In Gods Plan, by Gods Power and For Gods Glory

Praise the Lord. We thank God that he's allowed us to come again in his presence to hear what he has to say. I don't take this responsibility lightly.

It's an awesome responsibility to tell God's people what the Lord is saying. And I want to say that to every brother who shares the word in the church. Don't ever take it lightly, because when we stand up or sit to share God's word, we are trying to communicate to people what God is saying.

And that's an awesome responsibility to be the mouthpiece of God. The Old Testament prophets were warned. I'll show you a verse in the book of Jeremiah.

This is a word that has come to me many times in my entire life. I started preaching God's word in churches in a large group when I was 23 years old, and that's 63 years ago. And all these 63 years, here's the thing that has really put a fear into my heart.

Jeremiah 23, and I say this for anyone who shares God's word, even if you are a sister, sharing God's word with others or a brother, even if you're not a gifted speaker, even if you share two, three sentences with someone. Jeremiah 23, verse 21. I did not send these prophets, but they ran.

And there are numerous cases like that in history, millions. I did not speak to them, but they preached. They preached without my speaking to them.

I mean, if they were saying, I want to give a testimony on my experience, that's fine. But when they say, this is what God is saying, oh, that is serious. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.

They preached as if they were preaching my word. But if they had only stood in my presence and heard me and announced my words to my people, that would have turned my people away from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. That is a verse that scares me.

And the Lord says in verse 25, I've heard what the prophets are prophesying, saying, I had a dream, I had a dream, and so on. Another thing the Lord says is, in verse 30, I am against the prophets who steal my words from each other. That means who don't hear me.

Now, there's nothing wrong in listening to what another brother says and saying, I received something from the Apostle Paul. I'd like to share it with you. But to pretend that God spoke that to you directly, that's what he's saying.

I'm against the prophets who steal my words from each other. And I'm against the prophets who use their tongue to say the Lord declares this and do prophesy false dreams, etc. So it is a very serious thing in the Old Testament to speak, to give your testimony is fine.

But to speak and say this is what the Lord is saying is an extremely serious thing. And I live in fear of it. I'll tell you that honestly.

Let me turn now to 1 Corinthians in chapter 3. In 1 Corinthians in chapter 3, the Lord, the Holy Spirit's reminding us that after we have laid a foundation, verse 11, we must be careful how we build on that foundation. 1 Corinthians 3, the last part of verse 10. Let every man be careful how he builds on this foundation, verse 11, which is Jesus Christ.

You know, all of us are building something. Our life is a building. The way you live every day, the way you spend your time, the way you spend your money, and how you live each day, you're building something.

It could be just a waste of time. Or it could be something evil. Or it could be something that will last for eternity.

God has made man to be a creature of eternity. That's why he was born with an eternal soul that will never die. And he's a creature of eternity.

And therefore, he wants us to do a work that lasts forever. That is the point here, and particularly after we are born again. In our unconverted days, we lived for the world and did a whole lot of things exactly as we felt like, and all that is trash, and we've finished with that, hopefully.

The great danger is after we are born again, we can still be careless about how we live our life. And I'm not talking about full-time Christian workers or preaching or building the church. Your life is a building that you're building.

The way you live at home, the way you treat your wife, the way you bring up your children, and the way you work in your office or place of work and everything, you're building something. Every day you're building something. You may not have been aware of it, but you've been building a building.

And at the end of your life, the Bible says that the Lord will examine that building to see how did you build? What sort of life did you live? How did you spend your time? How did you spend your money? Those are two very valuable things God has given us, time and money. How did you spend it? And here it says, on this foundation, the foundation is Christ. I believe most if not all of you have accepted Christ as your life savior.

That's the foundation. You can have no other foundation other than verse 11, other than that which will last forever. Every other foundation will be destroyed.

But on this foundation, listen to this. He uses an illustration. You can build with gold, silver, precious stones, or with wood, hay, and straw.

Two pictures. Now, supposing you got $10,000, and you buy gold, silver, and precious stones with that. It'll be a very small little toy house that you can build with it.

That's all. But if you use that money to buy wood, hay, and straw, you can build a massive structure. Man, $10,000 worth of wood, hay, and straw.

So the emphasis here is on quality, not quantity. The world emphasizes quantity. How many people in your church? They never ask the question, do people in your church have victory over sin? No.

