What Is The Economy Of God?

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[0:45] We pray you teach us your word. Reveal Jesus to us in the pages of scripture. To the glory of your name in Jesus' name, amen. Hallelujah. First Timothy chapter 1 verse 4.

[0:57] Amen. From verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.

[1:17] How did he become an apostle? By the commandment. By the commandment. The other times he said, Paul, an apostle, by the will of God. Now he says, by the commandment of God.

[1:32] All right. So, by the commandment of God, unto Timothy, my own son, in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[1:45] I asked, as I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some, that they teach no other doctrine.

[2:02] The reason why I left you in Ephesus, I want you to stay in Ephesus, is so that you would charge some, that they teach no other doctrine.

[2:20] All right. He said, charge some, that they teach no other doctrine, but a certain doctrine.

[2:34] So, the doctrines that I have left, the doctrines that I have given you, that is what must be adhered to. Stay in Ephesus so you can keep an eye there, so you charge people, don't teach other things.

[2:47] What are some of the other things? Chiefly among the other things is the Judaizers who want to teach about the law. This is what the law is saying. The law is saying this, the law, because they are so deep in law, in legalism, that when they come into Christ, they import their legalistic tendencies and approach to the things of God into Christ.

[3:13] So, I was sharing with the church yesterday in a prayer meeting that much of what is called church nowadays, there are different types of denominations or brandings.

[3:31] We have the Catholic Church, which stands by its own. Then we have the Protestants. Now, out of the Protestants, we have the, what we call the, the Protestants, we have the Evangelicals.

[3:54] Okay. And then just the Liberals. They are all, they are all for those churches. That is the standard mainstream churches like Methodist, Church of England, Methodist, Presbyterian, and all.

[4:06] They are very good churches. All right. They came out of, they decided not to be following the tradition of the Catholic Church. Okay. All right.

[4:17] So, let me not go with you, because some of you, it's too deep into you. You say, ah, you see, this is what I don't know. They, they, they, they, they attack. No, no, no one attacks any church. You say, just teach them that they teach no other doctrine. Yeah.

[4:28] That's what I'm talking about. That's what, that's what brought this. Because there are some other doctrines. Go, put it on the screen. Now, verse four says that, ah, ah, ah, ah, neither give heed to, to fables and endless genealogies.

[4:42] Some of the translations use myths. Yeah. All kinds of stories. You don't know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's coming from. And endless myths and endless genealogies.

[4:53] Okay. Give me King James back, please. Um, so neither give to fables and endless genealogies. This one gave back to this and this. Endless. And I believe that he was talking about these Judaizers from the Old Testament.

[5:07] This, you know, all full of traditions. And what do these genealogies and myths do? They minister questions. But genuine teaching is supposed to minister godly edifying, which is in faith.

[5:25] Right. So, godly edifying. Now, the reason why I said change from the ampli. Can you, can you, can you give me amplified, please?

[5:39] Technology of the godly edifying. Nor give, nor to give importance to or occupy themselves with legends, fables, myths, and endless genealogies, which foster and promote useless speculations and questionings, rather than acceptance in faith of, watch this, watch this.

[6:00] God's administration. Of what? God's administration. And divine trainings that is in faith. Let's all say God's administration. God's administration. That's actually, when it said godly edifying, the word translated edifying in King James, which is rendered, God's administration, is the oikodomaya.

[6:24] It is the word from which we get the English word economy.

[6:36] Economy. All right. So, the way you should actually read is, give me King James, please. The way you should actually read is, rather than godly, or God's economy.

[6:51] Right. So, the teaching in church is more supposed to bring to bear and to light the economy of God.

[7:04] Does that make sense? Yes. The economy of God. Economy. Oikodomaya. I spoke about it a few days.

[7:17] I want to talk about the economy of God, but it doesn't look like time to permit me. But let me attempt something, okay? The economy. The economy. The Greek word for economy is oikodomaya.

[7:30] In fact, actually, when you check the Wikipedia, and you go down, that word economy tells you it's made up of two words.

[7:41] Oikos and nomos. Oikos meaning household or house. And nomos meaning law.

[7:55] I tried to get it because I said, oh, this is an interesting reading. From the definition, the origin is Greek.

[8:07] The oikos and nomos. Nemein. Nemein, that's the Greek word, which is actually nomos. We get nomos from.

[8:18] Oikonomaya, which is house. Oikos is house. Nomain is manage or law. How many of you have heard the word nomos? Nomos.

[8:30] Nomos. I think. Deuteronomy has to do with nomos. Nomos is law. Okay, so antinomianism is lawlessness without law.

[8:44] And so nomos normally represents law. And so Deuteronomy is Deuteronomous, second law. Deuteronomy is second, the giving of the second law.

[8:56] So nomos, and when we talk about social norms. There are norms, social law, standards. Yes. All right, so oikos and nomos.

[9:08] Oikonomaya has to do with the household management, household law, household organization. It's very important for you to understand.

[9:19] It's very, very, very important. Yeah. So the, when it says that God's economy or God's household law, what exactly does he mean by economy?

[9:36] If I was trying to look for, yeah, I was trying to look for the meaning of economy. I just said, since I'm talking about this, let me, I just, and it was, the dictionary gave me some interesting meanings.

[9:55] But actually, the nomos is here. I just found the nomos, which is law or custom. All right, nomos means custom. So the dictionary definition of economy, amongst the others, is careful management of available resources.

[10:20] What's economy? The careful management of available resources. So you must have economy in your house. Household economy.

[10:30] You can't go and buy that flat screen TV because your wife says that, you know, we can't afford it. So you have to manage it well so that the children can have their shoes. Because children tend to have many shoes as they grow.

[10:47] Usually, wives tend to know that faster than husbands. If you have a wife who doesn't notice those things, it's very, it's a concern. Children go very fast.

[11:03] Sometimes, between the age of two and four or two and five, a lot has changed. They have several clothes, several shoes.

[11:16] And you bought a shoe for your child when he was three. And two years later, you say, I bought him a shoe. It just changed.

[11:29] Get ready to buy another winter coat next year. Or this year, actually. Because last year's own will be too small now. So, management of the, careful management of available resources.

[11:44] That is economy. So when we say someone is an economist, he's supposed to be able to look at available resources and manage it well. Okay, this can go here. This can go here. So that everything stays in a good balance.

[11:56] That's what an economist is supposed to do. So economy is not so much about how much money you have, but as to the management of the money that is available for everything.

[12:10] So when we talk about God's economy, God's household economy, in some translations, it is rendered God's administration.

[12:22] Like we saw, I think we saw in the amplifier, isn't it? Yes, God's administration. It's been interesting for you to know what this God's administration is.

[12:33] Now, there are times, there are quite a few places the Bible has used the word economy and it has been rendered slightly differently. So for instance, in Ephesians chapter 1, let's do some quick run through the scriptures on economy then probably I see where I can end and continue.

