God’s Purpose for Us is to Give- His Sanctuary of Glory (HSG)

17 April 2013 by Adeline Lum CM-

 

On April 14, His Sanctuary of Glory (HSG) ushers greeted church attendees with a delightful smile and utmost warmth! After a spirit-filled worship, Senior Pastor Rev Daniel Cheah came on-stage with reverberating enthusiasm.

 

 

HSG was started from a prophecy given to Rev Daniel whereby God would open up the nations of Southeast Asia and beyond to HSG. Under Assembly of God, the church has launched since then into mission fields. After its reported giving of millions of dollars, their Global Ministries of HSG now purportedly spans over ten nations of over ten thousand believers.

“The church is not about the facility but the body of believers. When we speak of church, it’s about you and me. You can take away the facility, building, and ground, the church would still be here. As long as we are alive, the church is alive because we are the church!” said Rev Daniel.

 

 

Today, Rev Daniel would be preaching on the stewardship of life highlighting the faithfulness that produces fruitfulness.

Faithfulness often brought to mind of people who stayed with a person or company for a long duration. But faithfulness in the Bible includes more than duration; it also includes consistency and perseverance in producing fruits.

 

God is a God of Design and Purpose

God’s design is perfect, from the angle the earth spins to the composition of gas for breathing! Not to mention, the earth is set at a perfect distance from the sun, lest that we should be scorched by heat!

“God’s design is perfect and has a purpose. That’s why the Bible says, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Romans 8:28). There’s a time and season for everything! There’s a purpose for us being born and alive now. Everything happens for a reason,” said Rev Daniel.

 

 

If God is a God of design and purpose, then we too must be a people who reflect His design and purpose.

“What God give to you is life but what you do with your life is a gift for God,” said Rev Daniel.

Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian said, “The fool wanders, the wise travels.”

“We are not fools who wander around everyday about our purpose in life. But we are like wise men who travel to a known destination. We have goals and purposes to live for daily. Tell the one next to you, ‘you are a wise man’,” said Rev Daniel.

 

Purpose is to Give to God

In Luke 20:22, the spies asked Jesus if it was right for them to pay taxes to Caesar. But Jesus replied in Luke 20:25, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

“Today, I want to focus on giving to God what belongs to God so that we can live our life in total stewardship to achieve the purpose that God has for us. I am not going to dwell on giving to Caesar because you’re hundred percent familiar in that territory. Some of us here work ten hours a day, 15 hours a day and even 24 hours a day! I say that because some of you work even in your dreams,” said Rev Daniel.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 says:

So, we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

How sad would it be to work all our lives without a purpose? You work so hard till you die but there is no reward thereafter. But if we believe the scripture as true, then our good works will be rewarded in Heaven.

 

Give According to What is Given

Expounding on the parable of the bags of talents, Rev Daniel shared that if we were faithful in producing fruits, we would not only have blessings but also a shift of position to be ‘in charge of many things’ (Matthew 25:21).

 

 

“Returning two bags of talents for two bags of talents is a 100 percent return rate. Returning five bags of talents over five bags of talents is also a 100 percent of return rate by another person. In other words, it’s not about how many talents you have but whether you give 100 percent of yourself. That is why God said the same thing to the person with the two talents and the person with five talents (Matthew 25:21;23),” said Rev Daniel.

Matthew 25:21;23

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” 

“God would not ask you more than what He has given you. That is why we shouldn’t judge in life. In God’s wisdom, He gave you two talents expecting you to serve with two talents. So, for those with two talents, don’t get jealous of those with five talents. If you’re expected to give back five talents with only two talents, you would die,” chuckled Rev Daniel.

All of us have equal access to God but we are not equal in strength and ability in the eyes of God. That is why He deals with us differently. Hence, there is no room for comparison, jealousy, and intimidation in the church.

When Jesus was baptizing people, John’s disciple asked John why everyone was going to Jesus for baptism. John the Baptist answered, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven (John 3:27).

 

 

“If you don’t have the right attitude (like John the Baptist), you would be like this guy with one talent. You may say: I am not like Allen who can sing, dance and perform on stage; he has five talents. I am also not like this guy who have two talents. I only have one. Better be safe and bury this talent into the ground,” said Rev Daniel.

What did God say to the man who buried his one talent into the ground? He was called as a ‘wicked, lazy servant’ (Matthew 25:26). Why is ‘wicked’ used? Wouldn’t ‘lazy’ be enough?

“It is wicked to bury your talent because you deprive the world of the flavor that only you can offer. You are not only unique but also irreplaceable! The past, present and coming future would not have another one like you. So, when you bury, you don’t give yourself or the people around you the chance to enjoy the talent buried within you,” said Rev Daniel.

 

Do Not Worry about What is Not Given

There’re four characters in the Parable including the Lord and the three servants. The role of the Lord is to give you the unique and irreplaceable talents and reward you with more when you bring in good results, which will enable you to do even more. The roles of the servants are to be faithful to the talents entrusted by the Master and faithfully multiply the talents.

“God doesn’t give you a lot at one time but only when you are faithful in bearing fruits, then he would add more to you,” said Rev Daniel.

And sometimes, we are worried about issues that do not directly affect our stewardship of resources in life. For example, the apostles asked Jesus when He would restore kingdom to God. But Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:7-8).”

 

 

“In other words, don’t be worried about the uncertainty of our future but be focus in doing God’s work well now. Some people are so worried about their incoming one million ringgit that they only pray about it but do nothing to achieve that. Our work is to be faithful in doing what God called us to do and not stress about when and how the blessings are coming. The blessings would come,” said Rev Daniel.

God is looking for a good steward whether you’re a billionaire or a laborer. For every blessing, promotion or business deals you have, what do you do about it? Let us remember that all of us would stand before His judgment seat and we are accountable to God for what we did on earth. Are you going to bury your talents or multiply them?

John Calvin put it perfectly well, “All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our families and our neighbors.”

Stewardship is important in dispensing our blessings well. And stewardship means living with a contributor mentality, not a consumer mentality.

 

How do We Give as Church Members?

Rev Daniel closed the sermon by sharing three ways to practice good stewardship of life in church. Firstly, attend church regularly for worship and fellowship. Secondly, support your church financially through regular tithing, offerings and special gifts.

“What you believe in life, you must affirm in life. If you believe in this church, you must support this church through regular tithing. What we believe, we must offer! I have been tithing since 1974 when I was only in form four at that time. Since that year, I have never missed one tithe to the church. Brothers and Sisters, God is looking for a harvest,” said Rev Daniel.

 

 

The third way is to leave ten percent of your total net worth to your church in your Will, according to Rev Daniel; as Christians, we need to walk the talk, he shared. We must not deny in death what we affirmed in life!

Hence, Rev Daniel shared that with these three ways, we affirm that God has protected and guided us. Indeed, Rev Daniel’s sharing is in line with HSG’s belief that ‘spirituality and prosperity are not conflicting but complementary in the pursuit of quality and personal destiny in God,’ whereby they’re ‘committed to build and better the lives of others and to help them live their dreams.’

In a nutshell, God’s purpose for us is to steward our blessings to give!

 

 

Visit His Sanctuary of Glory at No. 10, Jalan Awan Berarak, Taman Yarl, 58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

Also, connect with them online by visiting:

Website: hsgmalaysia.org

Facebook: facebook.com/hsgmalaysia

Twitter: twitter.com/hsgmalaysia

 

 

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