How many people? Is your church increasing in number? Not, is the word that you hear in the church more prophetic? Are people being convicted in the church of sin? Are people getting offended and leave the church? I tell you, that is a very good indication of a good church. I'll tell you why. Very contrary to what the world understands.

The world is always thinking, how many people have come? I want to know how many people left. Turn with me to John 6. We see two contrasting pictures in John 6. Two contrasting pictures. One is a huge crowd gathered together, and the Lord says, let's feed them.

And there were more than 5,000 men and many women and children. We read in verse 5, the men alone were 5,000. There were probably 10,000 people.

Huge crowd. And not only a huge crowd, but a huge crowd that shouted out when the loaves and the fish were multiplied. 10,000 people shouting verse 14, this Jesus is the true prophet that has come into the world.

You say, why? What a revival. And they wanted to make Jesus king immediately. See what he did.

When he saw verse 15, John 6, 15, they were going to grab him by force and make him king. He ran away to the mountains. He hid himself.

Have you ever heard of any Christian leader who when people want to make him an elder or a leader, he goes away, disappears? That's how Jesus was. He had no desire for men to appoint him to a position. Every position, one day he's going to be king of kings, but it'll be appointed by the father, not by man.

Dear brothers, don't seek for any position in the church which some man is giving you. If you're not fit for it, if God doesn't appoint you to that position, you're wasting time. Anyway, this huge crowd was there.

And then later on we read, there was another time when a huge crowd of people, verse 22, another day, the next day, great crowd was there. And Jesus began to speak to them. And, you know, they were wanting to see more miracles.

And he said, in verse 26, you're seeking me because you ate the loaves and were filled. Verse 26. And then he went on to tell them, such height of popularity.

And he said to them, if you want to have my life in you, verse 53, you have to eat my flesh. And drink my blood. And I say to you, he who eats, verse 54, eats my flesh and drinks my blood as eternal life.

Again, my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink. Verse 56, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me. And what happened? Many of his disciples, they were his disciples who had decided to give up something and follow him.

Verse 60. They heard this and said, this is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it? Eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

And it says here, they left him. Verse 66. As a result, many of his disciples withdrew.

Thousands of people there, they withdrew. And they would not walk with him anymore. Jesus' message is always like that.

It was not increasing the numbers. You know, you couldn't go to Jesus. How many more people are coming to your meeting? How many more people are attending your church? He preached the truth so strongly that people left him.

That's the test of a church. How many people get offended and leave? Because they hear the truth, the way of the cross. And finally, he was left with 12.

Verse 67. He says, yeah, 12, but I tell you, verse 70, even among you 12, one of you is a devil. Verse 70.

He was left with 11. See, Jesus was a great master at reducing 10,000 people to 11. And with those 11 people, he turned the world upside down.

In a way that has lasted for 2,000 years. That's the type of work I want to do. I don't want a work that is temporarily excited, and a lot of people come, and nice singing, and nice music.

That's not what I'm interested in. I want to do a work that will last for eternity. My dear brothers and sisters, please.

You may not be a preacher, you may not be planting churches, but every one of us is an eternal being created by God. And we have one life to live, and we must use that one life to do a work that will remain for eternity. Even if there's a small part in a church, make sure that the work that you do, however small it is, will last for eternity.

The most ungifted person sitting here, I want to say to you that God has a plan for your life. So turn back to 1 Corinthians 3. Make sure that you build with gold, silver, precious stones, spiritually speaking, and not with wood, hay, and straw. If you're interested in numbers, if you're interested in popularity, I can give it to you in writing.

You will definitely build with wood, hay, and straw. But if your aim is to please your Heavenly Father, period, that's all. Then, and if you're willing to seek God for His power, and for His glory, do everything.

You can build a work that lasts forever. In the early part of my Christian life, I wandered here and there, preaching here, preaching there, preaching all over the place, very popular, and traveling here and there with a lot of openings. But now when I look back, I find a lot of that was just a waste of time.

I didn't produce anything that lasted an eternity. And I got fed up with my life, and I came to a place in my life 51 years ago when I said, Lord, I'm not accomplishing anything. I'm just wandering around preaching.

What am I doing? Please do something in my life. I want you to fill me with the Holy Spirit. And God met with me and baptized me in the Holy Spirit and fire.