[12:52] Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10. All right, I'll show you where economy appears again. That is in the dispensation of the fullness of time, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both in heaven and which are on earth, even in him.

[13:14] Now, this word, dispensation. Dispensation is also another word. Give us, amplify, let's see how he puts it.

[13:29] Is it amplify? He planned for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ.

[13:47] Now, when we talk about the economy of God, it has to do with his plan. God's household management plan. The plan is over a certain period of time.

[14:02] Okay. And then in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 2. Look at Ephesians chapter 3 verse 2. See that word has appeared again. That word.

[14:14] Dispensation. All right. Let's read it from the screen. Let's go. If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, what which is given to you.

[14:24] One more time. If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, give it to me. Dispensation of the grace of God. See, I was having a chat with my pastor friend and I was so stirred up on the phone and I quoted the scripture.

[14:39] He laughed. He said, wow, this is powerful. He said, you are the ones who see the scriptures I just don't see. That's very funny. You know, there are some scriptures when you just move on from there.

[14:50] You understand scripture. Sometimes you just read it in the Bible. You just take it and just move on like that. And so you don't really notice it too much because it's kind of. This is one of it. When you are reading.

[15:00] Can you imagine you're reading your Bible and you are using King James? If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given to me, to you, what? You have to move on.

[15:14] You have to move on. Because you don't see why it says that, I mean, stopping the works of the enemy and dispensation of the grace of God. You move on. How does the NIV put it?

[15:29] Surely you have heard of the, ah, I see that word administration. Dispensation has been rendered. Administration of God's grace. That was given to me. Administration of God's grace.

[15:40] Dispensation. Joanna. Dispensation of God's grace. So administration of God's grace. Dispensation of God's grace. Same. Administration. Dispensation.

[15:52] Can we use a different translation? How does the? Good. Good. Good. The stewardship. Let's just shout stewardship. Stewardship. Shout it again. Stewardship.

[16:03] One more time. Stewardship. Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace. Ah. So the one in bracket is referring to the grace. This is a merited favor.

[16:15] The stewardship of God's grace. The dispensation of God's grace. The administration of God's grace. And all that word stewardship, administration, dispensation is the same Greek word.

[16:26] Economia. Economy. God's economy. Economy. So after listening to Remini of Economy, it sounds to me like similarly maybe the stewardship, the effective management and distribution of God's grace.

[16:44] What's God's grace? The wealth of God. The richness of God in our midst. God's plan from eternity past. That's where this whole thing is going.

[16:56] God has always had a plan. That is why he says that teach them. Warn them not to teach other things apart from the economy of God.

[17:08] Why don't we know about the economy of God? You can't be a Christian and not know about God's economy. You must know.

[17:19] Why are you a Christian? Why did God, you didn't come because he chose to come. God brought you in. What did he bring you in? For what reason? What is his plan? God has a plan. It has been planned out, laid out already.

[17:32] You are just a little bit of part of it somewhere. So when you come here, you have to find out what is this whole plan of God about. That's the economy of God. And he says that if you have heard, watch this.

[17:44] This is a very interesting point. He says, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, from verse 1. I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus to you Gentiles.

[17:58] Then he goes on. If you have heard of the dispensation of God's grace. Let's all say dispensation of God's grace. Dispensation of God's grace. Say it again.

[18:09] Dispensation of God's grace. What's the meaning of dispensation? Distribution. Distribution. Dispensing. Ah. The grace of God is dispensable.

[18:22] Is distribution. Distribution. Think about it. The grace of God. The dispensation of God's grace. The other word. Dispensation.

[18:33] Then the other word. Before we go to the stewardship, the other one. Administration. Administration. How it's been administered. Administration of what?

[18:46] God's grace. Ah. So God actually dispenses his grace. But remember economy. The house saw that careful management of available resources.

[18:57] Mm-hmm. Careful management of the available grace. Mm-hmm. On the house. Some people it must go. Okay. You must receive this level. This. You must receive this. Okay. Looking at your background and the work you are doing.

[19:09] And the heart for God. Okay. It allows. Okay. This. And who? It's interesting. Ah. The administration of God's grace which was given to who? To me. For you. Oh.

[19:20] The prophet. When you jump on the plane. Mm-hmm. The air hostess comes. Or the flight attendants come. And they bring food.

[19:33] They are not doing you a favor. At all. If you come from certain parts of the world. You think they are doing you a favor.

[19:43] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But they are not. They are not doing you a favor. They are just stewards. Yes. What are they called?

[19:54] Stewards. Stewards. Airby. A Ja. Are they here? What a nurse were supposed to do? A nurse was supposed to do?

[20:05] Dispers. Do what? Dispers. Dispers. So you can call it. They have been giving stewardship. Ah. For the dispens. and their job is for dispensation of your foot on the flight.

[20:20] But me, my job is dispensation of the grace. Dispensation of grace given to me, not for me to keep.

[20:35] No, for you. So if you don't come, you have got your grace. You have to come for it. I've got your grace. I've got your grace. I've got your grace.

[20:46] I've got your grace. I've got your grace. Don't wait for emergency before you start coming. No, the GP is there. Don't let this pain develop into a cancer that you have been rushed to hospital or coma.

[20:59] No, you should have gone to the GP a long time ago when you started feeling that issue. Because the GP is there. The government has put the GP there for you. Even if you are on benefits and you need medication, you go to the pharmacy or dispensation.

[21:13] They will give you something. He said, so when you go on the plane, the food they give you, or depending on what kind of train you are traveling, first class, Eurostar, first class, they bring you food.

[21:29] They serve you some, sometimes snacks. When I went to Scotland, they brought snacks. They didn't bring food. I was very disappointed. On the train. On the train. So, so, they are stewards.

[21:43] Right. Who am I? A steward. Do you know that if you assault a steward on the flight, it's not they who defend themselves. The airline will see you.

[21:55] That's it. Wow. A steward. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. If a steward is not behaving well, you can't discipline a steward.

[22:07] Right. You can't discipline somebody's employee. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. Why are you busy trying to butcher a pastor? Did you call him?

[22:17] He didn't call him. Ask again. Wow. Did you call him? I was a friend. Don't you call him? Because his boss will not take it lightly. No, no, no.

[22:28] Because they said, in fact, you go to some place, I think, normally where you take tickets, and they always put a notice there. Any assault against our staff at the train stations will prosecute anyone who assaults any of, either verbally or physically, will prosecute you heavily.

[22:46] Who? Not the staff. The company that I employ him. Because he's at the ticket booth just to dispense tickets. The ticket's not for him. But he's doing a job.

[22:59] He's management. It's called oikonomia. Ah. Paul said, if you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me for you.

[23:13] So, you guys, when, go, I don't know how many of you have been on Dole before.

[23:27] Dole. Dole. Oh. Benefit. Benefit, sorry. Sorry, sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Benefit. You know, do you go to the private sector to go and collect it?

