What To Do When You Are Running Out Of Time PT2

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another word-filled message by David Entry. Preaching is the means by which God manifests His word and nourishes our spirits.

[0:12] May the life of God enter into you and you as you listen to this message. Be blessed. 1 Peter 4, verse 7. But the end of all things is at hand.

[0:23] Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer. Above all things, have fervent charity amongst yourself. For charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

[0:35] Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

[0:47] If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do so as of the ability which God gives.

[0:59] That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Hallelujah.

[1:10] Hallelujah. All right. In our last, in our previous session, I spoke about how, when you are running, what you do when you are running out of time. And part one.

[1:21] So today I just go on to part two. And as I said in our previous sessions, in 1 Peter 4, when you look at the structure of the text from verse one, it talks about how we should be willing to suffer.

[1:39] Then it goes on to say that we should no longer live our life the rest of our time. So he mentions time there, which is important. All right. He mentions the rest of our time.

[1:49] There are three times he mentioned in 1 Peter 4, the rest of our time in the flesh. So you can live in the flesh or doing the will of God. Doing the will of man or doing the will of God.

[2:01] That's the only two ways you can live. All right. So you spend your time in either doing the will of God. I've extensively taught on that or doing the will of man. Then he goes on to talk about, for the time past of our lives may suffice us to have done the will of the Gentiles.

[2:17] So the Gentiles, they live their life in doing their own will. Right. So we have the time of the Gentiles when they don't know Christ, when they are not in God, how they live their lives.

[2:30] And he says that that's how the Gentiles do, which we also do that, or the ungodly do, or those who are not in Christ do, which we also did that. So now there was a time we were knowing Christ, how we were spending our lives and the time, unbelievers, their lifetime, the way they spend their life.

[2:48] And then there's a time you come in Christ, how you should now live your life, that time. And then he talks about how the unbelievers, they will not agree with you. They will not support you. And they will actually scandalize you and call you names and evil.

[3:03] And he says that they will give account. So there is judgment coming and they will give account to God. That is why he says that the gospel was preached to those who were dead.

[3:14] All right. It was preached so that when it comes to human judgment, the matters of men, they will be judged according to human beings, what they have done. But even though they have preached the gospel, the gospel was preached to them, they die like everybody dies.

[3:26] But whilst they are dead, the gospel was preached so that when they die, they will live according to the spirit of God. So everybody on earth in your time, the gospel is preached to you, not just so you can have money.

[3:40] The gospel is preached to you, not purely so you can have a prosperous life. The gospel is preached to you, not just so things can look good for you. All those things can be some of the byproducts of being in God and being in Christ based on your assignment and what God is doing with your life.

[3:59] All right. And your obedience, of course. But the main reason why the gospel is preached to people is so that when they die, they will continue to live by the spirit of God.

[4:09] So the power of the gospel is not just based hinged on life on earth, but life after death. So we prepare people for life after death. So when you are in school, when you are at work, wherever you find yourself, your neighbor or the people you meet, you are thinking about, if this guy dies right now, he doesn't have a chance.

[4:30] So I'm preaching the gospel not because I want him to have a good life here. I'm preaching the gospel not because he's struggling too much and I want his struggles.

[4:42] No. I'm preaching the gospel mainly because that after the—you see, some people, all the heaven they can have is here. But it shouldn't be wrong to have all your heaven here because here it's just hellish.

[4:55] It's not really heaven. So we preach the gospel so when people die, they will be able to experience a time or live according to the spirit. So then he goes on to say, because we are going to give an account.

[5:07] Then he—so he speaks about the time of how—the unbelievers' time. Then he speaks about our time as believers in Christ, how we should spend the rest of our time.

[5:18] Then verse 7 talks about the end of all things is at hand. So he speaks the end times, running out of time now. So then because we are running out of time, what should we do?

[5:30] Number one, he said you have to pray, as I said in the previous session. So we are running out of time. So what should we do? Number one, pray. And then I continue to say we need fervent prayer.

[5:44] Number two, we need permanent love. So to pray, you need to be sober in order to be able to pray. Sober so you can give yourself and watch on to prayer.

[5:57] And then the second thing he said we should do when you are running out of time is, above all, have fervent charity, love. Because he said love covers a multitude of sins.

[6:08] Sometimes when a husband and wife had heated arguments and then the husband just shuts the door, the wife shuts the door, leaves and goes to work.

[6:20] You know, I'm very upset with my husband. I'm so, I can't wait for him to come in. Meet me in the house. This man, he's having too much.

[6:30] The whole day you are fuming, fuming, fuming, fuming. And then before you could hear, your husband just had a heart attack at work. And that will not be your story. Okay. Because she could hear, the husband is dead.