That was what was the turning point in my life. That was the turning point in the apostles' life. They wandered around with Jesus for three and a half years, and one day, the day of Pentecost, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire, and that was the beginning of their real life.

Now I can certainly say the beginning of my real ministry was when the Lord baptized me in the Holy Spirit and fire. It changed my life. It changed my wife's life when the Lord baptized her in the Holy Spirit and fire.

Seek it with all your heart. I'm not surprised that that doctrine is counterfeited. There are more counterfeit baptisms in the Holy Spirit that I've seen than real ones because definitely anything genuine is counterfeited.

Nobody counterfeits toilet paper. They counterfeit $100 notes. Only valuable things are counterfeited.

So if baptism in the Holy Spirit is not counterfeited, it's not a valuable thing. It is the most valuable thing, so you can be absolutely sure that it has been counterfeited. And if you heard that in the town hundreds of counterfeit currency notes are going around, you'll be very careful when you take a currency note.

Is it counterfeit or real? That is how we must be careful about when we seek for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We want the real thing. And so I sought the Lord a long time ago.

Lord, how shall I build with gold, silver, precious stones and not with wood, hay, and straw? And I remember very clearly seeking God, seeking God, seeking God. One day, suddenly, God gave me light on it. From one verse in Romans 11.

And I've never forgotten. I never forgot that day when God gave me light on this. Showed me what it means to build for eternity.

Here He talks about something that will be forever. Romans 11, the last verse. Romans 11, verse 36.

Read carefully. There are three things mentioned here. From Him, from God, through God, and to God are all the things that will last forever.

What are the things that will perish? The opposite of that. Whatever originated from man, done through man's power, and done for man's glory. So you got it? Now we understand what is gold, silver, precious stones.

Whatever originates from God, and what is done through His power, and what is done for His glory. Let me repeat it. Whatever you do, that is originated in God's mind.

In other words, it's not your bright idea. You've studied the scriptures, you've understood God's mind, and you're seeking to do according to God's mind, number one. That's not enough.

And secondly, you're seeking God for His power, to do it in His power, not in your own ability. And when you do it, you're doing it for His glory. That is gold, silver, and precious stones.

And whatever originates in your mind, some clever mind is saying, I'll do this for the Lord, or I'll do that for the Lord. Good. It'll be wood.

It'll be burnt up. And because you're very clever and capable, and you've got so many gifts, even if you know what God's will is, you say, I'm going to do it with your power, it'll perish, it'll be burnt up. If you don't depend helplessly upon the Lord for His power, it'll be burnt up.

And thirdly, when God has accomplished something through you, wonderful, and you take the credit for it, it'll be burnt up. It must be for His glory. Eternal work is that which originates in God's mind.

That means you waited on the Lord. You're too busy to wait on the Lord. All your life will be wood, hay, and straw.

To wait on the Lord, that's why I often told people, when you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed, as soon as your eyes are open in the morning, time to get up, your wife is asleep or your husband is asleep, you're alone, say, Dad, I want to hear you today. I want to worship you. Begin your day like that.

Let everything be from Him. Lord, give me your power. Seek for His power for everything that you have to do that day.

Even if you're a wife or a mother, you need the power of God to be a good mother, to be a good wife, to run the home the way God wants it run. And thirdly, when God does some wonderful work through you, or you've had a wonderful day, everything went smoothly and successfully, don't pat yourself on the back saying, what a good boy am I. No. Lord, the glory is all yours.

Please remember these three things. Begin your day with God. Begin everything in your life.

Say, Lord, I want to seek you. That's the meaning of prayer. I pray, one, because I want to know God's will.

I pray because I want His power. That's the second. And thirdly, I pray because after the work is done, I want to give Him the glory.

So even prayer is related to these three things. I pray because I want to know what God's will is to do it. Lord, help me throughout this day, whether it's cooking the food or bringing up the children or doing my work in the office.

I want to know how I can do it in your way. Secondly, give me the power to do it. Give me the power to be a good mother, to be a good wife, to be a good husband, to be a good person in my office or my store or my factory.

And third, Lord, at the end of the day, when I've done a wonderful work during the day, let me never, never, never think that I did it with my cleverness and smartness. Let me give you the glory. You know, God gives us many gifts.