[23:38] No, no, no, no. Or the, the, the, uh, uh, uh, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Do you go to? No. Works and Pensions. Works and Pensions. Oh, Works and Pensions Minister to go and collect it.

[23:49] No, where do you go and collect it from? What's up? You go to designated agents. So, if, you know, sometimes when you go to the hospital for a scan or a checkup or blood test or something, the hospital, they tell you that we'll send the result to who?

[24:09] Your GP. Because he's the one, the health representative, health official assigned to your care. Yeah. They don't deal with you. They deal with your GP and your GP deals with you.

[24:21] Some of the, uh, references, you must be referred by your GP. Yeah. You keep fighting him. Yeah. You understand what I'm saying?

[24:37] So, spiritually, when God has grace to dispense to you, he doesn't bring it directly to you. Mm. Wow. Wow. Wow. That's amazing.

[24:48] Okay. You always, we need a divine agent. Yeah. You do. That's why Jesus said, I wanted to gather your family, your children, your household, but you stoned the prophets and those who are sent to you.

[25:01] Matthew chapter, Matthew chapter 23, verse 37. He said, you, you, you killed the prophets. Matthew 23, 37. He said, you killed the prophets who are sent to you. 37, 38, 39.

[25:13] Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Thou that killeth the prophets and stoweth them which are sent unto thee. How I often would, how I, how I often, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as the hen gathered the chickens and the hair wings and you will not.

[25:36] Why? Because you are killing the prophets I'm going to use. He said, you killed, you stoned the ones that are sent to you. They didn't come in your name but they were sent. You stoned them.

[25:46] So, look at the next verse. That's very scary. Let's already add together. Behold, the power of the flesh and the flesh and the flesh and the flesh this is serious. How does the Amplify put this one?

[25:57] This is serious. Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate, abandoned and left destitute of God's help. Why? Because you stoned the one God sent to bring the, God is, it's not a person, God is going to use them to bring you help.

[26:14] Can you imagine, say, a certain man was going to, one day he's traveling to Damascus. He was traveling to Damascus to go and kill people or arrest people and God appeared to him.

[26:24] Don't kill the disciples. Don't frustrate them. God appeared to him and he said, who are you? He said, I'm Jesus, you are fighting me. He said, oh no, please, please, what do you want me to do? He said, you want me to tell you? Go to Damascus, they will tell you what to do.

[26:37] Go to church. I've got authorized dealers. They will tell you. Listen, no, no, Alan, God, it's in Acts chapter nine. Listen, God himself appeared to him.

[26:49] Jesus, hey, who are you? Acts chapter nine from verse five. And he fell on the floor. And he said, God, he said, why do you persecut? Go to nine, verse five. Verse five. And he said, who are you, Lord? And Jesus said, I am Jesus, who you are persecuting, you see what you are doing, it's bad.

[27:02] You can't kick against me. Okay. Then he said, what do you want me? Verse six, he said, trembling. I said, Lord, what do you, what would you have me to do? What did he say? Arise. Arise.

[27:13] Go into the city and he shall be told thee what to do. But you should tell me now. No, I've got people there. I've got agents there. So when he got there, verse 11, the Bible said that God came to a prophet, one of the disciples, not a prophet, disciple, verse 11.

[27:28] And there was a certain disciple in Damascus named Aranias. He said unto him in a vision, Aranias, he said, here I am. He said, go, go to the street called Strait. The Lord said, go. It's a street called Strait, which is called Strait, and inquire of a man called Saul.

[27:40] He's there, he's praying. Go and pray for him. So when he went, when he got into the house, look at verse 16. When he got into the house, verse 16, when he got into the house, he said, no, go to the verse 15, sorry.

[27:54] He said, but the Lord said unto him, go for our show. Okay. Go to verse 17 then. And then Aranias went his way and entered into the house and put his hands on brother Saul, his hands on him, said, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Jesus, who, you see, the Lord Jesus, who appeared, that appeared unto thee, in the way as you were coming, as thou comest, has sent me, that thou may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

[28:21] He should have given you your sight himself. He should have made you fill the Holy Ghost himself. He said, God doesn't work like that. He works with authorized agents. I don't know how many of you have called.

[28:33] I don't know how many of you have tried to call, call manufacturers before. Most manufacturers, unless, I don't know how Africa operates, but here, because of, we buy a lot of things.

[28:44] Manufacturers don't deal with you. You see their website, everything is displayed. They don't display prices. They don't deal. And then, there's, the top, top, and they don't, the cheap, and if they display prices, you call them, they will tell, or some of them, even Apple, some of them, okay, Apple down, they have a retail list.

[29:01] They are a retail branch, retail section. But, they will show you where you can, which shops you can go from. They will show you which are the authorized dealers. If you go to Mercedes Benz, their showroom, you can't buy the car from their showroom.

[29:15] You have to, no, sorry, on their website, you have to go to an authorized dealer. Or the website of authorized dealers. So, go to, he said, he's like a manufacturer. And, he only deals with agents.

[29:29] His agents will deal with you. Wow. Some of you are living in homes. You don't know who the landlord is. Because, we manage by estate agents.

[29:42] You don't need to know the landlord. As long as the agent is effective and you comply with the agents, you will live peacefully. May it suffice for me to announce to you that we are authorized dealers of the divine mandates.

[30:04] Dispensing grace. Dispensing grace. And, what do we dispense? Grace. Look at chapter 3, verse 9 of Ephesians. Chapter 3, verse 9, Ephesians.

[30:16] You will not miss your grace. Amen. That's why I don't see why you should suffer unnecessary mishaps when you have a pastor. Okay, let me, some people have a pastor but they are not being pastored.

[30:31] Some people go to church like the way they would go to the supermarket thinking they are doing the church a favor. No. GPs never beg you to come. You will know when to go.

[30:45] That's right. All right. What did I quote? Ephesians chapter 3, verse 9. Okay. What does it say? And to lay for the sea.

[30:59] Let's not read from the screen. Let's go. As we may all that see what does it perish from this which is the beginning of the world. As we're heeding God and all that.

[31:09] All right. So, he said, look at verse 8 just to make it a bit more understandable. Verse 8 said, unto me, okay, this Paul talking, unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace, grace given, that I should preach among the, you preach by grace, oh?

[31:26] Yes. You preach by grace. Don't tell me I'm a very good speaker so I can preach. You'll kill people. He said, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

[31:38] Not unreachable searches. Unsearchable riches of Christ. Watch this. What am I preaching? The unsearchable riches of Christ. You can't exhaust it.

[31:48] It's deep. These are the things that I've been giving grace to preach. Now go to the next verse. And this is his manifesto. His assignment in life.

[31:59] To preach and to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery. What is this fellowship of the mystery? Amplified.

[32:14] And to enlighten all men and make plain to them what is the plan? Say plan. Plan. Fellowship of the mystery.

