230609-The Son a Workman

The transcription is a prayer asking for the activation of the Holy Spirit within each participant and for God's guidance in contributing and receiving during a gathering. It then discusses the idea of living naturally spiritual and spiritually natural, integrating the spiritual and natural aspects of life. It emphasizes the importance of working together with God, taking on His nature, and working diligently as unto the Lord. It also mentions the need to address idleness and laziness and the importance of work and taking care of the earth. The examples of Isaac and the works of our hands are mentioned as ways in which God blesses our efforts. Father, in the name of Jesus, you're a dear son of all power and all might, there's no other name given among men whereby we might be saved. And so, Lord, today, Father, we're asking you in the name of Jesus to activate that gift of the Holy Spirit within each one who participates. Draw those who you would have to be here to contribute and to receive. Father, we give you the glory, all of the glory, all of the honor, and all of the praise during this time. Father, we thank you that you're teaching us to be a son who is mature and working together with our heavenly Father in his field in this world. God, we bless this time in Jesus' name. Amen. As you turn to Colossians chapter 3, we'll lay out the title of today, that we could be a son and we could be a workman, worthy bringing glory to God as a son. A son works with his father, a son learns the father's business, and a son takes on the father's nature. And so, naturally, that's true, but also spiritually. So, let's understand what it is that the Lord is speaking to us. Amen. As we read in Colossians chapter 3, whoever has it, you're welcome to read from verse 23 and 24. And L.A., if you'd like to read as well, just send me, you're welcome. Okay, Reverend. Colossians chapter 3. Yes, go ahead, 23 and 24. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. So, Brother Emanuel, you were very struck last week by the phrase that comes from our Mother Agnes, the founder of all nations, many years ago. And she would often say that we should live naturally spiritual and spiritually natural, and that we should not separate that which we call natural from that which would be spiritual. But we should welcome the spiritual into the natural, and don't forget the natural in spiritual things. So, that's the whole statement. Brother Emanuel, if you have, I'm sure, pondered about this and have some meditation on it. What have you come up with, Emanuel? Yes, Reverend. Yes, sir. Yes, and we hear you. The more I think about it, it comes clear to me that I can always live spiritually without having to specifically seclude myself for a while and say, okay, I am going all spiritual. I can on a day-to-day basis, even doing natural activity, and still getting both spiritual and physical reward when doing those natural activities. Because my mind is now focused that through these services, okay, I am giving glory to God. Through these natural actions that I'm taking that seem natural in human calculation, I am edifying somebody else. And it also makes me more cautious of myself. If I can live spiritually, natural, spiritual in all things, it means that I should be very, very careful that my actions, if weighed with the lies of spiritual terms, is edified. So, I should not become ignorant that I will just take actions and say it's a natural action. No. No. I should be cautious that even the natural actions that I'm taking, when it is weighed in terms of edification, it should be able to pass that evaluation, those natural actions I'm taking. So, while I thought about it, it gave me understanding in that every action I take, I should make myself to understand that there is no need to separate, oh, I'm being spiritual or I'm being natural. And also, I should be careful. Let those actions I take be edified in all of it. Let it all be an opportunity to give glory to God, an opportunity to encourage, an opportunity to evangelize. That way, I will not be, you know, being natural, but I'll be spiritually natural in all things. Praise God. Thank you, sir. Yeah. Good job and well said. Here's another part of it. So, Brother Emanuel, should natural practical laws of nature, of being natural, be invited and included into what we call spiritual? Can spiritual things become, like the saying says, so spiritually minded, we're no earthly good. Should the natural laws and principles also, not the ungodly ones, but should they also be welcomed into the spiritual realm of fellowship and ministry? What do you say to that? Have you thought about that part? Yes, I've thought about it. What I have to say is, the natural things cannot be discarded. That is my view. I stand to be corrected. It should not be discarded because we are still here in the earth. We have not gone to heaven yet. So, you can't just throw it away and say you are being all spiritual when you know that, okay, I need to take care of these things in the natural and these are things that are facing me in the natural