we've got a problem.

So what I see God's glory the manifesting of God's glory under the new covenant begins with a problem not with everything being good. Are you waiting for God to manifest his glory in your marriage? It must begin with a problem.

Is there a problem in your marriage? Then God can manifest his glory. If there's no problem in your marriage I want to tell you God can't manifest his glory in there. He's going to bypass that home where the marriage says oh Lord we have no problem we're good.

I can tell you somebody who has a problem. I know that other brother and sister in the church their marriage looks like it's struggling. They have a problem. Don't say okay I'll manifest my glory there.

I'll do a miracle there. God for God to manifest his glory in the new covenant it starts with a problem, a mistake, a sin, a helpless situation where we have no hope then he says okay. So I look at it like this problem, miracle, God's glory.

Problem, miracle, God's glory and because we spend so much time trying to fix our lives before we come to God and say Lord I've kind of cleaned up my act a little bit here I am manifest your glory. He says no I'm waiting for you to come to the place where you're helpless where you have a problem.

Unbelief and the Absence of Miracles

If you turn back to Matthew chapter 13 there's a verse which I've often said here in this church is perhaps the saddest verse in the Bible. Matthew 13 verse 58. Matthew 13 verse 58 the saddest verse the Bible is not John 11 35 which is the shortest verse in the Bible.

Jesus wept. I think the saddest verse in this Bible is this that not even you know for example and I'm not trying to be silly with this but not even for example that you know it says in for example 2nd Corinthians 5 it says he who he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might be the righteousness of God.

That's a really that brings me much grief to my heart when I meditate on it that the father made Jesus who knew no sin to be my sin so that I could be the righteousness of God. It's a powerful verse but it's not a sad verse it's a verse of hope.

It ends with me being the righteousness of God and I I weep at what Jesus had to suffer and I'm thankful for it. I'm grateful for it. I give my life completely to him because he suffered for me but it ends with me being the righteousness of God so it's a hope.

It's a verse of hope but this verse verse 58 it says that Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. Jesus did not do he wanted to show his glory. They had a problem but they thought no I have a problem.

You can't manifest your glory in my problem I am. I've tried many times and I failed. You can't manifest your glory in me. And Jesus said okay unfortunately according to your faith be it unto you he did not do many miracles there you know Jesus chooses not to do certain miracles.

Why it's not because he can't. Not because it's too difficult but it's because of the unbelief. So the miracle is the beautiful thing about God's miracles and his glory is it's the creator involving his creation in his work.

That's how God manifests his glory in the new covenant. Under the old covenant he just manifested his glory. He said you just create the the ark create the tabernacle and all that my glory will descend.

But now under the new covenant he says I want you to be a partaker with me in manifesting my glory. So Jesus could have easily just looked at those empty jars of clay and and said let there be wine. And there would have been wine.

That was the old covenant. Let there be light. There was light. Don't need any human involvement. But he said I'm under the new covenant. I've come to manifest my glory in a way that you can understand.

So you slaves come fill this with water. Does God need think about this. Does the all-powerful God who spoke into the universe and said let there be light. Does he need people to fill the jar with water before he can turn it into wine.

Of course not. But he chooses to. And this is his way in the new covenant. He says I want you to fill it. I want you to be a part of the work. I want you to hold hands with me. And I imagine that those slaves look back and says I got to fill that pot.

Did you fill it with wine. No. I filled it with water. I did what I could do. I gave water to God and I made sure it was filled. And he turned it into wine. Meanwhile there would have been another slave perhaps has said what do you mean fill it with water.

There's no wine. Why. Why should I fill it. What good is water when they're looking for wine. The master didn't ask for wine a water. He asked for wine. What good is my water when I give it to him. And that man would have not experienced the blessing.

The Widow's Offering and the Maximum Mentality

I'll show you another example in Mark chapter 12. If you turn there with me Mark 12 there's a small little incident that happened in Jesus life and he was sitting near the offering box in the temple or the synagogue and he saw how people were putting money.

Notice that verse very carefully. Matthew 12 verse 40 or Mark 12. Sorry. Mark 12 verse 41. Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury.

And I think about that we're all here to give an offering. It's not money. It may be money it may but it's primarily our lives. And Jesus is not looking at the fact that say here Lord I give my life as an offering.

We're all singing the same. We all sang the same songs this morning. We all prayed similar prayers. We all have a similar desire. But God is looking at how he's observing how the people were giving under the Old Testament.

Under the Old Covenant it was give. Did you give 9 .9 Nope not enough. It's got to be 10 Did you give 1 Nope. It's got to be 10 Did you give 12 That's great. It's counts as good as 10

There was no command to give more. But some did. But as long as you gave the 10 it was okay. It was how much. And then it says that there were many rich people putting large sums. Now some of them may have been proud of the fact that they were putting large sums.