[32:24] We call it plan. Regarding the Gentiles and providing for the salvation of all men. Of the mystery. So instead of using fellowship here is use the plan.

[32:39] NIV. And to make and to make plain to every mundane administration of this mystery.

[32:52] The plan. Fellowship administration. Okay. Very interesting word. Is it New King James does it use the same word? Let's say New King James. What is the New King James uses the same word?

[33:06] New America Do you have New American standard version? New American standard version? Okay. So the New American standard version uses the dispensation of the mystery.

[33:19] Is it not the same dispensation? That word is the same as the economy or economia. The economia can be translated fellowship. Can be translated stewardship.

[33:31] Administration and then what? Dispensation. Dispensation. Let's try it again. Can be translated what? Stewardship. Stewardship. Administration.

[33:43] Dispensation. Dispensation. And what? And fellowship. Okay. S-A-D-F.

[33:55] S. Stewardship. Administration. Dispensation. Fellowship. Stewardship. Administration. Dispensation. Fellowship. It's all the economy.

[34:06] And actually when we say that economy when we say that he's left to our fellowship when we say that when we talk about God's economy it's actually God's watch this God's household administration.

[34:25] So what does that mean? I'm going to tell you what the plan is okay? Because God has a plan. What is this plan? You think it's to make you get a husband? Oh no. No, that's not the plan of God.

[34:38] It's all covered and not the plan. But that's not the plan of God. What's the plan of God? For you to get some money in your account? No, that's not the plan of God. It's called the eternal plan of God.

[34:53] He planned it before you were born. He planned it before you were born. That's what the economy of God. We have to find out what is this God's economy?

[35:04] What is God's economy? And it's called the household economy. Household. I'm losing a lot of people. People have started sleeping on me now.

[35:16] It's like what? Sunday morning. economy. Economy. Economy. Stewardship. Stewardship. What is this?

[35:37] It means when we talk about God's economy, we mean God's household law. household administration.

[35:50] I like this other word. Household management. I think so long as I'm concerned, to the best of my knowledge, Auntie Justin has quite a sizable family.

[36:01] Am I right? seven plus one, six. Yeah. And then your husband, seven, and yourself, eight. It's a large house.

[36:11] And they are not children. So you can imagine when it's time to go to church bathroom management. government. So in a house like that, even your house with four people, everything must be planned well.

[36:26] When my wife is cooking, if I like a lot, let's say I like a lot of hot sauce, and one of my children doesn't like it, my wife must factor that.

[36:38] So when we buy a lot of sauce, the food, you have to do it such a way that you can separate some before you add some, you know, and all that. That's management. So that everyone will eat and feel haaa.

[36:52] Effective management of a household. Now when we talk about household here, we are not talking about a small flat. When we talk about a household in those days, like a Buckingham Palace, large houses which have all kinds of servants, all kinds of stewards, and all that.

[37:14] And the master who oversees everything, makes provision, and the stewards make sure that these ones are getting their own, the horses are eating, the dogs are eating, the gardener is eating, or is getting the tools for the gardening.

[37:29] Everything is being managed well, and the house keeps flowing, everything goes well. Now, that is what we call a household management.

[37:39] How many of you know that God has got a house? Yes. Household. God's household administration, God's household plan, household management, and then household government.

[37:56] Actually, that's what our government is supposed to do. Making sure manage, that's why the one in charge of the finance is such an important person in every nation must work directly, closely, closely with the senior most person.

[38:16] If the president or the prime minister, the one who manages the economy, must work closely with them. So, most elections are about economy.

[38:29] Because that's why you vote, because how can this thing benefit me? How can the household management, the management of the national wealth, how can it make sure that I'm getting a good job, I'm eating well, I'm driving a nice car, my children's school are fine, my health issues are covered.

[38:44] That is what voting usually tends to be about. So, all this, there are too many immigrants coming. Why are people making noise? Because it's going to affect the resources. So, we need an effective economic system to handle, manage the resources very well, and we need someone who will be at the borders to say, no, we don't have too much space for people like you, because it's coming to put strain on our resources.

[39:08] That's what actually the voting is about. The one who will make sure that there's food on your table and there's money in your pocket. So, an effective politician will make sure that he appeals to your pocket, appeals to your standard of living.

[39:25] That's why they always talk about jobs. A lot of you are creating jobs, you are creating, building more homes. managing the wealth for the people. God has a household.

[39:39] The reason why, hey, now I'm getting into that thing. The reason why God, God, you and I, is that he has, he's always had an eternal desire.

[39:57] eternal desire, which is, which plays out based on his eternal economy.

[40:08] What is his eternal desire? God from eternity has desired to have a house. For that reason, economy.

[40:21] And so, there was a young man, young man, young man in the Bible. Jesus, I feel like preaching. There was a young man in the Bible who believed God for blessing. Every time you meet him, he said, have you got blessing for me? No blessing.

[40:32] Have you got blessing? What opportunity have you got? He's a blessing opportunist. He's a grandson of Abraham. He got blessing.

[40:42] He told his brother, let's do a deal so I can get the blessing that comes to you as a child, as a first child, so I can get the blessing. His brother said, no problem. So, his mother, when his father was about to die to pass on the blessing, with the mother, they connived.

[40:59] The mother helped him to go and steal the blessing. The one who blessed you and it works, guess what? He could have cursed you too and it works. so he risked being cursed just to get the blessing and it works for him because God has always responded to people who have a desire for him.

[41:21] So, if you have a desire for him, even if you make a mistake in your pursuit of him, God will blind you, he doesn't look at the mistake, he rewards your pursuit of him.

[41:34] If you are going to church, going to church, going to church, so much that you made a mistake and lost your job because there was a time your boss was waiting for you and the traffic was bad and because of church, you lost your job.

[41:48] It doesn't matter. Maybe you made a certain mistake, you took a wrong turning, but guess what? God will react to your pursuit. Will react to your pursuit. As you grow, you become wiser.

[42:01] As you grow, you become wiser. Certain things that didn't get done, responsibilities that were abdicated or shirked because of your pursuit of God.

[42:12] As you grow, you realize, maybe I should have done that. I should have maybe helped my children with their homework a bit more. I should have done that. Later on, you realize these things. However, because of your pursuit of God, the mistake will not correct itself, but God has a way of blessing you because of the pursuit so much that the mistake can be dwarfed by the blessing.

[42:29] if it is a genuine, not a stop-on mistake, but a genuine mistake out of a genuine pursuit. So I better make mistakes pursuing God than not make mistakes not pursuing God.

[42:49] If the reason why you are breaking up with your boyfriend is because you really want to pursue God and you didn't know he was going to become the next president or prime minister, listen, it is okay.

[43:03] It is okay. God has a way of rewarding you that after his presidency and his left, suddenly all your children, two of your children will become top government ministers.

[43:14] You have a wonderful marriage. At the time his kidney issues are failing, your husband is breaking through. Everything is fine with you. You won't see that you missed an opportunity because you left that opportunity because of your patience of God.