that I have to handle. So, you cannot just say you're being all spiritual. But what you will do is, as you are having those natural things that you have to look into, don't handle them as just a natural man. Allow the influence of the spiritual that you operate to help you as you look towards handling those natural things. But we cannot say because we are being spiritual that those natural things will be neglected. If we neglect those natural things, we will have the repercussion and there is nothing God can do about the repercussion that comes from neglecting those natural things. I remember that we were on a missions trip. I was not included, but our ministry was on a missions trip to an area, a remote area in Africa, somewhere along the coast in River State or Cross River State, one of those. And it was in actually a Satan worship area where they practiced the witchcraft and cannibalism at the time in the 80s. And all things were in order, the missions team, the transportation, the driver, a host pastor, everything was tremendous. We had brought along a projector, we had brought a generator, and we were ready to play the Jesus film to these people, which had been very successful in other areas. However, one natural item was missing, which was the power cord, which goes from the generator to the projections system. Our team was nearly assassinated because we had made promise to show this and we had shown up. And these people, we did not know if they were going to have us for dinner, meaning literally they would eat us. But somewhere, somebody came running from the far distance of the village with a very, a very frayed and poorly looking power cord, which saved our lives. So as spiritual as you want to be in ministering the gospel, there are still practical and natural things that have to be addressed. And without the due diligence of each and every member, you know the devil, he will get in, in any lack of diligence, and he will mess up the whole program. And so this diligence was needed. So this is my story from many years ago. I see in Colossians chapter three, it says in King James, what so ever you do, I see the word what so ever. This lesson really, this time is just really a continuation. Having seen the need of it from last time, I was impressed to continue and go a little deeper in laying the foundation for understanding the questions. You know, should a man of God receive an honorarium or wages or offerings? Should they be a tent maker, as Paul was taught? Or should we be as the ox, which is not muzzled? And or do we need to be those who can provide out of our own abundance for the needs of other people? So this is the nature of where we're heading with the day. What so ever you do, work heartily, from the Greek, to work with all your soul, whole, complete soul, and work. This is the root of it. And not just to put an outward appearance, which is pleasing to man. And the reason we do that is because we know something. Colossians three, we know something that our inheritance and our reward is from the Lord who we serve. And he finishes this in 24 verse saying, you are serving the Lord Christ. There's another verse that says everything that we do, we do it unto the Lord. We do it unto the Lord. When we take a natural task, as far as maybe making the church look beautiful for Sunday, and we're doing it for Jesus, from our soul, we're working with our whole heart engaged, and we're doing it for Jesus. That becomes the secret to make all things which are natural in working to become spiritual in the fruit of it, in the outcome. So doing everything that we do unto the Lord, to the Lord Jesus, because we know from him that he is the one who will reward us. So our motive, you know, even doing great things, wonderful things, if our motive is not correct, and we're doing it so we can have a photo op, as they say, doing it so that congregations will think that we're amazing, our motive is off. And when we work unto the Lord, toil and work, take sweat and effort, but when we do that unto the Lord, of the Lord, from the Lord, we do receive that reward. So there's the introduction to today, and let's dig into some scripture and see why we can find the Word of God to speak about this very subject, so we can understand. Let's go then, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 10 to 12. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ, to do their work quietly, and to earn their own living. So who do you think this is addressed to favor, and what would be the situation that Paul is addressing in Thessalonica? Yes, so he was addressing the believers in Thessalonica, yes. What do you suppose is the situation that is happening at the time from where he is? I think when they were being idle, verse 6, he started by saying, now we command you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is working in idleness, and not in accord with the tradition you receive from us. So I think he got a lot of reports that some of the brothers were being idle, and probably they were trying to maybe spiritualize it, you know, like yeah, say okay, we are