ABILITIES TO SERVE GOD

Bible: Exodus 35: 30-35

Main verse: 2CORINTHIANS 3: 6 part A – God also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit.

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God command us to always be diligent in our work, both in society and in the spiritual world. We should understand the difference between work in the outside world and work within the church.

To help us understand, we should refer to the book of Exodus when the Israelites built the Tabernacle after they were out of Egypt. They were enslaved in Egypt for 430 years and in all those years, they only made bricks with mortar and worked in planting fields.

EXODUS 1: 11-14 – Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Perhaps there were few who knew how to make decor for palaces and temples, but their skills would be limited because they were slaves and they could not learn those skills properly. When they were out of Egypt and were ordered to build the Tabernacle, they would need more specific skills to complete the task.

That’s why God chose Bezaleel and Aholiab and blessed them with the Holy Spirit so that they could possess special skills to do unfamiliar labor.

Not all of the Israelites had the Holy Spirit like the Christians did in the time of the Apostles. In our time, every Christian who confessed his sins and truly believes in God is visited by the Holy Spirit but the level of having Him in Christians’ lives depends on how strong their faith is in Jesus Christ.

EPHESIANS 5: 18 – And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.

As the Bible uses the words ‘be filled with the Holy Spirit,’ it expresses the extent in which the Holy Spirit fills that person’s life. It means some Christians have more of the Holy Spirit than others. It is incorrect to think that all Christians have the same level of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God’s power, so the level of that Power depends on the faith of that individual.

NEHEMIAH 9: 20 – Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

1CORINTHIANS 2: 11 – For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

1CORINTHIANS 3: 17 – Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

We can use this example to understand the level of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, Jesus had used the wind to illustrate the Holy Spirit, so we can use the same method to understand Him. As we breath, the air comes into our lungs, but the amount of air we breathe depends on how deep we breathed. The same thing applies to the level of the Holy Spirit in Christians’ lives.

JOHN 3: 8 – The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

That’s why we Christians need to have strong faith in order to have the Holy Spirit fully and to understand the Scripture.

2PETER 3: 16 – As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

The labor required to build the Tabernacle was different from the works the Israelites did as slaves when they built cities for the Egyptians, therefore Bezaleel and Oholiab needed the help of the Holy Spirit to do as God commanded them.

When God blessed them with the Holy Spirit, they gained the wisdom, the understanding, and the knowledge to build the Tabernacle. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit.

Many unbelievers sneer at such abilities that came from the power of the Holy Spirit and they argue that non-Christians also have many abilities and talents and does things better than God’s children.

One of many reasons that make Christians fall short of high achievements is the proudness and arrogance we usually have when doing something for the Lord and His church. Many Christians, because of something that they have done for the church, have thought of themselves too highly and even looked down at other brothers and sisters in Christ who have not done such remarkable things for the church. Because of that kind of proudness and arrogance, God put them down right after, because He never likes such attitude.

LEVITICUS 26: 19 – And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass

JAMES 4: 6 – But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble

It’s not that the talented non-believers are not arrogant. They think more highly of themselves than Christians, because society and people encourages that they behave like that. We see this on TV, stages, film sets and in real life, but they are non-believers, so God does not bother.

We already see the lives of so many celebrities who abuse drugs, alcohol and live debaucherous lives, although they have fame, money and have been successful in their careers. They have broken families with rebellious children, have too many divorces and have been in rehab too many times. Many of them committed suicide. That’s enough for their proudness and arrogance.

That’s for this life. For the afterlife, Christians should remember that if we only served ourselves and satisfy our fleshy desires, then any work that we had done in this life would be naught before God.

1CORINTHIANS 3: 13-15 – Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Therefore, when a Christians is visited and fulfilled by the Holy Spirit, he will have the wisdom to serve the Lord so that his work can be remembered by Him forever. He will have the understanding to serve the Lord humbly in order to please Him and to be blessed much more from Him. He will have the knowledge to perform his work sufficiently without wasting his talent and his precious time on Earth. The understanding will also help him to work in unity and harmony with other brothers and sisters in Christ to benefit the church and the community of Christians.

When Christians are blessed with the Holy Spirit, then we will know that our works in the name of Jesus Christ will be remembered by God and be rewarded by Him. The rewards will be great because He love us so much that He even died on the cross for us:

1CORINTHIANS 15: 58 – Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

May God help us to serve Him more faithfully in this life. May God help us to glorify Him as we are serving the church, His body, so that the community of Christians will reap the benefits and our brothers and sisters in Christ will be more blessed with His love and with the love to each other to the day He returns and forever more. Amen.