[43:30] So Jacob loved the blessing so much he would do everything for the blessing. Say, Jacob. And once upon a time he went and stole the blessing as it were.

[43:40] He went and tricked his father and said, bless me, bless me, bless me, bless me, I'm Esau, Esau. And the father ate the food. He gave his father the food that he liked.

[43:52] I did not bring for the food, he wouldn't have gotten the blessing. But there is something about a blessing career, grace career, heart being pleased. When someone who carries grace, heart is touched, it's good for you.

[44:06] That's why Jesus said, if you give a cup of water to a prophet, you get a prophet's reward. You don't need the prophet to pray for you to get his reward. Honor the prophet, the reward will find you.

[44:23] So, he gave his father the meal, and his father ate the meal. He said, bring me food to eat such as I love.

[44:35] Yesterday, I read the scripture in the Hebrew chapter 13 verse 17. He said, obey the people, just Bible talking, okay, about church people. He said, obey those who have rule over you, and be submissive to them.

[44:51] When you come to church, no one can tell you what you do. You are aborting this message of grace towards you. He said, obey those who have rule over you, and be submissive.

[45:04] Submissive. Why? For they watch over your, hey, human beings. God said, they watch over your souls, as those who must give account. Watch this.

[45:14] Let them do so with how? Please, it is a blessing for you if your pastor is happy to pastor you. It's just a blessing. If your pastor feels always careful about you, afraid of you, and you are a trouble cause for him, Bible says that let them do so with joy and not with grief.

[45:34] Don't let your pastor feel very hurt, sorryful about you. And say, oh, this guy, is that what he did?

[45:44] I was trying to advise him, what he said. Why is that? Don't let him do it with joy, not with grief.

[45:54] Why? That will not be, that will be unprofitable for you. he's not believe. So why are you in church anyway then? If you don't believe what the scriptures say, you're wasting your time in church.

[46:13] It's too clear and obvious. In our stubborn, human beings are naturally stubborn. because psychologists will tell you that some of the early language of children is no, two years old.

[46:31] No, no, no. It's a reflection of stubbornness. No, no, no. Johnny, sit down. No, no. I tell my children didn't go down too much.

[46:42] Hey, what is nonsense? Who told you to? It's not normal to be just, no, no. And some of the parents, they like it so much. Johnny, sit down. Help the child not grow in rebellion.

[47:03] God, the reason why people end up in prison, this is one of the reasons. The reason why people can't stay married is rebellion. The husband can't be submissive to the wife, the wife can't.

[47:13] Yesterday I said, some people want to be wives, but you don't have any element of submission in you. It's not a wife, you want to be a partner. The definition of a wife is someone who can be submissive.

[47:26] All you know is makeup and do up. Hairstyles, all kinds of stuff. Women are wives. Yes, yeah. And you like Michelle Obama, women empowerment, career advancement, yes, freedom.

[47:44] You can't even be a wife. All right, before I lose some feminists, let's move. So, so, so, so, time is up.

[48:02] So, he said, do it so that they do it in joy. So, if the man of God has joy in his heart and begin to bless you, there are some people in the church, when I see them, my heart is pleased.

[48:14] many of you here. Some, some are average. I just look at them, hello, how are you? It's nice to see you. Praise God, praise God.

[48:26] Others, if somebody ask me, what are some of your problems? Dispers. Dispers.

[48:41] It's true. It's true. All right, so, watch this. So, Jacob, Jacob, Jacob gave the food and he was blessed and his brother said, hey, you tricked me and got my blessing, I'm going to kill you.

[48:56] The mother said, run out of home, go to my brother, he's called Laban, travel, go. So, on his way, he was going, there's journey, as he was going, one day he was so tired, on his way, going, he was so tired and it's night, so he had to sleep, so he found a stone, say a stone, saw a stone and he used it as a pillow.

[49:22] What was pillow supposed to signify? Rest, rest. Remember, he said, come on to me, all ye, Jesus, first of all, starts as your rest.

[49:35] So, he used the pillow as his rest. He was resting. Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28. He was resting. Say resting. Sleeping.

[49:46] And then, and then, and then, he had a dream. Who are we talking about? What was very unique about Jacob? What?

[49:59] He desired the blessing so much. That's his uniqueness. And so, he had a dream. Let's start from, okay, let's go. Then, he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, whose top reached the heavens.

[50:14] And there, the angels of God were ascending and descending on the ladder. What kind of dream is this? Is that all a dream? Go on, verse 13. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, the Lord was standing at the top of the ladder and said, I am the Lord, God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac.

[50:36] And the land on which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants. Go to the next verse. Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.

[50:51] And in you and in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I just think, this person is talking about the God, the Lord is talking about blessing. Is this a dream? Say a dream.

[51:02] Go to the next verse. Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.

[51:17] So what happened? Verse 16, he woke up, he woke up, then Jacob woke up from his sleep. Tell someone, wake up from your sleep. Wake up from your sleep. Because the revival has already started.

[51:30] Then, watch this, Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, surely, surely, sorry, surely, the Lord was in this place and I did not know it. This place I slept, God is here.

[51:42] It was such an encounter, life-changing encounter. This guy, this guy had a vision, said God is here and I did not know it. So what is he supposed to do? Look at what it is.

[51:53] Then, he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place where I laid my head. This is none other but house of God and this is the gate of heaven.

[52:10] Watch this, watch this, I might have. He said, the house of God. But he never lived in a house. I told you some time ago, he never lived in a house.

[52:21] His father never lived in a house. His grandfather never lived in a house and they only lived in tents. Why didn't he even say the tents of God? And then number two, what makes him think God has got a house?

[52:34] Because, think about it, would you ever say the house of a cloud? Cloud has not got a house, cloud is there. So why would you say this, a house of something that is intangible?

[52:48] Joe, are you getting it? Something that is intangible, something that is ethereal. A house of God? Where did he get this concept of house from? And then what did you get the concept that God must somewhere have a house?

[53:08] Did that tell you the economy of God? Didn't that tell you God's interest from Genesis from the beginning was to have a house?

[53:19] This guy, because of his heart disposition, when he woke up, he was dreaming, but when he woke up, he had a revelation. It's a house. It's a house of God.

[53:31] Must God have, Abraham, I bet you Abraham never knew about God's house. Isaac never knew about God's house, but Jacob got to know. Abraham never pursued a blessing, the blessing came to him.

[53:43] Abraham, the blessing came to him. And guess what? We never saw in the Bible Abraham blessing anybody. Isaac never pursued a blessing, it came to him.

[53:54] And we only saw him blessing once in the Bible and that one even blessed wrongly. Blessed the wrong person. But Jacob, Jacob, read the last stages of his life, he actually blessed Pharaoh.

[54:09] He blessed the world. He said, he blessed people. And then his 12 sons, when he met Joseph's children, he blessed them from a monastery. And then his 12 sons, before he died, he said, I can't die because I'm a blesser.