spiritual, so they were trying to find the perfect excuse for the idleness they were embracing. So Paul began to address that. So idleness, laziness, whatever, I like the way you said it, that they were trying to find an excuse for their weakness of their actions, yeah, which was contrary to how Paul had left commands, and instruction is a mode of how they should be. Paul addresses that in a lot of places, even the Cretans, he said they're lazy, evil people, evil-bellied people that just want to eat. And he said you need to teach them, teach them to work, and teach them to take care of the house of God correctly. So Paul didn't throw them away, he says you need to teach them. So from the beginning in Genesis chapter 2, verse 5 and verse 15 in Genesis chapter 2, from the beginning, these verses indicate that when God created the world, he expected that man would be caring for the earth, and if they would work the ground, and that they would keep the beautiful garden. I wonder what it means to keep it, I don't know really how much to work it, and to keep it. It sounds like there was necessary to give the maximum beauty, and that in the garden there needed to be some work. Even before the curse, there was work, but the work was with a joy, it wasn't a curse. And to keep it, it sounds like there was need for some, I don't know, protection? Not sure, but it means all to keep it. They really have Genesis 2, verse 5 and verse 15. The last phrase is interesting, there was no man, the reason God didn't yet allow the rain is because what would happen if everything grew without a man for people to work the ground. So God in his logic according to verse 5, used wisdom and didn't allow the seeds that he had spread throughout the earth, didn't allow them to to come to fruit, because there was no man to work the ground. Verse 15. Favor, I tried to understand work it and keep it, and I'm not certain I know the meaning of keep it. Well, Reverend, I would say that to work it is, I think, is something we all know, you know, to work at it, to work on the job, to work at it, to keep it talks about the sustainability, the fruitfulness of that work. So God didn't just want him to work at it and that's it. He says he wants you to keep it. And that's, and I noticed that's the, the Lord is always careful to make, to, to, to mention these things, you know, when you talk, the Lord Jesus was saying that we bear fruit and the fruit that abide. So, it's not enough to work, we have to keep it. It has to be sustained. It has to be sustained so it can take more, you know, other people can come in and be a part of it, and other people can come in and be a part of it, and other people can come in and be a part of it. And you sustain the tradition, you sustain the vision, you sustain all of the necessary factors connected to that work. And by that you're keeping it, you're keeping the, the, the, the, you're keeping the structure, you're keeping the legacy, you're keeping everything. And that's, that's it. That's what I mean. So I'll read what I found and it's totally in agreement with your sense of it. The word keep or keep it is from the word shamar, no shamar. It means to put a hedge around it, to guard it, protect it, pay attention and take heed to, to observe it and preserve it, to regard, reserve, safe, and make sure of something. So all of that is very clearly what you were talking about, Faber, is that man was put into the garden and into the earth, that he would be fruitful, he would multiply, that he would work the ground, he would keep it and watch over it and guard it and be creative therein because the responsibility was given unto man to care for the earth. So this is very interesting. When you look at the word work, that's one of the very first mentions. Now work has become a dirty word. Hasn't it? You know, when people say the word work, there's a negative connotation that's come to it. And in the beginning, it was not so. There was nothing of toil in work. Do you know the difference between toil and work? So it's only maybe my own definition. But to me, toil has that negative connotation where you dread to go and toil. But work is something. I was listening to a brother the other day talking about work as worship. And I really understand that when we understand Colossians chapter 3, that as we do our work as unto the Lord, it becomes a form of worship, because we're doing it for him. As Emmanuel was thinking about this week, and he spoke very clearly, that everything we invite God into it, and we do it with the nature and the right attitude of the Lord, it continues to become something spiritual, and it can be blessed. And so I like Colossians says, in everything you do. So it's not just saying, and when you preach, or when you lead worship, or when you speak to somebody, or when you're praying, do it unto the Lord. He says in everything you do. I find it's interesting that even in the beginning, this definition of of work it, keep it, take dominion, and populate it, is all part. It's the first commandment, other than don't touch that tree. After they were expelled from the