Build to Last | Pr Julian Saw

You're listening to a message to go from acts church. We hope this message

will light up your day. Let's turn to the Book of Psalms, chapter

ninety two. I also have it on the screen, but if you can

refer to your own Bibles as well. So let's read from verse four.

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord, I sing for joy

at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord,

How profound your thoughts? Senseless people do not know. Fools do not understand

that though the wicked spring up like grass, and all evil doers flourish,

they will be destroyed forever. Go to the next light, verse twelve.

So I'm gonna jump a few verses and go to verse twelve. The righteous

will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a seedar of Lebanon.

Verse thirteen. Planted in the house of the Lord. They will flourish

in the courts of our God. They will still bad fruit in old age.

They will stay fresh and green, proclaiming the Lord is upright. He

is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him. Again verse twelve,

the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a

cedar of Lebanon, type of tree planted in the house of the Lord.

They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will steal bad fruit

in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming the Lord is

upright. He is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him.

Amen. What a wonderful set of verses from a book of Psalms. So

before we break it down, I've got an imature for you. Okay,

this is grass. If you're thinking, what a species of plant? This

is. My dad's a botanist, by the way, so I've got some

plant DNA wisdom within me that has been inherited through my dad. So botanist

is a plant scientist, right, So so take a guess. I've got

a question for you this morning. Take a guess if you know what is

the lifespan of a blade of grass? Yeah, one blade of grass?

Are like, how long does one blade of grass live? One week?

Someone said six months? One man, Okay, sounds like pretty sure.

Lah, okay, So I'll just revealed the answer next light. About forty

and sixty days depending on the species. So not very long, not very

long. And if you if you recall like what how the Psalmis wrote in

in verse seven. Just now that though the wicked spring up like grass,

so they may grow very fast and evil, do us flourish. They will

be destroyed forever. So just keep them in the back of a hit.

Okay, so forty to sixty days. Okay, Next species of plant?

What kind of plant is this? Palm tree? Palm tree? So this

is like just google palm tree and it, you know, just came out

blah. But it looks like recognized by It's like you palm trees, palm

trees. Okay, take a guess how long does a typical plant palm tree

live. What's the life speed of a palm tree? Forty years, sixty

years, one hundred is going out, and the other bids one hundred.

Okay, let's see the answer one hundred or six hundred years. So most

of the palm trees that you see here they will probably outlive us as humans

or you know, they were around. What happen hundred years ago? I

don't know when World War World War two? What's happening some of them?

You know. So that's the live span of a palm tree. So if

you go back to the Book of Psalms. Just now we read in verse

twelve, the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. And there's one more

species of plant which you read, and what was that setter of Lebanon.

So I've got a picture of that tree as well. It's a very big

tree with a very strong trunk. And take a guess how long this particular

one thousand years? Ten million? Okay, that's like a bit pushing it.

Okay, it's a very long time. It's a very long time.

And let's see the answer. So one thousand and two thousand years, okay,

is it really oh still a lifer? Oh okay, So go google

what plant that is. I think that's a different species of cedar or cedar,

but the one that was mentioned in the Bible is this seer of Lebanon.

So I use that as example. But I read that some other species

of cedar actually live much longer. So they are a very strong tree that

that flourishes and has lived many many So one thousand years ago to towns got

maybe it's like some of the trees were still you know, before Christ or

like after death kind of thing, and then like they're still around flourishing.

So I will read that that verse again versus of the righteous will flourish like

a palm tree. They will grow like cedar of Lebanon planted in the house

of the Lot. They will flourish in the courts of our God. They

will still bear fruit in old age. They will stay fresh and green,

proclaiming the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no

wickedness in him. I mean, what a promise that this is what the

word of the Lord says for people who are righteous, which includes all of

us here as Christians. And you know, if you if you have not

accepted Jesus as your savior, you know we will give a translator for that.

