Most of the contents of this message are from a message preached by Pastor Zephaniah Sastry.
1 Corinthians 10:23
23 All things are lawful for me,[c] but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me,[d] but not all things edify.
All things are lawful but not all things are helpful/profitable
All things are lawful but not all things are edify.
In life everything we do has profit or loss
In a day how you spent there might be profit or loss.
How you spent your time has either profit or loss
How you spoke your words has either profit or loss
How you responded to a situation has either profit or loss
In life everything we do has profit or loss
Just like when you invest in shares or when you look at our own accounts we know whether we ended at profit or loss
Steve jobs last words
Steve Jobs said., he pursued fame and wealth - he achieved it.
but in the end he says
he missed out on what is really profitable.
Many times we think
Profit means
Whether I got more money
Whether I got time for myself
Whether I got recognition
Whether my kids are recognized
Lord Jesus in
Mark 8:36
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 3
Here Lord Jesus is talking that gain whole world but Lost soul
Profit should be to Soul
We always look for our flesh to be profited
There are tons of things in this world you want to gain in every stage of your life.
as child you want to have best toys , you want to be pampered
as a youth , you want to be identified in friends circle, you want to have latest gadgets.
as an young adult, you want to get the best job, get the best spouse.
as an adult, you want to settle down with a good house, get financially stable have kids.
give children to best education, a name in the society.
as an old person, you want to see your children settled in marriages, have grand kids and finally want to take a look at what is important for coming life.
this is a cycle everyone goes through.
but as a believer , are we looking to be profited in soul or flesh.
you may gain the whole world, what is the profit?
Simple example
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God that proceeds out of mouth of God
Physical bread - the food that we eat
Spiritual bread - Word of God
If you ask any believer, how much/ how many food you eat in a day, they say very excitedly i ate this dish in the morning, i ate biryani for lunch, i ate such a nice dinner.
but If you ask how many times you meditated on Spiritual food , people might say actually we are dieting.
we get all kinds of execuses, I got only time in the eve.
Whether we our spirit is given enough food or not we don't care much but our flesh must be fulfilled
We will do full eating when comes to physical food but when comes spiritual we do dieting
I am actually dieting brother
For us , we mainly look for flesh beng profited.
Genesis 25: 29-32
There were 2 choices put before him
Physical food - Soup
Spiritual food birth right
Actually Esau might had lot of options at home
It is not that only that particular soup made by Jacob alone is there at home
Some bread might be at home
Some snacks might be at home
Or if goes and asks his mom she could have given something
Its not that Jacob offered it Esau, But Esau himself actually wanted to have that stew made by Jacob he chose that which directly contradicted with Spiritual bread
When we do something that directly contradicts Word of God , we are actually looking to profit our flesh.
Esau said if soul is lost that is fine but right now flesh has benefited.
How many times we go directly incontradiction with word of God.
But take a look how Lord Jesus responded when He was hungry.
Matthew 4:
after 40 days fasting, the Lord was hungry.
He might be more hungrier than esau.
look at the 3 temptations put forward by satan.
food,testing God, fame and power.
but the Lord presevered the temptations. and finally
in verse 11 it says .. the angels came and ministered to Him.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Esau when hungry looked for the immediate food.
he gained in a fleshly manner, but lost his soul.
but the Lord through testing times endured and finally the angels ministered to Him.
if we endure we will see Gods supernatural way of treating.
when you go through testing times, do you set your mind on things which profitable to soul or you givein to immediate flesh gain. those who endure, will see Gods supernatural blessing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obedience
in our Church, we have a lot of teaching about obedience.
But our obedience depends on what we think is profit.
Jeremiah 35:
There is family called Rechabites.
2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of theLord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”
5 Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”
V2 - God said , call the family of Rechabites and give them a cup of wine.
In V6 - they said we will not drink wine, for father Jenobad said.
No wine for family,
No building houses.