garden, the first commandment had to do with tilling the ground, and inhabiting the earth, and building your houses, and caring for your land, and having your children. And so now in this modern day, I think we can easily miss the first commandments of the Lord, which is to cause this earth to be fruitful, to cause this world to be coveted, to take dominion by the grace of God. So Brother Emanuel, are you seeing what we're saying? Is it anything new, or is this consistent with what you've been thinking this week, Emanuel? Yes, sir. It's something that's really drawn my, drew my attention to it. I have heard about the scriptures severally, but I have not really been drawn to it in the manner that I am, my attention is coming to it now. And I've benefited a lot from it, because now that my attention is coming to it, it's causing a stirring up of thoughts. So it's wonderful, yes. Good. So we'll just carry on, knowing that we are all together in agreement. There are many examples in the Old Testament that will support this understanding. Even Isaac, in I think it's Genesis 26, the Lord says for him to plant, even in time of famine, and that God would cause the increase, and in that years of increase, a hundredfold, even in time of famine. So God blessed Isaac. However, he only blessed him through his work. It's not an easy thing to dig, I think it's five wells that he dug out of his father's in Genesis chapter 25 and 26. And he continued to do that until he found a well that was not contended for. Has anyone been a hundred feet under the ground digging a well or bringing the basket up? See, God blessed and promised to bless what? The works of his hands. Let's read the one that Faber was mentioning earlier. Faber, Psalm 90 verse 17, the works of our hands. It's interesting often in the word of God, it's not the work of our mouth that's mentioned, it's the work or the works of our hands that God blesses. Faber, go ahead. Okay, let me take it. Yeah, you take it. Psalm 90 verse 17, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. Not only did he say it once, he said it twice. And in poetry, when you say something twice, as in the book of Psalms here, the purpose of saying it twice is to reinforce the meaning and the importance of this established works of our hands. You know, God spoke to Sister Pauline, and also Sister Gertrude, whom you may know, although you might not know, Ellie. They are leaders that God raised up. Sister Pauline, a widow, is crying out to the Lord, and she's saying, God bless me to help others. God, you know, my children are hungry. Brother David's not here today, so I can tell the story. And God spoke to her and said, what is it in your hands? What do you have in your hands? In fact, she was crying out to help the widows. And God asked her, what do you have in your hands? And so she took what she had and began to minister to the widows. She had a bag of salt, one of the larger bags, not the miniature bags that you sometimes get in the little market. And she had a larger bag of salt and something else. And she gathered the widows. If I recall, there's 40 widows or so. She gathered them and had a service with them, encouraged them in the Lord, led some of them to Christ, and gave each one of those a bag of salt. This last three, four, five years, every Christmas season, Sister Pauline calls together the widows, and she will distribute 40 bags of rice to the widows, 30 bags of rice, plus soap, plus other things that they need. You see, God took the work of her hands and began to bless it. Isn't the scripture saying, despite not the day of small things, for if we will continue and not grow weary, we will reap if we faint not, despite not the day of small things. Amen. So another example is Sister Gertrude from Uganda. And the fruit of Gertrude's life does include Ezra. She has impacted Pastor Xavier. Immanuel, there is her son in Uganda, Immanuel Masegi. And one day, she was working in the office of the president as a secretary to Idi Amin, known to be a murdering machine. More than a million people lost lives during his cruel reign. But Gertrude worked in his office, he did not pay well, and she was struggling to feed her family. In prayer, the Lord, she's crying out to the Lord, and God spoke to her again, what is in your hands? And she saw in her dream and her vision, she saw beads, beadworking, you know, those small glass beads, the small ones, and she saw intricate designs, which she knew somewhat to do. She had been trained in the house of a chief, that was her father, and her grandfather before that. And they knew some of the complicated designs, but she realized that the Lord was speaking to her, what gift, what ability, what resource have I already given you, that if you use that gift, ability, resource, intelligent knowledge, and work with your hands to do that, which you can do, then God will take what you can do that he's given you already. Why do we ask God for something that he's already given us? He's already given us talents and abilities. Are we like the one who hides our talents and says, Lord, I knew you were a harsh