[6:42] Now all the fury is useless. Oh, no. Oh, no. So sometimes when people offend us, we should think about the ultimate. That it's not worth sustaining the anger and sustaining the bitterness against your own person, against your own friend, against someone who, because ultimately when the person dies, that's it.

[7:05] That's it. So you got it. That's it. Is that it for you? You know. So sometimes think ahead. And Bible says because of that love covers a multitude of sins, it makes it easier for you to forgive. Now watch this.

[7:15] The easiest way to resolve a problem, the quickest, the quickest, the quickest, the quickest way to resolve a problem. But the surest and the quickest, fast route to resolving a problem is forgiveness.

[7:29] Because love covers a multitude of sins. Just love and forgive covers a multitude of sins. Oh, but he will continue to do that again. He will continue. I'm talking about the situation at hand in order to move forward and resolve this thing.

[7:42] Forgive. Forgive. The fastest way, the quickest shortcut to resolving a problem between people in a relationship is forgiveness.

[7:57] Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Love covers a multitude of sins. So because of the third type of time that we are under as believers, that is we are running out of time, the things we should do is, number one, pray.

[8:13] Fervent prayer. Yeah. Yeah. Number one is fervent prayer. And then number two is sincere love or permanent love, charity.

[8:26] And then number three, as I said in our previous session, is to use hospitality. Verse nine.

[8:36] Use hospitality one to another without grudging. In those days, they used to live in communities that really Christians would travel from one place to the other.

[8:46] And when they come for the purpose of the gospel, they will look for another Christian brother or Christian sister. Someone needs to host them. And so those times, sometimes you might host an apostle.

[8:58] You might host a pastor and his team. You might host somebody. And they are staying there for, let's say, weeks, days. Weeks. Sometimes months. And if you are not careful, you will be hosting the person, but you are doing it gradually.

[9:14] Every time. Morning, morning, morning, morning. In those days as well, when a stranger, in fact, I think I had a story read somewhere about Albania.

[9:26] I think it's Albania. They are big on hospitality. When people build their house, they always make sure they build a room for hospitality because they believe that when you receive a stranger, you might receive God.

[9:38] Strangers are sometimes God's people. So the way you treat a stranger may invariably end up treating God like that without knowing, just as it happened in the days of Abraham in Genesis chapter 19.

[9:51] So the way you might host somebody, you might not know. All right. Now, that is Albania. I think it's just cultural thinking. But there is some truth in it. So in the Bible, the believers were supposed to be warm and open their homes for other believers or for people who needed that help.

[10:11] So watch this. Now, in our modern days, there's a hotel. You just go and check in a hotel. So it might not be quickly applicable as it was in those days.

[10:23] However, however, there are ways that you can host God's people, maybe even not to sleep overnight or even the way you accommodate people as long as the work of God is concerned or as long as your relationship with them is concerned.

[10:40] It's something that you are giving to them. They are in need. So when a traveler comes and he arrives in your town, to give him hospitality is also a way of saying that. All right. Let me retract.

[10:52] Or let me go back a bit. Hospitality. That's where we get the same word. Hospital. What's hospital for? Hospital is when people go there, they are in need for recovery.

[11:06] So they go there, they are treated because. And hospital is. No one has a house in a hospital. All right. So you go there for treatment and you are supposed to leave there.

[11:16] You don't stay there permanently. So the nurses are like the hosts or the hostesses and the health workers. They take care of you and they are supposed to be patient.

[11:27] They are supposed to be loving because of the particular predicament you might be in, which you are there for recovery. So you go to hospital for recovery. So hospitality is for recovery.

[11:40] When people need hospitality, you are helping them to recover. Maybe he's traveled and he needs some place so he can freshen up or he can just rest or she can just settle down a bit in order to continue their journey.

[11:54] You are there to help them to recover strength, to regain vision. Or someone is going through something. You are there for recovery. So what I'm trying to suggest to you is that love, actually, there are two aspects of love, which he has mentioned.

[12:09] Love covers a multitude of sins. So love covers. So it's the covering love. But also there is the recovering love. Love covers and love recovers. So hospitality is recovering love to help someone to recover.

[12:22] I hope you get what I'm saying. And so it's so important to offer hospitality so someone can recover. So you will be the giver of help to somebody who is in need of help.

[12:38] And when somebody comes to you and they need hospitality, it's, you know, when it says offer hospitality, it's like more of you are being proactive.

[12:53] Proactive, because the person is coming, he might need some water. This person I'm meeting, he might need this to help him in this situation, to help her in this situation. And so it's proactive love as a matter of fact.

[13:07] It's proactive love, which is very, very, very important. Whilst the, when we say, so hospitality is proactive love, whilst the love I mentioned, the covering love is actually protective love or protecting love.

[13:21] You protect someone because you are not interested in exposing them. Love covers a multitude of sin. So it's protecting love, whilst hospitality is proactive love. The love I mentioned earlier on, which may love, is covering love, whilst hospitality is recovering love.