But there may have been some rich people who said Lord I've got plenty I'll give you. I'll give you 15 How about that. I know the law. The law says 10 I've got enough Lord I can give you 15 I'll be good to you.

And this man is proud of the fact that he put 15 And then it says in verse 42 there was a poor widow who came and put in two small copper coins which amounted to a cent back then they had a half a cent coin.

And this woman all she had all she had was two half cents. I mean imagine sometimes you walk in the road you see a little penny sitting there and you ever think man I could you know that that's a valuable amount.

No it's nothing. You might not even stop and pick it up because it's only a penny. What can you get. You can get absolutely nothing with a with a penny. These days you can get absolutely nothing with a penny.

But you know what. This woman that's all she had and she gave it to God. And he says in verse 43 he said truly I say to you this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the Treasury. How is it that in God's eyes this two coins which adds up to one cent is worth more than all the other amount that was put in the Treasury.

How is that. Because it says verse 44 they all put out of their abundance or surplus. They all had a lot and they could afford to give some of that. But she out of her poverty put in all she owned all she had to live on.

And this is the secret of manifesting God's glory. God was glorified in that meeting. I said I assume that those all those people came to have a meeting and all those people came and put a lot of money in it.

There was a sermon. Probably they probably sang some songs they had some good fellowship. But the one thing that manifested the glory of God in that meeting. And this is where I want us to take away something today.

If you think about how the glory of God will be manifested in a church meeting it's not by whether the sermon is all good whether the singing is right. Was there a lot of prayer. We moved and stirred emotionally.

The glory of God is manifested through poor widows who give everything. And if you're sitting there never opening I mean this widow didn't even open her mouth. We don't know her name. I assume she sat in the back and just quietly didn't want to be greeted or welcome didn't matter if nobody talked to her.

She was there for one reason only to give everything I have to the God I love. And the glory of God was manifest there. I long for the glory of God to be manifested my life my marriage my home in the church.

And I tell you it's a simple thing. God doesn't need gifted people. The world is looking for gifted people. Churches are looking for gifted people. Can you preach. Can you sing. Oh yeah. The glory of God was manifest because the song leader was so good or the preacher was so good.

No has nothing to do with that. It's the maximum mentality that manifests the glory of God. And for that we're all on equal level. There's no one more qualified or more gifted. In fact the gifts are often a hindrance to that.

Defiled Worship and Halfhearted Offerings

If you want to manifest the glory of God in his church seek to be that widow who gives everything. There was a verse in Malachi chapter 1. I'd like us to see there was at this time the temple had been built the city had been rebuilt in Israel after they'd come back from captivity.

And then God sends Malachi the last prophet under the Old Testament. In the Old Testament before there was about 400 years of no prophetic word. You can say no prophets until John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus.

But the condition of the people of Israel at that time was very interesting. And as a lesson for us in that because I think there's a danger for us also in that they didn't know that this was sort of the last prophet.

But God had sent this man with a specific word. And I want you to see the verse here. Verse 6. There's a little I will start in the middle of verse 6 he addresses the leaders of God's people which means that was true about the people as well.

But even the leaders from the top down. This was the condition. All priests who despise my name. Imagine if we say Lord speak to us you said you would speak to us. Our memory verse for this week is he will speak to us.

And God says okay I'm gonna speak to you. I'm gonna tell you you are a people who despise my name. You say what Lord I despise your name. No I never. I know people who use your name as a swear word. My co-worker or that other person on the street.

Oh you know they in the world they use your name. And as a swear word he says no I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you sitting in churches perhaps even sitting at RLCF despising my name. And so like our response would be.

Their response also is how have we despised your name at the end of verse 6 and God says here's how you're despising my name. You're putting food on my altar. You're giving me an offering. But it's a defiled offering.

So God says I know to everybody else it looks like you're also giving an offering. Yeah there's so-and-so giving an offering. There's so-and-so giving offering. There's so-and-so giving offering.

You look at all the others at RLCF are coming in their members of this church and they're all saying yeah we're we love you Lord. We want to be wholehearted disciples. We believe in the new covenant. But what nobody else's knows is that offering that you giving is defiled.

And they say how have we defiled you. If God was to say. And I tell you my brothers even this morning I read this verse again and it's like the Lord was asking me have you. I asked the Lord Lord have have I defiled you.

Search me. Oh God try my actions. Have I defiled you. Have I done something by my words my deeds my actions my thoughts my motives and my attitudes that defiled you. And then God says the table of the Lord is you say the table of the Lord is to be despised when you present the blind for sacrifice and when you present the lame and sick.