But this is God's promise to us, as his family, as his

people, as the righteous, as the Godly, that we will flourish throughout

the seasons. We have a very long life. I don't know that's a

good problem because I don' want to live too long as well, like I

want to I want to go and meet my Savior, you know, maybe

before hundred. But the promise of God is we are here to last,

and not just last, but flourish through the seasons and bare fruit even in

old age. And when I say flourish, it doesn't mean that, you

know, there are definitely seasons in our life where it feels dry and there's

lack or disc our rich men or hurt, but our soul and our spirits

can still flourish because of God's promise. Right here, I think Alicia a

little bit this morning. I kind of walked in. I didn't really realizing

is he about plan? No way see alignment in the Holy Spirit today.

But yeah, we are called in every season to flourish in our souls,

meaning we are still anchored in the Word of God and can prosper every season.

Okay, so I'm going to move away from plants to something that is

my profession and the title of my my message today is built to last,

Built to last. Okay, yeah, let me see. So my key

scripture today is from First Corinthians Up the Tree, and it's just a few

verses, and I think it's very familiar scripture to all of us. If

you can, if you're taking notes, or you want to just refer to

your Bible. Let's look at First Corinthians, Chapter three, verses nine to

thirteen. Let me read, For we are both God's workers. So the

verses that precede this versus or scripture here is there was an argument in a

church in Corinth about who the church in Korin would follow, a Paulus or

Paul Right. So they arguing, and then Paul basically wrote this scripture or

this letter to the church in Corinth. And the church in Corinth, right

was verse was founded in a time and a city where it was a place

of commerce and business and people were like living their life very comfortably. So

it can be like clang or Perth. And then Paul the apostle is coming

now to check on the church right and there, and he heard arguments.

These people are saying they follow John Rautch or follow Jason Martina. I'm just

kidding now, I gotta put that in. Yeah, I didn't plan to

say that, but yeah, so there was an argument and and you know,

you know, because this these people they were in a community where things

were going fine, and then the and and and they started to talk about

this sort of stuff. So Paul wanted to bring the perspective of what church

and what Christian life actually is to these people. Okay, so that's why

you can see the words for we are both God's workers. He was referring

to both himself Paul and also a Paul. Is okay, we are both

God's workers, and you are God's You are God's building because of God's grace

to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others

are building on it. But whoever is building on the foundation must be very

careful, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already

have Jesus Christ verse twelve. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a

variety of materials gold, silver, jewels, or wood, hay and straw.

But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each

builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value.

If the work survives, the builder will receive a reward. So,

if the work survives, the builder will receive a reward. But if the

work is burned out, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will

be saved. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through

a wall of flames. So the first thing I want to say here is

this sentence and scripture is meant for Christians because at the end, both types

of workers were saved. They ended up in eternity in heaven, right,

but one worker received the reward. The other worker, the work that he

had done was burned up. Okay, So again today we want to learn

about how do we build to last not just on earth, but to eternity.

Okay, So let me share a little bit about what I do.

I don't think i've mentioned here before in my day to day life. I'm

an engineer like many of your year because our parents back then like become an

engineer, you know. So we come from a generation where like you know,

engineers, doctors, accountants will do well in life or law yer the

professions. Right, So we complied and followed the instructions from our parents.

Many of us en become engineers, but many of us that you don't really

practice as an engineer. Now I still do for the last fifteen years.

I'm an engineer by trade or by profession. I can't remember how I ended

up with this job, but I sticked with it from day one until now.

And I know shared this before, but I'll just share a little bit

about my life loud, kay, if you would just humor me for the

next few minutes, And what I do is I'm in the construction line.

Okay, so I'm not a contractor, but I'm an engineer there that designs

buildings. Right, So my specific roles I make sure that buildings are designed

in a sustainable way, right because that's scripture, all right, So I

have to scripture so sustainable meaning the building has less impact on the environment and

it's more sustainable than green And I do that. So I've had the privilege

an opportunity to see many buildings being constructed over the last fifteen years. Okay,

all types of buildings, factories, shopping malls, office buildings, interior

feed out, residential buildings, all types of buildings are so I kind of

know a little bit about what construction and building is like. Okay, so

today we can go to that slide that shows a construction construction site. And

because I've seen so many projects, right, I know at the beginning if

I go into a project, I know when the project will likely be very

difficult and feel or when the project will be very successful. Okay. Usually

there's a few things that will that will affect how well a project is run.

