• Consider the R100 note that I hold in my hand this morning:
• There are some things we can learn about this R100 note.
• Firstly, whether it is old or new, it still holds the same value *[e]
• *(Note to Glenn: wherever I have [e], it means that I explain this point to the congregation.)
• No matter where this note goes or what it is used for, it can never lose its value [e]
• In a big shopping mall or in a small rural farm stall, the R100 still has the same value
• In the hand of a rich man or in the hand of a poor man, the R100 still retains the same value [e]
• In the hand of a priest or in the hand of a prisoner, the R100 note still maintains the same value.
• No matter where this note is or goes, or with who it is, it can never lose its value [e]
• Just as this R100 note, you can never lose the value that God has created you with.
• I want you to know this day, you are valuable!
• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” – Jer 1:5
• Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” – Gen 1:26
• For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. – Ps 139: 13 – 16
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
• Wow! These Scriptures tell me that whether I am young or old, I can never lose the intrinsic value that God Himself has made me with [e].
• I am amazed to discover that whether I am a new Christian or if have been a believer for many years, God still sees me as valuable and precious [e].
• Whether I am good looking or just looking, I have value [e].
• Whether I am smooth or rough; educated or uneducated; whether I have Grade 1 or a doctorate degree, whether I am illiterate or literate…I am immensely valuable, because God Himself took the time to create me [e]
1. This R100 note could have been to church, to the temple, to the mosque or to the traditional healer, but it’s value remains the same:
• Lets look at this R100 note again:
• Who knows which religious institution this note has been to?[e]
• Who knows what rituals this note has been involved in?[e]
• Who knows if this note has been offered up in ungodly practises?[e]
• But one thing is certain:
• Irrespective of the religious institution…of the rituals…of the ungodly practises this R100 note has been through: its value has not diminished! [e]
• It still has the value of R100 [e].
• This teaches me this day, that it does not matter where I have come from,
• I am still valuable to God [e]
• But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. -1John 1:7
• I, even I am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. – Isaiah 43:25
• It doesn’t matter to God where you have come from [e]
• Especially which religious background you have had [e]
• All God sees is your value [e]
• I am not saying that your past was right [e]
• I am saying that your future is now secure [e]
• Just like the R100 note, you may have passed through many religious institutions [e]
• But you are still valuable to God [e]
• So valuable, that you are now in the right place for the right time! [e]
2. This R100 note could have been to the casino, but it’s value remains the same:
• As we once again examine this R100 note, we must be honest with ourselves…we don’t know the places this note has visited:
• It could have been to the casino [e]
• It could have been part of a scenario of bright lights, card and roulette tables, gambling machines and hundreds of eager wishful people with eyes fixed on striking it lucky.
• It could have been placed on the blackjack table by a man with sweaty palms and a fast beating heart [e]
• It could have been used to buy a gambling chip that was placed by a lady with crossed fingers on her lucky numbers on the roulette table [e]
• It could have been fed to a gambling machine by an old, grey-haired lady as part of her last pension with the hope that the triple 7 numbers will roll to a stop in front of her [e]
• In the midst of this sinful place, where people demonstrate their willingness to rely on luck rather than on a God who shall supply all their needs according to His riches in glory…..
• This R100 note still retained its value [e]
• Just like this R100 note you cannot go anywhere that will cause you to lose your value to God [e]
• Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. – Ps 137: 7 - 10
• This does not mean that God gives us the permission to go where we want [e]
• But this does mean that God does not hold the fact that we have been to bad places against us when we come to repentance [e]
3. This R100 note could have been to the brothel, but it’s value remains the same
• Imagine this R100 note in the hands of a lustful man [e]
• He goes to the brothel
• And there with his leering, perverted eyes, he chooses a prostitute [e]
• And he uses this R100 note to pay for sinful services [e]
• And this R100 note is then places together with all the other notes that this lady has received that night for services rendered [e]
• All the other notes have also come from dirty, sweaty, lustful hands [e]
• And yet I can tell you one thing for sure even though this R100 note has been in that dirty, sweaty, sordid place where so much of sinful activity has taken place….
• It still retains its full value [e]
• It didn’t become R75 or R50 just because it spent time in a house of sin [e]
• No! it retained it’s full value of R100! [e]
• They say we all have our skeletons in our closets [e]
• This day I want to say to you, it doesn’t matter how bad you have been [e]
• It doesn’t matter what sins you may have committed [e]
• Like this R100 note, you may have been to the most awful places of life and found temporary pleasure there, [e]
• But you still retain your value to God [e]
• If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who would stand? – Ps 130:3
• Yes, you may be feeling as dirty as the R100 note in the brothel, but God still sees your value [e]
4. This R100 note may have passed through many hands, but it can never lose its value.
• As I hold this R100 note, I don’t know through how many hands it has passed [e]
• I don’t know how many times it was spent [e]
• I don’t know where people who had it kept it [e]
• I don’t know if it was ever a source of a fight or a robbery [e]
• I don’t know if someone lost their life because of it [e]
• I don’t know which security cash-in-transit company was contracted to pick this money up from the SA reserve bank [e]
• But this I know…that it has passed through many hands [e]
• And in all those hands that it has passed through, one thing stands out:
• IT HAS NEVER LOST ITS VALUE
• It still remains R100!
• I don’t know what you’ve been through in this life [e]
• I don’t know, if like this R100, people have even bothered to fight for you [e]
• I don’t know if you’ve become worn and crumpled like this R100 note [e]
• But one thing I am sure of:
• YOU HAVE NEVER LOST YOUR VALUE!
• Life has been difficult!
• But you are still valuable.
• Maybe you have been, like this R100, passed from person to person,
• But your value to God still remains the same as when:
• Before the foundations of the worlds were laid
• Before this Earth was created
• Before God suspended the stars in their place
• God had you on His Mind.
• And He will never leave you nor forsake you.
• What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, the who can be against us – Rom 8:31
Conclusion
• Let us take one final look at this old R100 note:
• Allow me to bring 2 important points to your attention.
• Firstly, this note is a legal tender which is exchanged for good and services. [e]
• It has been created by the SA reserve bank for this purpose [e].
• When it is done with its circulation in this economy, it will return to the reserve bank [e]
• We have been created by God with purpose and value [e]
• Like this R100 note, we have to serve our purpose on this Earth, before we are called back by our heavenly reserve bank governor: God Himself [e]
• Secondly, this R100 note has to be used in order for its full value to be realised [e]
• If you don’t use this note;
• If just stays in your pocket, wallet or purse, it’s potential will not be realised [e]
• We have been created to be used by God [e]
• We need to allow God to use us for our true purpose and value to be realised [e]
• I pray this sermon has inspired and blessed you (even all the way in Saudi!)