[54:20] I bless people. I can't die. I can't die. The Bible said, he strengthened himself. Genesis chapter 48 or 49. He strengthened himself. He strengthened himself. And he sat down and he called his sons, said, come and let me tell you what's happening.

[54:31] And he spoke a blessing about their lives. Jacob. Now watch this. Jacob had a dream and he saw an interaction going on. Then he woke up and he decides by revelation that this is the house of God.

[54:45] Now if you were God, wouldn't that cut so deep into your heart? Because, Minister Johnson, one of the main reasons for creation is that God has always wanted a house.

[55:00] That is what is called, remember, God's household. He wants a house through which so what does the house of God consist of?

[55:11] I'll show you in a minute. Are you interested in knowing? But can we finish this man's text? Then I can show you. I just want to draw attention to you at least have to know, have an idea about God's plan, God's intention.

[55:23] Now we can develop it later. Now look at it, the same text, verse 18. And look at what he did, verse 18. Then Jacob arose early in the morning and took the stone he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, instead of a pillow.

[55:41] Now he said you are not going to be a pillow, you are a pillar. definitely there must be pillars in God's house. May God make you one of those pillars.

[55:57] Because in 1 Kings chapter 7 verse 21, the Bible talks about the pillars in God's house. I think it talks about two pillars. Then that's the temple Solomon built.

[56:10] and he set up two pillars by the vestibule of the temple. Let's leave that. He set up two pillars. But how about, I saw something in Galatians chapter 2 verse 9.

[56:25] That's very interesting. Look at this text. Look at Galatians 2 9. Let's go. 2, 2, 2, 9. Yes, let's go. And I praise. And save us.

[56:35] And John. We sing with the best to see you. James. Cephas and John. They are actually pillars in the body of Christ.

[56:47] Oh, so God actually has intention of pillars. Maybe one day I will show you the significance of pillars. The pillars. But, but, but, let's, God move up, we've got my time.

[57:00] The, the, the pillow, his pillow, the stone is used as a pillow, he turned into a pillar. And then when he turned into a pillar, Genesis chapter 12, verse 17, so 28, verse 17, said, and he was afraid, he said, he turned into a pillar and poured oil on top of the stone.

[57:22] Ooh, oil, stone and oil. I've told you already, the Holy Ghost must come out of the stone. But I want to show you something. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. And he called the name of the place Bethel, but the name of the city had been last previously.

[57:38] Do you know what Bethel means? The house of God. He called the name, this is the house of God. Do you see Jacob? He has established a place on earth as the house of God. Abraham couldn't do it.

[57:50] Nobody in history, this guy went straight into the heart of God because God's program for creating human beings was to make a house. read the Bible.

[58:02] See how the Bible ended. He said that the tabernacle of God, Revelation chapter 21 verse 3, he said, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

[58:13] Watch this. This is how it's ending. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and there shall be his people, and he himself will be with them, and be their God.

[58:29] God has always had a house in mind. So 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, and then I'll move on from there, and I think I have to just end, because some of you are too hungry.

[58:50] When you're fasting, that's what you get anyway. have you seen it? What did I say? 1 Timothy chapter 1? Is it okay if you read it out loud? Is everybody ready to read it?

[59:02] Please, do me a favor. Can we read it out? Please, listen. Instead, obey those who have rule over you, okay? Let them do it with joy. So let's read it, okay? Let's go loud. No, no, no, no.

[59:16] It's not loud enough. It's not loud. Let's go. Let's start again. It's okay, it's okay.

[59:32] It said, so that you know how to do what? Where? In the house of God. And he said, what's the house of God? A church. So from Genesis, God's target has been a church.

[59:49] And it's the pillar and the ground of truth. That's another thing I'll talk about another time. So when Jacob said, this is the house of God, he kicked into something no man has ever seen.

[60:05] No wonder, can I tell you something? No wonder the entirety of the Old Testament was all about the prophecies he gave. Everything, the activities, the history of the Old Testament, was what Jacob spoke about before he died.

[60:23] After him, God didn't need to have God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, and God of somebody. It didn't matter anymore. Jacob, he found Jacob. So greater part of the book of Genesis was dedicated to Jacob.

[60:39] Abraham had a few chapters, quite a significant, about 12 chapters. Isaac, he had two chapters because he didn't do much. But he was a son. So that's what he says. But Jacob had the rest about him and his sons.

[60:53] And no one has, no one ever suffered like Jacob. Tomorrow, God willing, I will talk about the death of Rachel and the birth of Benjamin or Benoni, depending on where you stand.

[61:08] Jacob went through a lot. His only daughter was raped. his beloved wife, he worked for 14 years to get a wife. Can you imagine?

[61:23] He could have been deported within that time. Some of you, after three years of being UK, you got a wife and now regular right? Sorry.

[61:37] He worked for 14 years for a wife. And then the wife he loved was not having children. And then what was even worse is his older wife, which was Leah.

[61:51] His son, called Simeon, the first son, went and slept with the second son, went and slept with his other wife, his concubine.

[62:06] Rachel's concubine who produced children for him. What has this man done? And he himself, some of you don't know this in the Bible, but may I tell you, it will fancy your interest.

[62:17] Sorry, interest your fancy, sorry. Whichever way, some fancy somewhere, interesting somewhere. Listen, I'm interested in this. Do you know that Jacob went and slept with one of his daughters-in-laws?

[62:36] Genesis 13, he was trapped. He was trapped. The veil. They used veil against the man. He slept with women he didn't see, whose face he didn't see.

[62:47] That's why sometimes this internet dating can be dangerous. he was trapped. I don't know how it is.

[62:59] It's not part of my preaching. I don't want to tell you the story behind it. How he was trapped to sleep with the woman. He thought it was prostitute. He was just going for pleasure.

[63:12] He went for pleasure and the woman can choose to conceive. She will. So she conceived and later on it came up that your daughter-in-law is going to commit her hold-on.

[63:28] He said, hey, it's part in our lambrique. But when he went into her, he left his staff and the woman said, give it to me, your signal ring, and I took it.

[63:40] So he didn't know he left and went. So when they said, you've given birth, you've gone to conceive, hey, he said, the one who this thing belongs to me is the one who did it. Oh, daddy.

[63:52] Daddy. Oh, no, take it off. Let people go and read it for themselves. It's in the Bible. Jacob, why must he go through all this?

[64:03] His beloved son was taken away into slavery. He thought he was dead. And then the last one he loved most was also taken away. Oh, that man was.

[64:14] But God was breaking from stage to stage. God was breaking him. By the time the chapter was ending, he was such a tamed man. When he met Pharaoh, the first thing he did was blessing him.

[64:32] When he sees you, he's thinking how to ask you, but God broke him. So much of the Genesis was about Jacob and his family. Because that man was so significant in the plan of God.