No sowing the seeds
No planting vineyards.
just live in tents.
if you say that todays generation - no facebook, no whatsapp, dont go after fashionable things - they will say you are an old man. what kind of life you are talking about.
but the key for this family's obedience is "you will live many days in the land you live"
and they had set their heart on it.
they saw that the profit is living many days in the land.
they might have thought -
for us living many days in more important.
than to drink wine, build houses, plant vineyards.
they know the moment the start drinking wine, they will lust after it, and there might be issues with neighbours where they are living , they may throw them out.
the minute the start builiding houses, they have to get the land and the people living there will fight with them and throw them out, and the moment the start planting the vineyards then there will be fights for vineyards.
they could see the profit of what their father said.
and they obeyed.
they counted all things ( wine, houses, plants) as rubbish or loss and they said living long life is important.
I count all things as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.
Iexample honor parents - long life.
If you think long life is profit then you will obey.
If you know obeying authorities is good in sight, otherwise both God and king will punish, then you will check what is profit.
The obedience is based on profit.
The final result for Rechabites is they are blessed , the Lord says they will never lack a person who stands before God.
Your obedience comes from what things you count as profit or loss.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are always challenged with questions like
whether this is right or wrong.
is wearing this dress right or wrong.
watching a movie right or wrong.
going to a pub right or wrong.
We always want to know something is legal or not.
Very rarely you goto Pastor and ask whether a Certain thing is profitable of not?
All things might be legal but not all things are profitable.
Genesis 14
But look at Abraham
For him the reputation of God is important
For him Soul matters
What he benefits the Soul is important
It's perfectly legal for Abraham to take money from King of sodom
But he thought what profits my soul
Abraham knows his soul gets profited if he receives from God and not from man.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Timothy 4:8
for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Lot ws godly man, but he looked for green field and there were many sorrow followed him.
Church, look for what is profitable for soul.
I even if you lose whole world that is fine, just be profited in soul and you will see the end will be greater.
Dear Church in life we always gets this question asked
Do you want to benefit your soul or your flesh
1 Corinthians 10:23
23 All things are lawful for me,[c] but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me,[d] but not all things edify.
All things are lawful but not all things are helpful/profitable
All things are lawful but not all things are edify.
In life everything we do has profit or loss
In a day how you spent there might be profit or loss.
How you spent your time has either profit or loss
How you spoke your words has either profit or loss
How you responded to a situation has either profit or loss
In life everything we do has profit or loss
Just like when you invest in shares or when you look at our own accounts we know whether we ended at profit or loss
or when an organization looks at each quarter, they will see what are profits and losses.
Similarly, in everything we do in our lifes has a profit or loss , we may not realize it, but it has either profit or loss.
Steve Jobs said., he pursued fame and wealth - he achieved it.
but in the end he says
he missed out on what is really profitable.
Many times we think
Profit means
Whether I got more money
Whether I got time for myself
Whether I got recognition
Whether my kids are recognized
Lord Jesus in
Mark 8:36
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 3
Here Lord Jesus is talking that gain whole world but Lost soul
Profit should be to Soul
We always look for our flesh to be profited
There are tons of things in this world you want to gain in every stage of your life.
as child you want to have best toys , you want to be pampered
as a youth , you want to be identified in friends circle, you want to have latest gadgets.
as an young adult, you want to get the best job, get the best spouse.
as an adult, you want to settle down with a good house, get financially stable have kids.
give children to best education, a name in the society.
as an old person, you want to see your children settled in marriages, have grand kids and finally want to take a look at what is important for coming life.
this is a cycle everyone goes through.
but as a believer , are we looking to be profited in soul or flesh.
you may gain the whole world, what is the profit?
Simple example
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God that proceeds out of mouth of God
Physical bread - the food that we eat
Spiritual bread - Word of God
If you ask any believer, how much/ how many food you eat in a day, they say very excitedly i ate this dish in the morning, i ate biryani for lunch, i ate such a nice dinner.
but If you ask how many times you meditated on Spiritual food , people might say actually we are dieting.
we get all kinds of execuses, I got only time in the eve.