[13:41] In Romans chapter 12, verse 13, the Bible clearly, the Bible clearly tells us that distributing to the necessity of the saints.

[13:53] So we should distribute to the necessity of the saints. What does that mean? When people are in need, when the saints, the people of God are in need, you must be quick and willing to help people who are in need.

[14:05] And then it says, give in to hospitality. Give yourself to hospitality. You have to believe God that when God is blessing you, you always must have an allowance to be, to help others.

[14:19] You are thinking of buying a house. It's good that believe God to have a room to host somebody, to host a guest or something. As you are believing God for a car, believe God that I might be able to have a car that will be also useful for others.

[14:39] When they are in need, other believers. The Bible mentions saints. Okay. It says that giving to the necessity of saints. Distributing. You must be a distributor, not just a consumer.

[14:52] There's more blessing in being a distributor than being a consumer. Because we live in a consumerism culture and generation. It's about what I'm getting.

[15:03] So much so that people even come to church and they see themselves as customers and clients. I don't blame you.

[15:17] See themselves as a customer. So the customer is always right. You don't go to school as a customer. Okay. You don't go to, even though when you are doing your driving lessons, you kind of are a customer.

[15:31] You take your customer. You take instructions. You take instructions. Now, the customer is always right. And the way I'm treated, the way I'm treated, does that mean people should be treated anyway?

[15:42] No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no again. But when it comes to family, your mother should not treat you as a customer or a client. Your father shouldn't be treating that child as a client.

[15:57] It's not a client. It's a son. It's a daughter. Beloved daughter. Cared for. And you'll do anything to protect them, to help them. That's the same way church must be.

[16:07] So you come and you're part of a family. And as I said earlier, you live in a generation of consumerism. Everybody is about me. The way the phone company is treating me.

[16:18] The way the shopping center, shopping supermarket is treating me. The way the service providers are treating me. The way the people come to church, oh, it's about me. The way you talk to me.

[16:28] The way you do it to them. The way the ushers. Some people can't even pack their bag and take their stuff. I'm going. I don't like the way the ushers. Come on, come on, come on. And so I'm not saying that ushers to misbehave.

[16:39] Or I'm not saying that pastors should open their mouth and spill out junk. And abuse the intelligence of people. Or be disrespected. No, no, no, no, no. That is not Christian. That is not Christian by itself.

[16:50] Okay. But I'm talking about sometimes the honest lies on you, the Christian, to be accommodating. Accommodating of other people's excesses, not intentionally or not.

[17:03] There's a difference between endorsement and accepting people. You can accept people without endorsing their behavior.

[17:15] Acceptance is not necessarily endorsement. That's what I'm trying to say. Acceptance. So I might accept you with your flaws and weaknesses. But it doesn't mean I've endorsed, I endorse that flaw.

[17:27] I endorse those flaws or the weaknesses. In the same way, it's the honest lies on me to be accommodating. Offer hospitality. Distribute to the necessity of the same.

[17:38] Be ready to give, offer hospitality. Accept others. Receive others. Into your space. I don't like convenience. That's why I don't want to join any choir. I don't want to serve anything.

[17:49] I just go and listen to the word and I go. Some people, some people, this is their mindset. Oh, thank God for lockdown. I just sit in my house. I listen to the message. I love the word of God. You don't love God.

[18:02] You don't love God. The love of God is always evidenced in your service to him. And the service to God is always practicalized in your service to his people.

[18:13] The love of God is evidenced in your service to him. Your service to God is practicalized in your service to the saints.

[18:25] He said, God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 10. How? In that you minister to the saints.

[18:36] Saints. The saints means the people of God. And you do minister. So God says that he will not forget your labor of love. Which you have done what?

[18:47] Showed towards who? Towards who? His name. Not his people. You have showed towards his name. Saul. Saul. Why are you persecuting me? Acts chapter 9.

[18:58] 5. Saul. Saul. Why are you persecuting me? God knows who are you. He said, as often as you do to the least of this one, you have done it to me.

[19:08] Matthew chapter 25 verse 40. He said, I tell you the truth. When you do anything you do to any of these ones. He said, and the king shall answer and say, veryly I say unto you, as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.

[19:27] When we offer hospitality, we shouldn't do it like we are doing it for somebody. But we look at the need and we meet the need in the name of the Lord.

[19:40] Why? Say, time is not on your side. Christ will react if you do it to people of God. When you do it to people, he says, if you do it in his name, in that you minister to his name.

[19:52] Okay. He takes it personal. So don't do it because of that brother. Because, you know, that brother comes from a different postcode. And your postcode and their postcode, you don't agree.