Okay, a contraction project. So let me tell you a little bit

about some of the key things which I have learned over the years about construction.

To go to the next light, these few things are very important.

You want to build a building. So if you ever renovated your house or

you have invested into a project, you want to build something. Very likely

these five things, the five key important things were coming to play. Number

one, what are the plans? So like then that's an architect. He

will draw up the plans so there will be a plan to build the or

the method of building. Okay. Second thing is every project has a timeline

to meet. I want to build this within two years, three months,

five years, Okay, there's a cost to pay for a project or in

construction there is always a team of people doing it. Okay, So I

think it would be a bit different from back then when Paul was using this

analogy. But essentially, when you want to build a building, there needs

to be at least workers that come together and build it up right right.

So now it's a bit more elaborate and maybe more systematic in terms who does

what. But yes, there will be a team that constructs the building and

finally a material see the building out of something Okay, So just now I

mentioned something. When I go in the project earlier, I know when the

project will suffer or it will be okay. Usually if the project manager or

the main builder or the person leading or driving the project is weak or not

confident to bring the team together. There, I know that, Okay,

this project won't take two years? Is it gonna take six years? They're

very optimistic about the timelines. There's a gunshot and all. But if the

main builder is not strong and leading and have good leadership abilities, it will

suffer. Okay. If the project doesn't have the right team members, or

if the team members want to like talk about other people's work, Like let's

say I'm the plumber for the project, so I need to look at the

pipes right, but always commenting about what the electrician does, Like the guy

doesn't know what he's doing. He's laying the K wrongly, he's putting the

dB at the wrong place, that kind of thing. So it becomes very

messy. So that's another factor which I see how projects don't go well.

Okay, So just keep some of these things in mind as we dive into

First Corinthians chapter three. Okay, uh, I want to bring a little

bit of this scripture back to us. How does First Corinthians Chapter three relate

to me as a person. Okay, so we'll start with we'll start with

the picture of the the construction side. We'll start with this. Remember we

read in the First Corinthians chapter three, verse nine, we are both God's

workers, and you are God's field. You are God's building. So I

want to say that how we relate to this is, first of all,

we are God's workers. So tell a neighbor that's you that wears your heart

hat, you know this morning, that's you. Give them a toms up.

You are God's worker. You can say you are God's subcontractor. So

that's number one again, first corners of the Trievers line. For we are

both God's workers. I'll give you a bit other scriptures p. One two

seven. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

So we are God's laborers. God is the main contractor. God is the

main builder Hebrewstrievers four. For every house is built by someone, but he

who builds all things is God x four eleven. Jesus is the stone you

build its rejected and which has become the cornerstone. So, first of all,

we are God's subcontractors. Okay, you'll good to be subcontractors here.

You are good to be workers this morning. The Bible calls us subcontractors and

God's workers in this life. Okay. The second thing that first Corinergeip the

tree refers to us is this next life that's also you and this is a

building. So you are not only referred to in scripture as God's workers,

but our life itself is a building. Right you see, you are God's

feel you are God's building. So it's a bit different. One of it

is we can look at it in a perspective that in this life we have

a task to collaborate in God's kingdom, to build God's kingdom. It can

be in ministry, It can be in your workplace. It can be in

your families. I'm partnering with my husband or my wife with the Holy Spirit

to build my children to invest into their lives. It can be a ministry

like this a church. I'm partnering with the other dream teams and all the

people serving in ex Clang to build the House of God. Uh. It

could be in work. So depends on what we are called to do,

depends on our role as a subcontractor. Right, Kenny can be called,

uh to be the electrician of the house, and Kelly's can be called to

be the the worker that I'm kidding you know, uh, you know,

And and Max can be called to be the plumber. Someone can be called

to be the ARCon you know, fix the acon. Right. Another person's

called to paying the building, and they could be called paying the building.