And so what was happening there was that these people I said okay I guess you know we're in a church where we're supposed to give all. So let's give an offering to the Lord. And they're like yeah but it's gonna cost me something.

So let me find you know that sheep that's blind. It's good for nothing. No good to me. I'll give it to the Lord. Nobody will know once it's dead. What does it matter. Right. If it couldn't see. And I'm gonna kill it anyway.

What does it matter if it was a blind sheep or a nice sheep that one that's lame. I'll carry it. Nobody will know that it's lame. I'll cover it up and then I'll put it on the altar and outwardly it will look like just all the other lambs.

And I'll sit there with my offering and I look good. God says you think I can't see where your heart is. I'm looking at how you give your offering not what you give. And so the secret is this life of giving the maximum to the Lord.

Returning to First Love

I've been thinking recently if you turn with me to Revelation chapter 2 the warning to the church in Ephesus and also to the warning to the church in Corinth. In 2nd Corinthians 11 the Holy Spirit warns the church in Corinth through Paul that his fear for them is that they will lose their simple pure devotion to Christ that the devil will be able to distract them.

They lose a simple pure devotion to Christ. And there was another church to whom Paul didn't write that specific word in that same time the church in Ephesus for which that actually happened. And I have a feeling that the church in Corinth fell away even sooner didn't even last as long as the church in Ephesus.

The church in Ephesus was a little bit better. But they too fell into the same trap. They left their first love. They lost that simple pure devotion to Christ. And the Holy Spirit says through John in Revelation 2 verse 2 I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance.

Now I want you to imagine the time there in those days. I think that for most of the Christian world which wasn't that large there were only a certain number of churches. I think they would have considered the church in Ephesus as the best church of their time because it's a church that Paul himself lived there for three years.

And there they've got there they've got toil. They've got pure perseverance. If there's an evil man they won't tolerate them. They there are people who call themselves Apostles and says we're gonna test you.

You call yourself an Apostle. Okay we're gonna test it. And you prove them to be false. Verse 3. Your perseverance. This church has been around for a long time. Many other churches have fallen away but this church is still standing.

You have endured for my sake and you have not grown weary. Verse 6. There are people who are practicing a false practice of Christianity. And you hate that the deeds of the Nicolaitans. You would think wow this is a great church.

All the other church that church they've got that false doctrine. That other church it fell away. That other pastor he fell into adultery. That other church they love money. But the church in Ephesus holding to the truth standing firm looks like a good offering.

But what nobody else could see and what God alone could see in the heart says you left your first love. Everything looks good on the outside. The ministry is great. Children you know children saying their memory verses even perhaps.

And I love that they do. That they children will do their presentations. The family lives are good. Marriages seem to be good. But you've left your first love. And I've thought about what does this first love.

And you know it's not. It was a little bit of a revelation for me. It's. I don't know if it's original I does matter. But I thought about this first love like the love the first love that a child sees.

What is the first love that a child sees. It's the love of their mother. You know even before they can realize it when the child is inside their mother's womb they're experiencing that love. There's a bond that's being built between the mother and that child inside the womb.

Without the mother even knowing it I think to some extent the mother does. The child definitely doesn't even know. Think about that little fetus growing in the mother's womb. That little fetus is there and it's experiencing the love of a mother experiencing the love of mother.

And as it grows it knows maybe it starts to realize that but it's still kind of fully contained within the mother's womb. It doesn't know anything except the mother. Its whole world revolves around the mother and the mother is everything to it.

If that baby was to be taken out of the womb mother's womb especially early on no chance of survival. The mother is everything to this little child. And then the child comes out and it's it's the mother's affections are for this child.

The first love that it receives is from its mother. And yes you can think about how we as children in in the mother's womb must know God and love him in such a way that he's everything to us. Our whole world is God like the whole world for a child is inside the mother's womb.

You know when it when Jesus told Nicodemus that you must be born again you must become like a little child. And he and what Nicodemus says if you read there in John 3. So what must I do. Go back into my mother's womb.

And I think in a sense I thought that that's really what should happen. I must go back into the father's womb as it were where he's everything to me that I'm as unaware and unattached and uninterested in the world outside of this womb because God is everything to me.

Just like the mother is everything to that little child inside the womb. But on the other side as well you think about the mother's love for the child. This first love what is the first love that God wants me to have towards him.

Like the love of a mother towards her child. You know the mother doesn't think. Look at the child and think man I've been feeding you little boy little child I've been giving you this and giving you that you want more milk again.

Really it's two o 'clock in the morning. I need sleep. You know what the mother thinks as I think a true mother thinks as a look at that child. What else can I give you. What else can you get out of me.

Is there something else you can get out of me to nourish you. I thought about my first love when I first came to Jesus. I'll tell you I told Jesus Lord I want you to get everything out of me. What. What can I give you.