Everything is free. God doesn't charge for anything. But you know there's one thing God will never give us.

Turn to Isaiah 42. Isaiah chapter 42, we read in verse 8. Very important verse that you must remember all your life. Isaiah 42, 8. 4, 2, 0, 8. Isaiah 42, 8. I am the Lord.

That is my name. And my glory, I will never give to another person. Did you know that? He'll give you his power.

He'll give you his gifts. He'll give you his nature. He'll give you everything.

There's one thing God will never give to anyone. His glory. And that is to save us from calamity.

That's how the devil became the devil. He was the head of the angels. And he became the devil because he wanted the glory of God to himself.

A lifelong lesson for everyone to learn. How an angel became a devil. He sought glory for himself.

So God said, I'm going to protect all of you from becoming like the devil. I will not give my glory to anyone. Don't touch the glory of God.

Everything we have is what God gives us. So let's acknowledge that. I often use the example of, supposing in some feast, I'm taking a plate of... Somebody's made a lovely cake and they've sliced it up and asked me to distribute it to some of my friends.

And I take the cake around to different front of my friends. And they say, Zach, what a wonderful cake you made. Yeah, I said, I made a little effort and made it.

That's a lie. I'm only distributing it. I have no right to take credit for a cake made with great pains by somebody else.

They cut it up and asked me to distribute it. And when people appreciate it, I dare to take the credit for it as though I baked that cake. I didn't.

I don't think any of us will do it. If you're passing slices of cake around and somebody says, it was a wonderful cake you made. You'll say, I didn't make it.

I'm only distributing it. But when it comes to something we do for the Lord, we are not so quick to say, Oh, the Lord gave me something. I can't take any credit for it.

There we do take the credit. I will not give my glory to another. It's a very dangerous thing to touch the glory of God.

That's what made an angel into a devil. Be very careful, my brothers. Whenever you do anything for the Lord, at the end of the day, please bow before the Lord and say, Lord, I want to give you the glory for everything.

If you've been a good husband, give the glory to God. If you've been a good wife or a good mother, if your children have turned out to be believers, every one of them, give the glory to God. Don't ever say, I brought them up right.

You would have made a mess of it if God hadn't been there to help you. That is humility, that I will not touch the glory of God. Even being kept from falling.

I often ask people, do you know what's the last verse in the Bible before the book of Revelation? The last verse in the Bible before the book of Revelation. Very, very important verse. And it's interesting that God has kept it there.

It's the last verse in the Bible before the book of Revelation. Jude verse 24 and 25. Now unto Him, to God, now to God our Father, who's able to keep you from stumbling and falling, leave alone falling, even to keep you from stumbling.

Falling is flat on the floor. Stumbling is just tripping over a little pebble. He is not only able to keep you from falling, He's able to keep you from stumbling in your walk with the Lord.

In other words, He's able to make you walk in God's will in the smallest of areas. He's able to do it. And keeping you from stumbling all your life, He's one day will be able to, He's able to, verse 24, make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless.

He is able to make you stand before Him blameless one day. With great joy to Him, to the only wise God, be glory, majesty, dominion, authority before all time and forever. That is how the Bible ends before the book of Revelation.

That is the last verse in the Bible before the book of Revelation. And never forget it. That is how our life must also be at the end of each day, at the end of each life.

Lord, You're the one who kept me from falling. You're the one who kept me from stumbling. You're the one who did something through me today.

I want to give you all the glory. To begin with, however, what did we read in Romans 11? From Him, through Him, and to Him. From Him means we have to wait on the Lord to hear what He wants us to do.

We are building the church of Jesus Christ. And the example for us in building the church is the Old Testament tabernacle. The tabernacle was something that God told Moses to build, and He gave him exact details how to build the tabernacle.

You read Exodus chapter 25 to 40, those 16 chapters. He told him every little thing, even stitching the curtain, what sort of color and what the length must be and the width must be. I mean, God could have said, listen, Moses, you're a clever man.

Build a nice tabernacle for me. No, even the small little things, every detail, how much gold must be there, how much silver must be there. God gave them exact details.

And what did we learn from that? It's not just, you say it's pretty boring reading those 15, 16 chapters. But one thing I learned is God wants us very detailed about our life. He wants every detail of our life to be according to His will.