Whether we our spirit is given enough food or not we don't care much but our flesh must be fulfilled
We will do full eating when comes to physical food but when comes spiritual we do dieting
I am actually dieting brother
For us , we mainly look for flesh beng profited.
Genesis 25: 29-32
29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and hewas weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.[d]
31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Esau when he went for hunting and came backThere were 2 choices put before him
Physical food - Soup
Spiritual food birth right
Actually Esau might had lot of options at home
It is not that only that particular soup made by Jacob alone is there at home
Some bread might be at home
Some snacks might be at home
Or if goes and asks his mom she could have given something
Its not that Jacob offered it Esau, But Esau himself actually wanted to have that stew made by Jacob he chose that which directly contradicted with Spiritual bread
When we do something that directly contradicts Word of God , we are actually looking to profit our flesh.
Esau said if soul is lost that is fine but right now flesh has benefited.
How many times we go directly incontradiction with word of God.
But take a look how Lord Jesus responded when He was hungry.
Matthew 4:
after 40 days fasting, the Lord was hungry.
He might be more hungrier than esau.
look at the 3 temptations put forward by satan.
food,testing God, fame and power.
but the Lord presevered the temptations. and finally
in verse 11 it says .. the angels came and ministered to Him.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Esau when hungry looked for the immediate food.
he gained in a fleshly manner, but lost his soul.
but the Lord through testing times endured and finally the angels ministered to Him.
if we endure we will see Gods supernatural way of treating.
when you go through testing times, do you set your mind on things which profitable to soul or you givein to immediate flesh gain. those who endure, will see Gods supernatural blessing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obedience
in our Church, we have a lot of teaching about obedience.
But our obedience depends on what we think is profit.
Jeremiah 35:
There is family called Rechabites.
2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of theLord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”
5 Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”
V2 - God said , call the family of Rechabites and give them a cup of wine.
In V6 - they said we will not drink wine, for father Jenobad said.
No wine for family,
No building houses.
No sowing the seeds
No planting vineyards.
just live in tents.
if you say that todays generation - no facebook, no whatsapp, dont go after fashionable things - they will say you are an old man. what kind of life you are talking about.
but the key for this family's obedience is "you will live many days in the land you live"
and they had set their heart on it.
they saw that the profit is living many days in the land.
they might have thought -
for us living many days in more important.
than to drink wine, build houses, plant vineyards.
they know the moment the start drinking wine, they will lust after it, and there might be issues with neighbours where they are living , they may throw them out.
the minute the start builiding houses, they have to get the land and the people living there will fight with them and throw them out, and the moment the start planting the vineyards then there will be fights for vineyards.
they could see the profit of what their father said.
and they obeyed.
they counted all things ( wine, houses, plants) as rubbish or loss and they said living long life is important.
I count all things as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.
Iexample honor parents - long life.
If you think long life is profit then you will obey.
If you know obeying authorities is good in sight, otherwise both God and king will punish, then you will check what is profit.
The obedience is based on profit.
The final result for Rechabites is they are blessed , the Lord says they will never lack a person who stands before God.
Your obedience comes from what things you count as profit or loss.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are always challenged with questions like
whether this is right or wrong.
is wearing this dress right or wrong.
watching a movie right or wrong.
going to a pub right or wrong.
We always want to know something is legal or not.
Very rarely you goto Pastor and ask whether a Certain thing is profitable of not?
All things might be legal but not all things are profitable.
Genesis 14
But look at Abraham
For him the reputation of God is important
For him Soul matters
What he benefits the Soul is important
But he thought what profits my soul
Abraham knows his soul gets profited if he receives from God and not from man.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Timothy 4:8
for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Lot ws godly man, but he looked for green field and there were many sorrow followed him.
Church, look for what is profitable for soul.
I even if you lose whole world that is fine, just be profited in soul and you will see the end will be greater.
Dear Church in life we always gets this question asked
Do you want to benefit your soul or your flesh