[20:04] Your kind of race and their kind of race don't agree. Your background and his kind of background doesn't agree. But guess what? Once we are in church, all those limitations, all those segregations, all those discriminations.

[20:17] Bible says Jesus paid a heavy price to nail it to the cross. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 15. He nailed that to the cross and he took the enmity that is between us. Enmity.

[20:28] And he made, having abolished in his flesh the enmity. There's enmity between human beings by nature. Enmity. Postcode A doesn't agree with postcode B.

[20:42] Race A doesn't work with race B. The community D does not get up with community M. And this type of class, this class of people don't mingle.

[20:55] This class of people, this type of that, this type of these people from this tribe, they don't have dealings with this tribe. That is why the woman asked Jesus, how come that you, a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan woman, for water?

[21:08] John chapter 4 from verse 9 and 10. How come? So it's natural. It's human. Human beings are segregated by nature.

[21:20] Human beings are by nature segregated. Human beings are by nature discriminative. When you got into a big room and there are a lot of people there, before you could say Jack, before, after a few moments, hour or two, you would just gravitate to certain type of people and you begin to make friends and you leave them others.

[21:41] It's just, we just, we just moved us. It's, it's, it's, it's sociology. We just moved us. But the point I'm making is, don't, things can be fixed. But you know, naturally, even in a family, you can tell these people are a team.

[21:56] That people are a team. A large family. This, these cousins get on together well than these ones. And in a big community, you know that there are parties that some people will not be invited.

[22:07] Not that someone means evil, but not everybody is in. It's human. But this has had to die. So to get the church, you can't have the church with that inside. So to have the pure church, he had to die on the cross.

[22:19] And in his flesh, he had to take away the enmity. He abolished the enmity in his, in his flesh. Even the law of commandment contained in the ordinance.

[22:30] There are all kinds of human systems and human ordinance that does not allow somebody to fit into another group. Oh, I'm telling you, even in London, you are not permitted to drive in some places.

[22:41] If you don't have a certain kind of money to afford a certain type of car, you are not allowed to drive walk or jump on the bus. I mean, it's, it's natural. That's, that's human for you. All right. But he says that to abolish in his flesh for to, why did he do that?

[22:55] For to make in himself, the Greek word translated in is the same as with. So the substance for making is Christ and the sphere in the sphere for making is in, in himself.

[23:10] So he, his plan was to make in himself of that, give me new King James, to make, to create in himself one new man from the two. In other words, from two factions, he is created by here to abolish it.

[23:23] And so when we come to church, let's not come to reinstate what Christ has abolished. It comes naturally. If you stay in the flesh, you'll be segregated. If you stay in the flesh, you'll be discriminatory.

[23:35] If you stay in the flesh, you will exclude others. But thank God that the death of Christ is all inclusive. Hallelujah. The death of Christ is all inclusive. He brings us all so that he says that for the, to us to make one new man out of the two, thereby making peace.

[23:55] Hallelujah. That is why we, the church, we are the gloriously heterogeneous community. Different, different parts, but we are really one because we share oneness.

[24:05] And the oneness we share is the life of Christ that runs through on that basis. He says that you have to offer hospitality because we are one large family.

[24:15] And now for it to work, each one shouldn't be thinking about how, what I'm getting. Stop thinking about what is in it for me and think about what can I offer to it?

[24:28] What can I bring to the table? What am I bringing to the table? That consumerism mindset and generation is all about what is in it for me. But the, the spirit led mindset, the spirit filled mindset, the God loving ethos, the God loving motivation, the God loving impetus will always look out for.

[24:53] What can I bring to the table? I don't mind sacrificing. What can I sacrifice to make it better for us all? Not even just for us all, for them.

[25:04] Bible says, by, watch this, watch this, Isaiah 53, verse 5. By his stripes, we were healed. Not by our stripes, we were healed.

[25:15] By somebody else's stripes, you know stripes, pain. By his stripes, we were healed. That is the order of what God, how God does things. He takes other sacrifice to bless others.

[25:28] So when you come in and you don't have a mindset of sacrifice, you are going to be a liability. Church liability.

[25:40] And guess what? You are going to be a liability to yourself because you are running out of time. And when Christ shows up on the second coming or when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, he's going to judge you based on how much of a distributor you have been in building his body, in serving him, in loving him and giving to him.

[26:03] So he said, let us offer verse 9 again. He said, use hospitality. Wow. Use it. Use hospitality one to another.

[26:18] I like the way he just throws in without grudging. Without grudging. Without grudging. Another way to describe hospitality is loving strangers.

[26:31] Another way to describe hospitality is being inconvenienced for the sake of others. That's hospitality. Hospitality is loving strangers. Hospitality is being inconvenienced for the sake of others.

[26:44] Some of us just can't take any form of inconvenience. Sometimes we have to stop saying, if it's convenient, I'll do it. And start saying, once it's necessary, I'll do it.