And if I'm willing to listen, He will tell me. That is why Jesus said, one thing is needful. You know the first words of Jesus' spoken ministry? I told you the last words in the Bible before the book of Revelation.

Now I'll tell you the first words that Jesus spoke in His public ministry. First words, Matthew 4.4. Man shall not live by food alone, but by every... And that's important. Every word that proceeds, not proceeded, but proceeds from the mouth of God.

How shall man live? The very first thing that Jesus spoke in His public ministry is how we are to live. Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So supposing you miss some of the words today in what God is speaking to you, there's something in your life you're going to miss.

Because if I am to live by every word, I must be careful to live by every word. When you deposit money in the bank, currency, do you just take a pile of currency notes and say, here? No. You calculate it down to the last cent.

Oh, how careful we are when it comes to money to be put into our account. I don't want any less to be put into my account. I want to calculate it down to the last dollar and cent, and write it, count it again, count it again.

Yes, here it is. Please deposit it in my account. How about seeking to hear what God is saying to us in the same way? Now if I were to ask you a question, how many of you believe that God's word is more important than money? Every one of us will raise our hand, yes.

God's word is more important than money. But do you listen to God's word as carefully as you calculate your money when you put it into the bank? From Him are the things that are eternal. That is gold, silver, and precious stones from Him, through Him, to Him.

Never forget it. Every day of my life, as I begin the day, I must hear what God has to say to me. And not only at the beginning of the day, throughout the day I must have an attitude which says, speak Lord, your servant is listening.

That's how I've sort of trained my life to be in the midst of different things in life, even when I was in the Navy. I said, Lord, speak Lord, I want to hear what you're saying. How shall I do it? Sometimes God will tell you specific things to do.

And years later you'll see that that is exactly the right thing to do. We must develop the habit of listening. That's why Jesus often went alone.

Even He, whose life was perfect and sinless, needed to get alone to be able to hear His Father. And I want to say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, don't make your life so busy that you don't have time to hear what God is saying. In the midst of all your work, learn to be still, to listen.

In the middle of your daily work, take a break and listen what is God saying to you. Your work will be more efficient. Even if you're selfishly desiring your work to be more efficient, hear what God has to say.

What is the word that is coming from Him? Very, very important. That was Jesus' way. That's why I say when you wake up in the morning, first thing before you get out of bed, as soon as your eyes are open, Heavenly Father, I want to worship you.

Dad, what are you saying to me? You won't hear a voice from heaven, but that attitude, if you start from then, God will put certain impressions on your heart during the day, which will ensure that you live in God's will during the day. I've never in my life heard an audible voice from heaven, never. I've never seen Jesus physically.

I used to be discouraged about that. I said, Lord, can you let me, allow me to see you just once in my life? And the Lord said to me, that is second best. You want the best or second best? Second best is to be able to see me.

What is the best? I'll tell you. Turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 20. All those of you who have a great longing to see Jesus physically here on this earth before He comes back, here is a verse for you, which the Lord gave me.

Thomas said, I will not believe until I see Jesus face to face. He told his other disciples, you can say what you like, but I will not believe until I see Him. So Jesus was merciful to him.

And He appeared, verse John 20, 26. After eight days, Thomas came, was with the disciples. First time he was not there.

Jesus came and stood. And then He said to Thomas, okay, you're doubting whether I'm alive or not. Here, put your finger into my hand.

See the hole in my hand. Put your hand into my side. See where my sword pierced my side.

I'm the same person. And then He fell down and said, my Lord and my God. And listen to this answer.

Because you've seen me, you have believed. Verse 29. And this is the word the Lord spoke to me.

Blessed are those who have not seen. And yet I believe, yet believe. Lord, I belong to the second category.

And I am more blessed than those who have seen. Do you know that it is more blessed to live on this earth without seeing Jesus face to face than having seen Him face to face like Sadhu Sundar Singh and the Apostle Paul and some of those people who actually saw Jesus. I am more blessed than them because I did not see Him and I still believe.

I never realized that I could be more blessed than Paul and Sadhu Sundar Singh who actually saw Jesus. Yeah, that's what that verse means. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

It doesn't mean I'm more spiritual than them. No, no, no. Don't misunderstand.

I'm saying I'm more blessed than them because I have not seen Jesus. So, begin by hearing. Lord, I want to hear you.