I've seen how much I've sinned against you. I've seen the seriousness of what I've done. And I want to give you everything. But you know what's happened at times as I've gone on in my Christian life. I've left that first love.

I've said Lord I've given you quite a bit right now. When are you gonna bless me. What can I get out of you. I've I had lost I've lost at times in the past that mentality that says what else can you get out of me.

And this is the first love that God wants us to come back to where I'm not giving him something because I have to. I'm not coming here on a Sunday morning because I guess I should. I want him to bless me.

I want him to bless my work. I want him to bless my family. When I talk to people who are interested in RLCF whether it's local or people who come from elsewhere or interested in local church I'm curious to know why do you want to be a part of this church.

Is it because you'll get some benefit out of it. It's a nice place for your children. It's a good. The children are well-behaved. And the other families that are raising their children a good way. That's a good thing.

Yeah that's part of the reason why I'm here. But I'll tell you that's not the main reason I'm here for one reason one reason alone. I want to give the maximum to Jesus Christ. And that's much more than I've given him yet that's for sure.

I haven't even come close to giving everything to Jesus. And I want to give him everything. And this is a church where I'm taught to give everything to Jesus. That's why I am here. I'm not given a gospel that sort of pats me on the back says yeah you've given enough.

God will take care of you all as well. Go back to sleep. The devil loves it if he can continue to put people to sleep over how much they think they've given to God. I've given him enough. I gave my 10

I went to the church meeting that's good enough. And get a reality check a wake-up call when Jesus comes. So our goal as a church is to give that wake-up call now before it's too late the whole world will get a wake-up call when Jesus returns our job as a church not just the preachers but everybody is to provide that wake-up call to everybody saying Jesus is coming soon.

So return to your first love. That love that says Lord I love you. I give myself to you. I offer this to you. Whether it's my time my money my children my my family my future it's all in your hands. Lord I give it to you.

Why. Because you love me first. I want to have that maximum mentality at the end of our lives. You know this verse in Luke 17. Imagine if somebody if we were to give everything to God maximum mentality you give everything to God.

Serving Without Demanding Reward

You have that maximum mentality and you live to the end of your life. And God says hey there's no reward for you when you get to heaven. Imagine hypothetically that you give maximum to God. You give your most to God and you get there.

And God says nope there's no reward for you. What will your response be. I even thought about this and I want to be very careful. How I say it. If I gave my life to Jesus. And from the day I gave my life to him I lived for him and gave my support out myself for him served him loved him because he loved me.

And it just so it's a continual path of giving more to him. And at the end of it he still sent me to hell. What should I say. Will it have changed somewhat. You know when I came to Christ I knew I deserved hell.

I was a wretched sinner. I knew I deserved hell. And if he cast me into hell at that moment I would have said yep I deserve it. But after being a Christian for some period of time and serving him and giving him everything.

And I think back on all the sacrifices I made all the times I denied myself and took up my cross and and and resisted sin and and and you know humbled myself and was crushed. And after all that you still send me to hell.

Or will my response be Lord I'm just as unworthy today as when I first came to you. All my giving to you and denying myself and taken on my cross was not to make myself more worthy. I can never make myself more worthy.

And the reality is I sit here today in front of you as unworthy. In fact I feel more unworthy as when I first came to Christ I don't deserve a reward in heaven. I still deserve hell just as much as I did before Christ cleansed me.

And that's the attitude of this of somebody who's really given the maximum mentality. See we're talking about God testing my motive is my motive. I'm gonna give the maximum to Christ so that I can get a big reward in heaven.

There's there's a false motive in that too. I'd say Lord I'm gonna give the maximum to you because you deserve it. It's yours. My life is yours. And Luke 17 you know this story says. Imagine that a slave begins at verse 7.

Imagine that a man is sitting there in his house and a slaves out there plowing and working hard for him in the hot Sun. And then the slave comes in. Will the master who's sitting there with his feet up in an in a lazy boy say to the slave hey you've been working so hard.

Come sit in the lazy boy. I'll go get you something to drink and something to eat because you've been working so hard. No. But the attitude of the slave is what's the what's the purpose of this parable.

The attitude of the slave is not. Oh look at my master he's sitting there so comfortably. Why doesn't he get up for a change and let me sit take a break. No. The attitude of the slave he sees for example the master's cup is empty his coat class of cold water is empty.

So he comes to the master and he's the one that needs a cup to drink. He's been out there slaving in the hot Sun. But he sees his master's cup is empty and says master can I fill your cup. This is the maximum mentality of a true Christian.

It's not Lord I've been serving you long enough. Aren't you going to pay me back now. A it's the love of a mother towards a child. What else can you get out of me. You're my child. I want to give you everything.