[64:45] Then there's a young man also who shows up somewhere in their bloodline called David. He was prosperous. He sat down. He told the prophet, my house is nice. I live in a poor house. I want to build God a house.

[64:58] 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 14. He touched on something. He touched on it. He said, I want to build God a house. The prophet Nathan said, do what is in your heart.

[65:10] But when he went, God came to Naphtan. He said, tell him, it's not for him to build me a house. But because he has decided to build me a house, he said, me too, I'll build him a house. Because when you make Bethel your target, Jacob prospered so much, he forgot the house of God.

[65:35] He was prospering. And he got to a place called Shechem. Genesis 33. And he bought a land. He built an altar. But I dare you, Genesis 33 verse 18, that was, I dare you, he called the altar, El, Elohe, Israel.

[65:56] Why didn't he call it, look at chapter 35 verse 7. Chapter 35 verse 7, when he went to, chapter 35 verse 7, when he went to Bethel, and he built an altar there and called it El Bethel.

[66:10] Where was that? In Bethel. When you are building an altar in Shechem, why didn't you have the audacity to call it El Shechem? He couldn't do that. You call God who embarked it.

[66:22] So he just called it the God of Israel. But when he got to Bethel, God came to him in Genesis chapter 35 verse 1, he said, get up, arise, you and everybody, move to Bethel, and go and build me an altar there.

[66:40] Bethel. That's why he said, that's why he said, for God is not unrighteous. To forget your labor of love.

[66:54] Hebrews chapter 6 verse 10, God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, which you have shown towards his name. How? In that, you ministered to the saints, and not once, you are still doing it.

[67:09] God can forget your service. Some of you, you don't have any usefulness in the church. Why else? You have to plan to exit that kind of state.

[67:22] Exit that uselessness. It's just useless, you know. I'm telling you. You see, if a pastor is trying to pamper you so that you can keep it, he won't tell you these things.

[67:33] But if you choose to be offended, it's even better for us. But listen, you must be useful in God's hands. Because our bishop said, when you die, God is not going to ask you how good was your job.

[67:46] God is not going to ask you how much were you earning. God is going to ask you, what did you do for my name in the church? With the health I gave you, with the money I gave you, with the strength I gave you, with the intelligence I gave you, and your so-called beauty, which you can't move away from any mirror.

[68:07] What did you do with it? You must have the humility of heart. Even if people have an attitude, stop that. People have me, I sit down. Find something to do.

[68:19] Ignore the attitude because you don't report to them, you are going to answer to God. Going to answer to God. You must be able to do something because stop chasing God for give me, give me, give me, give me, baby, give me one more time.

[68:32] Give me, give me one more time. No, stop that. Because if you have a heart for Bethel, the resources, the management is for Bethel. He will give it to you to do Bethel.

[68:44] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Very deep and very strong. You see why I didn't want to continue prayer for it. No, no, no, no. This will save your life faster.

[68:54] Yes. In this house of economy. This is serious. Is someone getting me?

[69:07] This is essential. Jacob had an encounter. He saw God's house. He said, this is God's house. He didn't see a structure. So what made him save this God's house?

[69:18] And David took him. He said, I want to build God a house. God said, the guy has got it. He said, because of this, you are the only one whose dynasty will outlast any human being on earth.

[69:31] Even his physical dynasty, natural dynasty, outlasted all other dynasties ever. But that's not it. Jesus, is he not the king of kings? And is he not the son of David?

[69:43] So up till now, forever and ever, David will have someone from his seat on the throne. Why? Because he wanted to build God a house. That means he touched the depth of God.

[69:54] God has always had a plan about his house. So God looked at him and said, you got it. You got it. What is God's economy? I will say something you want as the next you guys name it.

[70:07] His eternal economy, his eternal plan is to dispense himself in Christ into us so that we will become his people, his house, for the expression of God himself on earth.

[70:23] You see, I told you you won't understand it. I told you. What's the plan of God?

[70:35] From eternity, his plan is to dispense himself in Christ into us.

[70:46] So it starts with Christ in you. Then God is dispending himself into us as a corporate people. That we, being his special chosen people, will become his house.

[71:01] The house of God is not a building. Next week, I'll go into how the stone Jacob anointed, and he anointed the stone. Look at verse 22, verse 22, verse 22, verse 22.

[71:15] Is it verse 21? And this stone, which I have set as a pillar, shall be God's house. God's house is built with stones. And I'll show you how the stone of Jacob has two ways.

[71:29] Okay? It's reflected in the scriptures in two ways. Jesus, he being the foundation stone, he being the corner stone, and he being the capstone.

[71:47] You know what a capstone is? It's like a roof. You cap everything. The foundation stone, Jesus. No other efficient, 1 Corinthians of the 3, verse 11. No other foundation, other foundation normally than that one which is Christ.

[72:02] He's the foundation stone. And guess what? He's the chief cornerstone. According to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 20, he's the chief cornerstone, holding the Gentiles and the Jews together in oneness.

[72:14] And guess what? In Zechariah chapter 4, verse 7, he's the capstone. And so in Isaiah chapter 68, verse, I think verse 16, verse 18.

[72:25] Sorry, 66. Isaiah 66, verse 16, verse 18. He says that the stone which the builders rejected, that's talking about Christ, has become the chief cornerstone.

[72:38] In Acts chapter 4, verse 10, 11, and 12, I think we would like to read that. I'm talking about Jesus, the stone. Acts chapter 10, verse 11, let it be known to you and all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, who you crucified, who God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you hold.

[72:56] Verse 11, see, this is the amashaka, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, shaka-ba-ta-ta. This, Jesus, is the stone which the builders, the builders rejected, which was rejected by the builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.

[73:12] For there is, verse 12, for there is no, ah-ah-ah-ah, for there is, there is, no, there is no salvation in any other name, for there is no other name under heaven given amongst men, by which we must be saved.

[73:24] shall Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus. In 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 6, it talks about him being precious.

[73:37] Therefore, it is also contained in the scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect precious, say precious. Next week, I can't wait to go on and show you how you are a stone from Genesis to Revelation and the house of God which became the city of God is built with precious, precious stones, precious stones.

[74:02] Someone say precious stones. So, when Peter saw, when Jesus saw Peter in John chapter 1, verse 42, the first thing he said, you are a stone, but you are Peter, but you shall be called a stone, because a stone shall you be.

[74:16] He said, he says that, and he brought him, and Jesus looked at him, he said, you are Simon, son of Jonah, you shall be called Cephas, which means a stone, because God builds with stones.

[74:28] He said, you as lively stones, in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 5, he said, we are living stones, and that translation is a lively stones, stones that are alive, you also as living stones, say I'm a living stone.