[26:58] You don't do things because they are convenient. No. Important things are not done for the sake of convenience. Whether it's convenient or inconvenient. We have to learn how to embrace inconvenience for our own health and safety.

[27:14] We have to learn some inconvenience. It's unnecessary. A mother cannot say, a nursing mother, I'm too tired.

[27:26] After this C session I had, I can't wake up. The baby's coming. I can't be bothered. You'll kill your child. It's so inconvenient, but you've got to do it as a mother.

[27:39] It's called responsibility. Motherhood is not a chore. It's a sweet responsibility. All good mothers know what I'm talking about.

[27:50] And good fathers for that matter. Okay. So, hospitality is being inconvenient for the sake of others.

[28:02] The key word here is for the sake of others. That alone, when you do it once and do it twice, and sometimes human beings are so, it's this part of human nature.

[28:17] When you are always available, there's the tendency for them to take you for granted. That's why sometimes people take their pastors for granted because, oh, it's this job he's preaching. It's this job he's preaching.

[28:27] Until you find a pastor who doesn't preach, you realize that, ah, you know, somebody says that the grass is always greener on the other side. But the water bill is also very high.

[28:41] The grass is always greener on the other side. But the water bill is very high. The children of Israel didn't enjoy the sweetness in the manna.

[28:52] But whilst they were eating it, they were longing for something better so they couldn't actually enjoy and appreciate what they have. The child they have. The kind of husband they have. The kind of wife they have.

[29:02] The kind of mother you've got. The kind of father you've got. The kind of house you are living in. The kind of condition. Your nationality. Sometimes we will not appreciate some things because we are thinking it's always better somewhere.

[29:13] In the same way, when you are offering hospitality, people, after a while, may think, oh, no, you are supposed to do it. And sometimes you are thinking, they don't know that I'm actually not, I cannot do it without losing anything.

[29:29] Not doing it will not cost me anything, humanly speaking. You know, so sometimes they forget. And if you are not careful, your niceness can be taken for granted and you end up being nice by grumbling and complaining.

[29:42] Look, he's coming again. Every time, every time he's asking me to help him. Every time he's asking me to help him. And anyway, I'll do it. I'll do it for the last time.

[29:52] You know your neighbor is in need. Your friend is in need. Your brother is in need. Terrible need. He needs help. He said, yeah, that time I did it. He didn't say thank you. Yeah, I can understand. I agree with you. It's not nice. But you know what?

[30:03] You are not doing it for him. Do it for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. That is called Christianity. For Christ's sake. You do everything for Christ's sake.

[30:16] So the things you are doing for the believers. The things you are doing for the church. Don't be doing it for the pastor. Everything. This is what I'm doing. I do it for the sake of Christ's sake.

[30:27] My helping. I enjoy helping people. It's my way of using hospitality. Helping people in need. Being there for them. Standing with them. I practically enjoy doing that.

[30:40] And what makes it even amazing is when I know I'm doing it in the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. In the name of the Lord. You don't have to be my relative for me to help you.

[30:51] You don't have to be my neighbor for me to help you. You just have to be a human being and much more to be a Christian. I'm always in a hurry. It doesn't matter what you did against me. I must be in a hurry to help you.

[31:02] Without grudging. Philippians chapter 2 verse 14. It talks about we shouldn't complain. It talks about how we shouldn't complain. It's very important.

[31:13] It said do all things without complaining and disputing. You know, I guess some people don't know these things are in the Bible. Because they only look for, bless me Lord.

[31:24] Bless me Lord. I need a miracle. Oh, all your Christian life, some people have taught you that it's all about what God is going to do for you. That's not true Christianity. Christianity is he has done what he do for you already.

[31:35] You come in to do for him. And then you see, you open up the treasures of what he has done and he has secured and attained for you. Which is already there. His inheritance is called the inheritance of the saints.

[31:48] It's there. That's why I say I commend you to God and to the power of his word which is able to give you an inheritance among the, there is inheritance among the saints. You get your portion. That's Acts chapter 20 verse 32.

[31:59] So it's very important to understand that we have to, it says, do all things without complaining and disputing. Do all things.

[32:11] He's talking to church. Before he said that. Sometimes you don't, it's good to read the Bible in context. It is so beautiful. He says that, for it's God who is awake in us, both to do and to will.

[32:25] Before he said that, he said, work out your own salvation with fear and therefore with my beloved. Note that word. I'll comment later somewhere else. My beloved. My beloved. As you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

[32:43] Your salvation has been working. Now work it out. With a lot of seriousness and care. Your church life must be approached with seriousness and trembling. Care. Fear for God. Because you don't, you're running out of time.

[32:55] So work out your salvation with fear and trembling. He says that, for it, why? Because God is actually working in you. It is God who is working in you to produce the willing and the doing of his pleasure. So work it out.