We all have a specific role as God's subcontractors. It could be in church

or wherever we are called to be to do that job. Well. The

second thing which Scripture refers to us as we ourselves are the building. So

there may be other people that invest into our lives, building our lives,

especially when we're younger. You know, many people will come and invest and

build us. And we also have the responsibility to build our own lives to

be what God wants us to look like at the end of eternity. Right,

So you can look like this building, which looks like a very modern

building, or it can look like a compound at top house, or it

can look like Manara one super high rise. You know, everyone's a bit

different because the master builder of the architect is God and we're not all cold

to look the same. Okay, So those are two things which I've caught

having said that. I want to bring you to some one three nine versus

verse sixteen because I was reading this in the morning today and I think this

really brings out the meaning of how we are God's building. So this is

King David writing the book of something, and I'm wondering, like how he

even was so inspired to write these verses because he's so meaningful. Let's read,

you saw me before I was born. So King David speaking about God.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was

recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had

passed. I mean, this is so loaded. The scripture is God telling

all of us that he already has a plan even before we were born.

He wrote and recorded everything in his book before even a single day had passed,

Before we were even brought to the earth. God had in mind how

all these buildings will look like. God had in mind how we will impact

the kingdom. So he is the master builder. He is He has already

put that plan, and it is for us to now learn and walk in

that line and design the building and partner with God. Okay, so I

will say two things. We are built to last. So when I say

we are built to last, meaning God has God's intention for us is that

we will last. We are not meant to be temporary structure, but we

are. He has created us to last, and we also need to build

to last. We also need to make sure that what we are doing in

this life will count on judgment day. Okay, we are built to last.

We need to build to last. So again today it won't be very

structured, but I want to just bring out different teams and scripture and versus

from first Quarrenthine chapter three. And I want to first bring this two words,

which is judgment day. Judgment day. So so judgment day. So

when you hear the word judgment, don't like, oh man, we're gonna

we're gonna be judged. Uh, we're going to be it's gonna it's gonna

end badly or that's gonna be condamnation. It's so funny. Like sometimes now

how I would okay, okay, this is this is a bad example,

but I'll share it. But sometimes when we're driving short distances, I will

let my car not wear his seat belt in the car. Okay. But

he's a very bad idea because he's a very active kid and he doesn't know

how to see it still. But I don't know, I went loading tree

kids in the car down, just just going to the car and drive.

That's going to leave him where previously. So get into the car, okay,

job done. Don't don't follow my example. She's in the car next

to me. So it's like, but I would when when when I'm driving,

you know, and then like I know he's he's running a ruckers or

disturbing his brothers because it's not so I will, I will. I will

scare him by saying I see like police sirens behind and the and the cops

are coming to arrest him and bring him to prison. And he will always

comply because he knows that, you know, if he's not following the law,

judgment will be upon him and and he will be locked in the lock

up. Right. But I want to say that that I think that perception

and that's how we are. Sometimes we we comply because we are afraid that

when judgment comes upon us, we will be punished. But let's let's take

a little bit of a perspective of what Judgment Day is in that it's just

a day where a decision is made on all of us. So it's not

a day of condemnation. It's not a day for God to punish all of

us. But it's a time and a place and a day where a decision

is made on what we have invested in. Okay, it's like last time,

for some reason, I was a kid that likes to take exams.

I don't know why, Like, it's no, it's it's like, let

me explain why, because because it symbolizes to things. Number one, it's

the end of an era or end of a semester, which means I get

to go for Aliday after Okay, so it marks the end of a season.

Okay. The second thing is it's a chance for me to to prove

myself. Right, makes sense, right, No, it is it's like

you want to you want to test yourself to know that what what what you've

done or invested in the past, actually it was worthwhile, right. So

I mean, I'm not boasting here, but I did quite well in there

was like very long. I can just say now I'm getting old. I

can say that I've only feeled one exam before, which which was quite recent,

so it's a professional paper, which really really like, so I felt

like a SPM student dead relieving what I didn't go to last time. But

an exam is just basically a time in mark the end of a season and

also proves that whatever you have done is worthwhile. So I actually look forward

for the exam results as well, like, yes, come on, let's

say, let's see what I got. And that's what judgment day is.