[74:43] I'm a living stone. The name Livingston, that's where it comes from, say I'm a living stone. You can add it in your title somewhere, Pastor Corby Assari Livingston, hallelujah, I am a living stone, I am a living stone, I am a living stone, that has been the economy of God, watch this, you can't build a house of God with anything, but by the living stones, and so Jacob had only one stone, he took the stone, set it in place, and he said, he anointed, he said, this is not another, but this is the house, he pointed to the stone, in Genesis 28, verse 22, he said, this is the house of God, and we learn in New Testament that the house of God is a church.

[75:35] What is the economy of God? The economy of God is his eternal program, to work himself, dispense himself, issue out himself.

[75:51] I went so far, I didn't even get to tell you about how Paul says that the stewardship was given to me. This stewardship was given to me. Some translation used commission in Colossians 1, verse 25, he said, this stewardship was given to me, the stewardship of dispensing of God's grace, God's economy, this calling, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God.

[76:26] I was made a minister, I was made a steward, minister according to the stewardship that was given to me. I am supposed to be dispensing something for you. That's why he said, it's me.

[76:40] Okay, yeah, so that the word of God will be fulfilled. That's why he said, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. 1 Corinthians, can I quote this last one again?

[76:51] 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 16, I'm going to verse 17. Next week I'll pick it up from the house of God, because too much I have to say about the house of God.

[77:04] So you will know that from eternity, the thing is a house, that's why Jesus said, in my father's house, in my father's house.

[77:15] Jesus himself, he came as the tabernacle, and then, so when he said, what authority should you give us? He said, destroy this temple, and I'll raise it, and he was talking about his body. He was the temple of God when he was working amongst us, but when he died and went, we, the church, have now become the, so in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16, he said, don't you know that ye are the temple of the God, and the spirit of God dwells in you?

[77:43] And then he spoke about how you should be careful what you build with precious stones, and then revelation. This, I can't postpone things the way I should, but I told you I was quoting, I was quoting the last scripture, which one was it?

[77:56] 1st Corinthians, yes, I'm coming to that one, but before I do that, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 20, no, verse 22, I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 22, Sister Jacina, do you know what Ephesians chapter 2 verse 22 says?

[78:12] It says that a house that grows, a building that grows, it says that in whom you also are built together as a habitation of God through the spirit. Go to verse 21, let's start from verse 21, let me show you something.

[78:24] In whom all the building fiddly frame together grows into a holy temple of the Lord. Go to the next verse. Give me New King James, I prefer New King James. In whom you also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit.

[78:40] We are the dwelling place of God. God lives in us. That's always been the plan of God. He's not interested in just living in heaven.

[78:54] He created us so he can live in us, amongst us. That's why Jesus came to die. That's why Jesus said, I'll build my church. The church is a building for God.

[79:06] It's a house of God. And now, so when God is in, that's the need for the household administration. We are a big family and God is dispensing his grace and showing who does what, what grace comes through this one.

[79:19] And all kinds of things happen. Because, but you must start living the church life. You have stayed too far away from Bethel.

[79:33] You are born again but you're not living in Bethel. Living Shechem. Let me finish my text about stewardship. He said in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 16, Now I know Sambo will not forgive me because now the time is fast spent.

[79:53] It's not good at all. Would you forgive me? Verse 16, he says, that what to me if I preached on the gospel? You singing in the choir you are doing us a favor. No way! You are usher and everything you are trying to hold that to ransom.

[80:07] I'm trying and they are not even being appreciated. We won't appreciate you. I can't stop. Jesus said, those who do it for men to see and reward. They have had their reward already. But if you do it for God to see, men may not worry, but God, my father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

[80:23] Thank you, Lord. If I preach the gospel like Pastor David is doing, I have nothing to boast of. Who do think I am? To boast and see that we are preaching? No, drop it!

[80:35] Anything you do, playing instruments, you should be paid for playing instruments. You are an offense to redemption. He didn't even ask you to pay anything to save you.

[80:47] And to play a role as a pillar in his house, you say he should pay you. He said, if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid on me. Yes, war is me if I don't do it.

[81:00] War is me if I fail to preach the gospel because God has given me a stewardship. Look at the service. Look at the nervous. It is scary.

[81:11] He says, for if I do it willingly, I have a reward. That's when God rewards you when you do it well. But if I do it against my will, I have been entrusted with stewardship. Economy.

[81:25] I have been entrusted. God actually entrusted it into my hands. Now do it! If I don't do it, who is me? If I do it willingly, He rewards me with a good wife, with healthy children, with a good job, financial peace, good health.

[81:45] God rewards you as you fulfill your part of the church life. You see there are things in the Bible. So those people who know the Bible culture, they have not started.

[81:59] I don't waste my energy. I can't prove it to you and I'm not interested. You can choose not to believe. go. Doesn't spoil anything. It doesn't discredit the Bible.

[82:10] You're too insignificant to put to question the deity of God. Really, it's not part of my calling to be trying to explain people, you know, just believe, you know, I don't have time for that.

[82:24] I am like a John the Baptist. Repent and be baptized for the repression of sins. God says, I have to end. I have to end.

[82:36] So, the economy of God is for him to work himself in Christ into human beings, chosen human beings that will become his church, his house, the body of Christ for the full expression of God on earth.

[83:02] So, it's not about us, it's about him, but we benefit. That's the economy of God. It's too strong for some of us, but I know one day you grow, so at least it will be waiting for your growth.

[83:21] Amen. Did you receive something at all? Would you put your hands together for the Lord Jesus? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[83:34] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So, you understand why I have to stop prophesying so I can't preach? Because God is looking for people to live in Bethel. Because that's always been his plan.

[83:47] Not to bless you. Your blessing is waiting for you in Bethel. There's somebody here, I want to pray for a group of people. Please bow your heads with me. I want to go pray for a group of people here.

[84:00] You want to say, Pastor, pray with me. I want to start a new walk with Jesus. I want to start a new walk with Jesus. Pastor, pray with me. I know I'm a sinner, but I know God is calling me.

[84:12] I know it. I can't pretend about it. I'll be a hypocrite if I pretend. I know deep in my heart this is the time. I'm willing to obey God.

[84:23] I'm willing to open my heart. I'm willing to let him come into my heart and have his way. So I'll be a pillar in his house. Pastor, pray with me.

[84:34] If that's your genuine prayer, please slip up your right hand so I can sit and pray with you. God is going to start a new work in Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and I've sinned against you, but I believe you died on the cross to save me.

[84:57] I invite you to my heart. I ask you to forgive me for my sins. Wash me with your blood and from today onwards I make you my Lord and my Savior.

[85:09] I obey you, I will serve you, I will walk with you. Thank you for what you have done for me. In Jesus name, amen. Father, I thank you so much for my sister. Thank you for the fact that she heard your voice.

[85:22] She has taken this step. I pray make her a pillar in your house. I pray that let grace be dispensed into her. That she become a major influence of what you are doing in the life of others.

[85:35] I bless you and I rebuke the enemy on your behalf. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you for listening. For more resources, please visit caries.org or call us on 0207 740 9960.

[85:51] God bless you.