[33:06] God is at work in you. So work it out. He's working in you, but work it out. Work it out. Then he says that, how do you work it out? What's your work? Do all things without complaining. Do it. Do it.

[33:17] You are in the choir. Stop complaining and do it. You are a cell leader. Stop complaining and do it. You are a cell host. Stop complaining and just use hospitality. It's a privilege.

[33:29] It's a privilege to have people come to your home and study the Bible. That home is blessed. It's a privilege. It's a big privilege. I feel sorry for someone who said, no, no. The children come to my house again.

[33:41] I feel sorry for you. You drive God, his people, God and his people out of your home. It's common in the Bible. They're made from home to home. But use it. Use hospitality. Use what you've got.

[33:51] Sometimes use your car. Pack equipment. Where the church packs equipment or something. It's a small church. Use your car. Serve it. Go early. Set up equipment. Go early. Clean the place.

[34:02] Do some. Use your abilities. Your energies. Where possible. Because sometimes maybe the nature of your work, you are not able to make different things. But where possible. Where possible.

[34:14] Use hospitality. And so, back to my text. Because time is out. We are running out of time. Number one, favorite prayer. Number two, persistent love. Number three, use hospitality.

[34:26] And then number four, ministry. Let's look at the text. Let's go back to the text again. Verse 10 says, as every man has received the gift. This is so important.

[34:37] Every man. What is the meaning of every man? Yeah. That's a good one. Every man there is not every human being. This is within the context of the church.

[34:48] So, every person in church or in Christ. Once you come into Christ, what does that mean? You have a gift. In fact, I think in 1 Corinthians also.

[35:00] In Corinthians it says that each man has his own proper gift. Everyone has his own proper gift. You have your own proper gift.

[35:12] Everyone has his own proper. So, we have your own gift. Everyone has his own proper gift. So, back to the text. 1 Corinthians 7.

[35:22] For I would that all men were as I am. But everyone has his own proper gifts of God. Everyone. We are all gifts.

[35:33] Once you come into Christ, you have your own proper gift. Use your gift to serve the church. To build the church. And that's what God will judge you on. So, everyone has God.

[35:45] That's a nice scripture. 1 Corinthians 7. Don't forget it. Now, coming back to our text. It says that, verse 10. Every man has received. As every man has received the gift.

[35:58] The gift. It's the gift. No, it's the gift. All right. As every man has received the gift. This is so important. He used the word even so. Even so.

[36:09] Minister. Now, that means that everyone is a minister. Oh, wow. Everyone is there. So, you are Minister Leroy. You are Minister Jackie. You are Minister Rob.

[36:23] You are Minister John. Yeah. Everyone. What's a minister? A minister is someone who meets needs with service. Or he serves to meet needs with love.

[36:35] So, what's the meaning of ministry? Simply put. Ministry is meeting needs with love. Meeting needs. So, you are being given a gift. When you are born again, you can't say, I don't have anything to do for others.

[36:48] No. As soon as you are born again, you have something to do for others. To give. You have been given a gift. Everyone has a gift. And then you should use the gift as a minister.

[37:00] Okay. So, he said, we should use the gift. He said, even so, if you have used the gift, minister the same to, you see, to one and not to yourself.

[37:12] Years ago, I met a believer who told me, I just want God really to give me this special gift of seeing visions. Of seeing things.

[37:22] So that, you know, my neighbors, sometimes they are bad people, but I would just go and tell them. I would see things and I can report to the police. You know. That's thinking like Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

[37:34] See, and some people think the gift of God is for those kind of. You want the gift of God so that you can see who your husband has been talking to or who your brother.

[37:46] God will never give you the gift for that. He's giving you the gift rather to help your husband. To help your family. To help your brother and sister in Christ. That's why he'll give you the gift.

[37:57] So please. Sometimes, you know, it's natural. Sometimes you wish you were so powerful. You know, some of us, you see, when you are thinking of the gift of God, most of some people, that's at the back of your mind.

[38:08] You know, it's, oh, I want to God. I want the word of knowledge. I want the word of knowledge. So that when you get to the office, your boss, the plan, what they are planning, you can tell, you see, I know. I know what they are doing. I know.

[38:18] Jesus wasn't using it for himself to defend himself. He was using it to advance the course of God. So if it is not to serve others and to advance the course of God, it is not a gift from God.

[38:31] It is not the purpose of the, the purpose of God's gift in anybody. When you read Ephesians chapter 3, verse 2, it said that I pull a prisoner of Christ. If you have heard, if you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God, if you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God, that was given to me.

[38:47] New King James. Let's see how the New King James. That was given to me. For who? For who? The dispensation. Dispensation, the Greek word is oikonomia. It's stewardship. Okay?