It's basically us giving an account for the life that we have here on earth

before we go to the next season, which is in eternity. Okay,

so I put this statement down. What is judgment Day? The day where

a decision is made on all Christians where fire will reveal if the work we

have done on earth has any value? I like what how John Bervia put

it as well? I paraphrase what I've heard him say. He said,

what we do with the cross determines where we span eternity. So if we

accept that sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross, he decides where we span

eternity, Heaven or Hell. But the way we live as Christians here on

earth determines how how we span eternity, not where we spend. But how

are we ruling and reigning with Jesus? What's our rewards in eternity? Okay,

so that that word reward also is something we can we can look forward

to as Christians because first cornage of the tree promises a reward if we build

to last. Okay, let's go. So let's go to the question,

how then do we build to last? How what does scriptures say about us

living our lives? What kind of investment? How do we make sure that

our lives here on earth is built to last? Only have two things to

bring up from this scripture, and the first one is foundation. Foundation.

So again first cornage of the Tree, verse ten. Because of God's grace

to me, I've laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are

building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful,

must be very careful, for no one can lay any foundation other than

the one we already have, which is Jesus Christ. Like four eleven,

Jesus is the stone your builders have rejected, which has become the cornerstone.

So the answer is actually very simple. The first step for us in our

life to build to last is we need to lay our foundations on Jesus Christ.

Okay, so we'll break it down a bit more. I also want

to bring you to another I think very firminus scripture in Mettewo chapter seven,

which is laying our foundation on solid rock versus sinking sand. Okay, so

let's read that first Matthew seven twenty four. Anyone who listens to my teaching

and follows is wise like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwater's rise and the winds beat against

the house. So again, it's not about Earth living a very smooth life.

There will be different seasons, but it won't collapse because it is built

on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish,

like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and

the flirts come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with

a mighty crash. So how do we build the last The first thing we

need to do is build our foundation on Jesus. Okay, I'll show you

a quick picture. Last Sunday I went camping with Levi and in I think

who is here? Jeremy. Jeremy was here, so I think Jared's in

that picture jaredy. Yeah, okay, I would say I went camping,

but I used that term camping very loosely, so you can come and ask

me later what does it mean. But so a bunch of us, all

the dads, some of the dads, brought their children to a campsite in

Rawan. And and then the first thing we were there, okay, all

the kids wanted to go to the stream, which to me looked a bit

like a long kung but the stream now case the stream. And then suddenly

one one child had the idea of building a dam. So a dam is

you know a dam, right, It blocks the water from going. So

there's imagine a stream that has continuous flowing water and you're trying to build a

structure to stop that water from flowing. Okay, So the very first kids

like, oh okay, guys, get all the dry sand and put it,

you know, on the water, so you can see at the bottom

where LEVI is. It started out with sand, right, I don't know

what they want to bring all the dry scand and so you have to walk

somewhere take dry sand and bring it here. But when you put a stand

in the water, it gets wet days like okay, but the kids try

let on them by themselves. They were they were trying to build a damn

with sand. Then after a while, after a while, so if you

look at it midway through right, soverere Levir was towards the yellow kid,

you can see that they started to realize, like, hey, guys,

it doesn't make sense. Every time I put the sand in the water,

the water just like pushes it down. It doesn't hole. It's it's not

standing standing its ground when the stream and the water gushes over it. Right,

So they realize, okay, we need we need rocks. We need

rocks. So if you look up there, there's actually they started to use

rocks, to use rocks. Okay, kids, you guys are smart.

This is why we need to bring you to the outdoors. More so so

they started to look for rocks. But the thing is, when you want

to build with the rock, right, it's takes a lot more effort.

So sand is appliable, it's very easy to move around. But for them,

I noticed that when they wanted to look for rocks. First of all,

it's quite scarce. So they have to go and find in the nook

and crannies or climb up a hill or look, you know, deeper than

the water to find rocks and carry the heavy rock some of them were quite

big, to the dam to the project area and lay the rock there.