God speaks. What did Jesus say? Matthew 4.4 Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded from God. No, that's not what it said.

Every word that proceeds present continuous tense. Present continuous tense means God is always speaking. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that is always proceeding from the mouth of God.

We read in Genesis chapter 1 He spoke on the first day, on the second day, the third day, fourth day. He spoke every day. And what I want to say to you is what is written in Genesis chapter 1 is throughout history God is speaking every single day many times a day whether you hear it or not is another thing.

We read in Revelation chapter 1 that when John John heard God's voice like a trumpet. There are people who say I can't hear God at all. I'll tell you why because your conscience is not clear.

You're blocked up your ears with a bad conscience. The bad conscience blocks the ears of your heart. If there's one thing that you've said done wrong in your life and you've not said it right your heart is blocked and God can shout like a trumpet you won't hear anything.

There are most believers do not hear God because there's something in their life not said right. A bad conscience plugs the ears of our heart. God can shout and yell and blow like a trumpet from heaven you won't hear a thing.

Keep your conscience clear. It's one thing the Lord's taught me. However difficult it is keep your conscience clear.

In money matters keep it clear. If you hurt somebody ask forgiveness and if somebody has hurt you forgive them. Somebody told me that some relative of theirs was dying and he went to that person and said have you forgiven everybody? That person said yes.

Okay. I heard that and I said no it's not okay because more important I said is not have you forgiven everybody second or which is actually first have you asked forgiveness from those whom you have hurt throughout your life? It is more difficult to ask forgiveness than to forgive. Did you know that? To forgive everybody is easy but have you asked forgiveness from people you have hurt? That's what you need to make sure before you die.

So if I were going to speak to a dying person yeah I'll ask him have you forgiven everybody? Okay that's cleared. Now let me ask you 90% of it have you not first I'll ask have you forgiven everybody? That's the 10%. Now the 90% is have you asked forgiveness from those whom you have hurt? I don't care whether you hurt them one year ago.

You haven't? You're not ready to meet the Lord. That is my understanding of being ready to meet the Lord. You can't just live as you like and hurt people left right and center and say I'm ready to meet the Lord because I've forgiven everybody.

What do you mean you have forgiven everybody? There are a hundred people you have not asked forgiveness from. God is speaking. Man shall not live by bread alone.

So that's the first thing from God I must hear. The second thing is remember gold, silver, precious stones from God through God and to God through through God means I must wait upon the Lord for his power to do his work. The disciples are all ready to go and serve the Lord.

As soon as they saw Jesus risen from the dead and Jesus said hang on don't don't be in a rush. You are not fit. Wait to be empowered by the Holy Spirit just because you know the truth just because you know the Bible you're not ready to preach it.

You must know the scriptures definitely but you must have the power to proclaim it and for that you have to wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40 it's a great verse. Please remember it all your life.

Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31 last verse Isaiah chapter 40 the last verse Those who wait upon the Lord will gain strength and they will mount up with wings like eagles. They will fly they will run and never get tired and they will walk and never get weary. That's a great verse for older people especially like me I think I'm the oldest person in this room.