man, and so reaping where you sowed not. Oh, let's don't be like that. Let's say, Lord, what have you given me that I can work with my hands to make, to turn, to be a blessing? Let the beauty of the Lord come upon us and establish what works of our hands upon us. Yay! The works of our hands establish you in our lives of God. You see, it's so beautiful. God loves to bless and prosper, but we see the principles that he will use what is the gift, talent, abilities that he's already given us, because he's put the responsibility in our hands themselves. Let's go to the book of Proverbs. We're going to read four or five verses in Proverbs. This is a sample. Chapter 10, verse 4 and 5. And then, Emmanuel, could you read Proverbs 21, verse 5? Okay, Proverbs 10, verse 4. He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Verse 5. He who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. A slack hand. I think that's just laziness and someone who does nothing. But the hand of the diligent, so the opposite is diligence, and it says riches follow a diligent hand. Next one, Emmanuel. Proverbs 21, 5. And then, in favor, if you're able, Proverbs 18, verse 9. Proverbs 21, 5. The thought of the diligent tends only to pleasures, but everyone that is hasty only to want. So, can you explain that? It's fairly straightforward, but go ahead, Emmanuel. What is that saying to you? What I see in this scripture, on a personal note, is that someone that has the desire to be consistently engaged, consistently doing the right thing, you only find him or herself in a better position than someone that is not diligent enough to sit down to work on something. And then, but the line that says, but everyone that is hasty only to want, that one is giving me a little difficulty understanding. Everyone that is hasty only to want. I don't really understand that one. Sure. So, the word for hasty, to be in a hurry or to withdraw your hand to do a job quickly. So, it sounds to me, if I'm understanding it correctly, someone who does half a job because they're in a hurry. Does that make it clear? The diligent will complete the job to excellence. But the one who is not diligent, they may just be in a hurry and they do half the job because they don't want to. They're lazy. They are not disciplined enough to sit down and work at something. They are quick to try and jump up to new things or try and jump out and not discipline themselves to sit down and work on something. Yes. I see that as well now. Thank you. Right. Okay. So, favorite Proverbs 18 verse 9, a very short verse to the point. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 9. He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. Wow. Whoever is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. Let that one sink in. When I don't work with all of my heart, all of my might, am I becoming slack or negligent? Do I become the cause of destruction? But we've all seen cases where that happens. When we weren't paying attention and we did not, we were not diligent. We did not check the oil on the car and we did not put fuel in before we left. And so we were on the side of the road with our engine ruined and no fuel. And just because we were slack in our work. We did not think the day before in advance, I need to check the car. We're going tomorrow. I need to get fuel before we leave so that we will have sufficient. Maybe the station will be closed where I get fuel. So maybe I should go today. And these are the things that I've seen even in my own life. If I'm not diligent, often the enemy uses those things to bring about destruction. All of you know this one in Proverbs 6, verse 6 to 8. Proverbs 6, verse 6, it says, Go to the aunt, you sluggard, consider a wife and a wife. Seven, which having no captain or vizier or ruler, provides us supplies in the summer and gathers us food in the harvest. Now L.A., if you're willing, what is this saying? Can you understand this proverb? Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Explain it. I think this chapter of the Bible, this Proverbs 6 where we just read, it is synonymously Proverbs 10, 4, and 5. It talks about lazy people. Yet the Bible is warning against laziness strongly. And then God gave us an example. If aunts are organized, they know how to, with their little strength, get food, store them, save them. They don't even have souls. They don't have thick muscles, you know, and bones like we do. But with their tiny strength, they are able to calculate, they are able to store food, they are able to walk. I think the Bible just wants us to see how organized aunts are in terms of, you know, production, in terms of economy, in terms of food, in terms of what they have, their income. So we don't have reasons to be lazy. If aunts can do this, then we humans, we can do more and do better. So I can say that. Okay, excellent explanation. Thank you. The example is the aunts. We can learn a lot from the aunts. The last one in Proverbs, Emmanuel, Proverbs 14, verse 23. 