[38:58] That same word. So if you see the stewardship of God, God's grace, a steward is like air hostess. The food that they serve is not for them. Okay? It's a steward. Like when you go to the restaurant and order the food, the one who is bringing, the waiter who is bringing the food, it's not his food.

[39:11] It's your food. You ordered it from the kitchen, they are bringing it. So a steward. A steward is someone who is holding, who has in his possession something that belongs to another. It's very important. So it says that if you have heard of the stewardship, the stewardship, that's the dispensation of God.

[39:27] Another word is administration. Administration, dispensation. Okay. What version? NIV. If you have heard about the administration of God's grace. So what do you do with, what I'm doing?

[39:37] Do you know what I'm doing? I'm administering God's grace. And I administer Christ. I'm serving. It's stewardship. What I'm doing is stewardship. So if I don't do it, necessity is laid on me. Uh-huh.

[39:48] What version? New American Standard Version. It said, indeed, if you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God's grace that was given to me. That is why 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16, it says that if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of.

[40:01] For necessity, it said, for if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of. Necessity is laid on me. Yes, war is me if I preach. Why am I warped if you don't serve? You, war is you if you don't do what God has called you to do for the church.

[40:13] Ah! It was on this premise I said that. So don't be doing things for church because you are just demanding money. Because war is you. Look at the next verse, verse 17. It said, when I do it, I do it without a charge.

[40:26] It said, for if I do it willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will, I have been entrusted with, you see, with a stewardship. With a stewardship.

[40:38] It has been entrusted in anything that is entrusted to you. That means it's not yours. You are going to give account for it. And every one of us has been entrusted. As soon as you get born again, you have been entrusted with stewardship.

[40:50] God does not reward membership. God only rewards stewardship. He said, if I do it willingly, I have a reward. God rewards stewardship.

[41:00] God rewards stewardship. Not membership. Can I say that again? God rewards stewardship. Not membership. Church brother. Church sister. God only rewards stewardship.

[41:12] He does not reward membership. God rewards stewardship. He does not reward membership. And time is running out, boy. Time is running out, sis.

[41:23] Get busy and use your stewardship to the glory of God. Because God rewards stewardship, not membership. God rewards stewardship.

[41:34] Church member. God rewards stewardship, not membership. God rewards stewardship, not membership. He said that if I do it willingly, I have a reward.

[41:49] But if I am not even happy to do it, necessity is that I have been entrusted with stewardship. Then he goes on to say, necessity is laid on me.

[42:01] Necessity is necessary. Look at the next verse, verse 18. He says that, for what is my wrong day? Then I preach the gospel. I present the gospel of Christ.

[42:12] We die in charge. This is where I start. Wait, why are you charging to do God's work? It's not stewardship. Why are you charging? Why are you charging?

[42:22] If you start putting monetary value on your, the work, the service to God's people, you will end up abusing your authority in the gospel. Yeah.

[42:34] Yeah. Why don't you do it for God and let God pay you back? Because God says, any employer who does not pay his workers, the wages are crying against him.

[42:46] God will say that, and him not pay those who are working for him. So let's go back to the text. Because time is not on our side. He says that anyone, every gift you have received, use the gift to minister to one another.

[43:02] And I was showing 1 Corinthians 3, verse 2. He says that if you have heard about the dispensation, the stewardship, the economia, the dispensation, the stewardship, the economia, the administration of the grace of God, which was given to me for you, not for him myself.

[43:19] This pastor, what this pastor is doing, I told, he said, I shouldn't boast. I'm not doing anything except, it has actually been entrusted to me to be doing what I'm doing. He says that, thanks be to God.

[43:32] He said, Paul said, but Christ counted me worthy or counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry. 1 Timothy 1, verse 12 and 13. He said, Christ counted me faithful.

[43:44] He counted me faithful. And he put me like that. I thank Christ our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry. In other words, putting me into service.

[43:57] God has put you into service. Don't work yourself out of service because you are not happy with something or it's too inconvenient. All right. So he said back to this that every man, as every man has received a gift, even so minister the same one to another.

[44:11] As good, see the steward has appeared there. As good steward of the man. What are you steward of? The manifold is the grace of God. You are actually a steward. What? Pastor, I never knew. Yes, you are.

[44:22] Anytime you are seven, it's grace. And you use the word the manifold grace. Manifold means many-sided. Many-sided. The grace of God is manifold. It appears through somebody maybe showing up as singing.

[44:37] Another person showing up as playing the keyboard. Another person showing up as drama. Another person showing up as the one who cleans the auditorium. Another person showing up as the one who is always out looking for the souls that have been won and to encourage them.

[44:50] Another person as a pastor. Another person. So it manifests. Even though we can all do most of these things together, the grace is manifold. So that same grace on your life. Don't say that's only my only singing and finish.