How to walk and never get weary how to run and never get tired I mean spiritually how to mount up with wings like eagles very simple wait on the Lord seek for his power from the very first moment of the day when you wake up Lord give me the power of your Holy Spirit fill me with the Holy Spirit help me to hear your voice fill me with the Holy Spirit Is it enough to be once filled with the Holy Spirit? No We read in let me show you it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 4 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and then we read in chapter 4 verse 8 Peter was again filled with the Holy Spirit and then we read in chapter 4 verse 31 again they were filled with the Holy Spirit Between chapter 2 and 4 they were filled three times What does that teach us? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again and again Ephesians 5, 18 says Be being filled with the Holy Spirit There is no such thing as a once for all being filled with the Holy Spirit There are many people who are filled with the Holy Spirit and they're backslidden today and some are lost eternally Be being filled with the Holy Spirit I need the power of God for everything I told you the tabernacle is a picture of God's work in the tabernacle God gave them exact details You read Exodus 25-40 every little detail God told them this is what you want this is what you want and that is how we want to build the church When we seek to build the church don't go by your own bright ideas For example let me give you one example Why is it in all our CFC churches we don't have a pastor? We have the function pastor Pastor Gift to person who is a shepherd Pastor means shepherd One who shepherds We've got shepherds I prefer to use the word shepherd But why don't we have one pastor in a church? I'll tell you why Because that is not the will of God How do I know it's not the will of God? Because I see in the New Testament that the apostles appointed elders in every church and not a pastor You read that in Acts chapter 14 We follow Scripture You mean then you say but it's not Even those people who don't have who appoint a pastor are not doing God's will I say I'm not here to judge anybody I'm just saying that is not in the Bible Beyond that is not my business Show me in the Bible where a single church had a pastor appointed over it But today we see thousands and thousands and nobody bothers about it Little little things You read the tabernacle they said even the little stitches what color it must be this thread this thread must be used for this curtain and this pillar must be made of this Small little things Can you call a person reverend so and so? No The Bible says only God is reverend It says holy and reverend is his name in the book of Psalms How dare a person take the title that is given in the book of Psalms to God Almighty It says about God holy and reverend is his name And the devil says I will take that title I will call myself reverend so and so The title given only to God in the whole Bible Take a concordance and look for the word reverend It's never used about a human being It's used about God And when human beings take that title or you call a person reverend so and so you're giving a person a title which only belongs to God Exactly what the devil wants I wouldn't do it I fear God too much I'm not interested in popularity I'm not interested in people thinking I'm disrespectful I respect human beings but I will not give a man a title that belongs to God Holy and reverend is his name I'm just giving you an example of how Christendom has drifted so far away Learn to listen Learn to depend on God and finally Let the glory be to God alone When the tabernacle was built according to God's plan the Holy Spirit filled Bezalel and others to do that work and in the last chapter of Exodus 14 you read The glory of God came The glory belonged to God when the tabernacle was completed That is how the church must be built So whatever work you do in your life my brother, sister make sure it is from God through God through God's power and for God's glory that's the way to make sure that everything I do even in your home I want to bring up my children in the way God has taught me from God I must bring up my children seeking God's power to help me to be a good mother or a good father whatever you good father or good mother you are called to be and thirdly when your children do turn out right make sure you don't take the credit for yourself give the glory to God the same thing in everything you do my brother if you do well in your profession maybe you succeeded in your profession and you have done very well make sure you give the glory to God remember the last verse in the Bible before the book of Revelation to the only wise God be glory dominion majesty and power both now and forever these are little principles but if you keep following it every day at the end of your life you will be able to look back over a life where it was gold silver and precious stones where everything I did I sought God's will from God and I sought God's power I did it through God and when the work was done I gave God the glory it's very simple from God through God and to God the opposite of that is the tower of Babel it came in man's mind let us build a tower from man we are gathering together bricks and mortar through man and they said in Genesis 11 let us make for us a name Genesis 11 4 you read Genesis chapter 11 and verses 1 to 5 how the tower of Babel was built from man man's idea through man's ability for man's glory and that Babel is what you read in the last chapter of the revelation is Babylon how does Babylon how is Babylon built from man through man to man how is Jerusalem built which begins with the tabernacle from God through God to God it's written throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation this is gold silver and precious stones and this is wood hay and straw so learn this lesson for everything in your life God does not expect you to bring up your children through your own ability He'll give you the ability to bring up your children in the fear of God but make sure you give Him the glory so many people if their children are brought up well they very subtly take the credit for themselves yeah this is what I and my wife did and this is what I and my wife did aha God have mercy on you brother God have mercy on you that's all I can say you take the credit for what God did in your home shame on you you built all that wood, hay and straw in the final day it'll be burnt up and you'll get the shock of your life you who have boasted before others about how well you brought up your children and how well you did this and how wonderfully you did in your work and everything else you'll get a shock when Christ comes again I give you one bit of advice fall on your face before the Lord and keep your face in the dust then you will do a work that'll last forever let's pray it's easy to forget even by tomorrow what you heard today in one day you can forget everything that you heard ask the Holy Spirit to remind you constantly Lord everything in my life I want to learn to listen to you first so many bright ideas I have I want to give you the credit and the glory for everything I do I want to seek your power and when the work is a success I want to give you the glory for everything in my life thank you Father for hearing us I pray that everyone here will do a lasting work a work that lasts for eternity I pray in Jesus name Amen