14 and 23. In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Poverty leads to poverty. So what does it say in your version? My version, it is a penury, and then here he says poverty. So it is the same thing. Yes. The example, I think, is pretty clear. There are some people that are a whole lot of talk and no action, and in all work there is profit. So the principles in the Old Testament are pretty much consistent. However, in this subject, we're asking, what about those who work for the Lord? Is preaching, teaching, managing, administrating God's work, evangelism, is this also considered work in the Scriptures? Well, let's look and see what the Word of God says. Does the Word of God separate the natural work and the spiritual work, or does it not? Let's look. All right. I'm sorry. John chapter 6. John 6 and verse 27. Go ahead, Emmanuel. You're unmuted already. John 6, 27. Okay. John 6, 27. So, Emmanuel, this could create a challenge to understand how this fits with what we have been reading, but how do you see, does it fit? Indeed, it fits some kind of a challenge, but in my mind, I believe this is more pertaining to specific order of work in ministry, wherein the person has responsibilities that do not give him or her room to engage in order, shall I put it, natural work, if I should put it that way. So, even when there was an issue among the Grecians and the apostles, saying, are we going to leave the work of the Lord to shine So, you find out that the work of the Lord then was of so much burden upon them because the ministry was still growing. They did not have enough students that they can say, do this or do that. So, that work was much on them that they could not leave it to come and start serving tables. I stand to be corrected in this illustration. So, I think this is the same. There are some, by the reason of the calling, it may not be so convenient for them to give themselves to other forms of work, are you getting me? But others who have that liberty out of the moment should also not use it as an excuse, but engage themselves in something as they also do the work of the Lord. That is what I think, sir. Okay, good. And then we get more insight when we look at this chapter in context when Jesus is talking. Jesus here is speaking and he's talking different things like, well, look at the birds. They don't shore up for the winter. They don't make their own clothing, this and that. And look at the flowers. And so, Jesus here is addressing the mindset of individuals whose entire focus is one of fear almost that we will not survive and we must store up and we must work so hard. It's interesting because Jesus brings a balance of understanding to work. He brings a balance to work that someone whose entire life is spent working for their own gain and their own sustenance and doesn't include God into it, then becomes worry and not worship, becomes worry and not worship. When I do everything I do, guided by the Lord and unto the Lord, then the spiritual part is totally there. And I believe firmly that from the beginning, God intended people not to have to struggle with their own strength alone, but that his spirit would be very present with us, giving us life and enjoyment and strength and joy to do our work. And when we do it unto the Lord, there comes a lightness about it and a joy. A merry heart does good like a medicine. We begin to do our work unto the Lord with joy, there's a new life that comes. So, not just worrying that we're going to have enough to eat and something to wear, but working in trust unto the Lord. Let's go farther. Romans chapter 12, a chapter of instruction to the church and to people of God. Romans 12, verse 11 and 12. Okay, Romans chapter 12, verse 11. Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. So, in this chapter, you're welcome to look at the verses before and after so we can rightly understand who is he talking to and what is it saying to us? Who is he speaking to? What is the situation and how does this speak to us? So, I'll give you a moment. The version King James says, don't be slothful in business. Don't be slothful or lazy in your business. Interesting, isn't it? Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And now, here's the word business and here's the word serving the Lord. How do we get these in our minds to understand this? Well, first of all, the word business, we'll look it up, and he's talking about earnestness, diligence, doing something quickly and well, accomplishing or promoting or attempting any task to give all diligence or your whole interest. So, it's not talking about business as in business for money. Not slothful in any endeavor. So, he doesn't actually separate here what kind of business. Fervent in spirit and serving the Lord. I think it goes like Colossians. The first one we read, Colossians 3.23, where whatever you do, whether in the house of God or in the farm or in the office or whatever your work may be, that this fervent in spirit can be included, can be drawn. We can draw into a fervency of spirit where we're blessed by God, by the works of our hands, whether it be in the house of God or in our backyard, in our farm, whatever it might be, in our office space, whatever our work may be.