[45:01] No, it's a manifold grace. You will finish singing and even help arrange the chairs too. Because you can do it. It's a manifold grace. You will finish singing and help the children's service. You will finish the children's service and help the usher.

[45:13] You will finish and help the outreach. It's manifold. It's not only one thing you can do for God. The grace is manifold. Manifold. It shows up in different ways in other people.

[45:26] And so I don't expect... Watch this. Let me calm down. I don't expect everybody to preach like me. Because it must also... It will be good preaching or powerful teaching.

[45:37] But it doesn't have to be accompanied necessarily with jumping. We are... The grace is manifold. It's different sided. Complicated grace. It says...

[45:47] Actually, let me finish this now. It said... As everyone... Whatever you are doing... We should... As every man has received the gift... Even minister the same to one another...

[45:59] As good stewards of the... You are a good steward. Hallelujah. Good steward. Faithful steward. Well done. That good and faithful servant. You remember? Well done. Matthew 25, 2021.

[46:09] Well done. Good and faithful. Good. And it's there. Well done. That good. So it said... If anyone is ministering... Let him minister as a good steward... Of the manifold grace of God. Hallelujah. And look at the verse 11.

[46:21] Good... Sorry. Yeah. As manifold grace of God. Verse 11 says that... And if any man speak... Let him speak as of the oracles. Oracles of God is like... The pure...

[46:32] The main word of God. God is the one who is actually giving those ways. So as I'm speaking... I should speak as... Not as though... I'm the intelligent one. Ha ha. No. I should speak as though...

[46:44] I'm the one who has been graced... And given the opportunity... To speak the words of God. He said... As the oracles of God... In Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12... He said... By now... When you ought to teach...

[46:55] You need that someone should teach you again... The basic principles... Or the first principles... Of the oracles of God. Oracles of God. Oracles of God. In Romans chapter 3 verse 2...

[47:07] It talks about... They are committed to them... The oracles of God... It was committed to the Jews... The oracles... The pure word... The word... The God's word... In Acts chapter 7 verse 38...

[47:20] It talks about... He received the oracles of God... From the hands of angels... Yeah... The one who... And with our fathers... And the one who received... The living oracles...

[47:30] So he said... When you preach... If you are speaking... It doesn't have to... You need to be preaching... Once you are speaking to God's people... Once you are... You get an opportunity... To speak on God's behalf... You have to speak like someone...

[47:40] Who is handling the oracles of God... But not... You are speaking to spy somebody... Or for... For political purposes... For personal... Personal...

[47:51] Vendetta... That is why it's wrong... To use the puppet as a pastor... To attack people... Who have personal issues with you... You... The only thing we are allowed to attack...

[48:02] Is attack wrong doctrines... And attack... Wolves... We are coming with wrong doctrines... To spoil the work of God... So doctrinal... Doctrinal attacks... We have to teach the word of God...

[48:12] To knock some things out... But not necessarily... Using the puppet... For your own political gains... On your own... Because you have to speak... As of the oracles of God...

[48:23] Pastor... If anyone speaks... Let him speak... As of the... Oracles of God... Oracles of God... If any man minister... Let him do it... As the ability that God gives...

[48:34] It's God who gives us... The ability to do anything... It's not you... Don't say... I've gone to school... I've trained... And trained... So I have to be paid... For what I'm doing... God gives you the ability... To able to minister... To his people...

[48:44] It's God who gives us... The ability... So do it like God... The ability that God... Has given... Why? So that in all things... God... So that God... In all things...

[48:54] May be glorified... Through Christ Jesus... You see... That when I'm praying... I said... Let your people be edified... And let the church be... Edified... And let your name be glorified...

[49:06] Everything we are doing... The end result... Is that Christ will be glorified... Time is not on our side... Because time is not on our side... It says that... Number one... We have to engage...

[49:17] In fervent prayer... We have to be... Engage in permanent love... And we also have to... Offer hospitality... And then number four...

[49:29] We have to... We have to minister... As good stewards... Of God... Four things that we should do... Because time is not on our side... Number one... Pray...

[49:39] Number two... Love... Number three... Use hospitality... Number four... Minister... Why? So that in all things... So all these things... That...

[49:49] The ultimate purpose is that... God will be glorified... Through Christ Jesus... He said that... Verse 11 again... That God in all things... May be glorified... Through Christ Jesus...

[50:00] To whom be praise... And dominion... Forever... And ever... Then in the middle of his... Sentence... He says... Amen... God... That one is too powerful... I'll end on that...

[50:10] And then he said... I'll continue later... So if Peter ends on that... Then I think it's a good place... For me to also end... So I can continue... Thank you for listening to this message... By David Entry...

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[50:33] So you're always up to date... Be blessed... Lord bless you... And follow us... And Thursday... Thank you.