So what I'm trying to say is the rocks actually did a much better job

at holding the water. The rocks didn't move when water gushed crew the rocks

stood its ground. It stayed firm like a firm foundation. Right. In

fact, the next day when we got back there, actually it was still

there out of them. I mean, the rocks are still there. Actually

the sand power still there. But I know when there will be stronger waters

coming in the sand would be just swept away. And the second thing I

observe is it really took a lot of effort. They have to really carry

And I was a bit worried because someone ever carrying the rocks, they needs

to go under like this pipe or go over the pipe, and imagine carrying

a heavy rock that might drop on your toes and stuff like that. So

it took a lot more effort to build their project with rocks. Right,

So how do we build our foundation in Jesus Christ. I think first of

all, we need to make Christ the center of our life, which is

something we say here a lot. What does it mean to make Christ the

center of our life? That Christ the rock, our foundation, is the

center of all we do. So in all our decisions in our ministry where

we spend our time and resources, do we have Christ as the cornerstone?

Do we have Christ as the anchor? Or are we making our decisions in

life based on other stuff that may may be a bit more straightforward but may

not stand the test of time. Okay, again, building a rock is

more difficult. I'm recalling again seven is that the narrow is the road that

leads to life. So the word of God does say that it will take

time. Uh you know what, as as even in construction, when you're

doing piling, they always need to power. Piling is when you you drive

pile, which is a long structure downwards to where it hits bid rock,

where it hits something very firm, so that when you construct a building whatever

that's on top of ground, it doesn't sink because eventually land will settled and

then things will sink. But if you power and you hit bid rock,

you know that you will stand firm. So pile by itself takes time and

effort. Piling by itself is is something that you don't see. You don't

see anything building above ground, but most buildings may take six months to a

year just doing piling. Everything that happens underground, everything happens in the quiet,

in the secret place. That's where we build our foundation on Christ.

So sometimes I think this was what God was speaking to me about. Sometimes

laziness could be a hindrance to building on bedrock because because we know the effort

required to build something, we know the effort required to answer God's call as

a subcontractor or build our lives on that firm foundation, and we avoid it

and we avoid it. That's why I love how John and Ivy, even

though they're in Perth, they still have that foundation of what being a Christian

is, which is to serve the House of God, which is to be

planted in a place where they can invest into lives. Right. So number

one very simple, how do we build to last? We need to build

our foundation on Jesus Christ. Okay, second point, which I think all

of you can already guess, how do we build to last, we need

to use the right material. So I'm about to end. We need to

use the right material. And I want to say this first that it is

us and all of us here that decide what material we used to build.

So God has a plan for us, but we decide what materials to use.

We decide what we invest in in this life. Okay. The scripture

gives us two different types of materials, and first it's wood, hay,

and straw, and the other categories gold, silver, and jewels. So

if you look at it, wood hay and straw is things that are temporal,

cheap or common, and gold, silver and jewels things that are eternal,

valuable and rare. So the question is what are we investing in this

life. I'll give another quick illustration before we end. And many years ago,

like many many years ago, way back then, when I wasn't so

wise. I I think it was during my college days. I somehow started

getting into like gymming and like bodybuilding because of my friends were like buffing up

and they were like, you know, hitting the gym every day. No,

I liked it. I still exercise now, but there was the point

in my life where I was I was a little bit too obsessed with the

physics of physical folloking me like, but this guy's skinny, man his crowny.

But there was a time where I think I got to overboard with with

like trying to build this physical body. Right, So I was like,

oh, man, I didn't go to gym today. I wasted a day

I could have gotten gains or you know, I will take supplements and things

like that, and and it was kind of like almost bodily obsessive. Then

then one day I think the Holy Spirit just dropped this this scripture to me.

I think I probably share this before. But if you look in first

Timaty for it, I still remember descripture in today you want Timothy for it.

For bodily exercise profits a little. Bodily exercise profits a little. So

the Bible just talk about exercise, and the Bible does say that it profits

but a little. Okay, But Godliness is profitable for all things, having

promises of the life that now is and of that which is to come,

So physical exercise is profitable. You can also widen the perspective a bit too,

like, you know, things that we invest in the physical now,

whether it's your finances or material stuff that we have. But first Timothy,

for it is Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life

that is now, so is profitable now in our life and also in the

life to come, which is to eternity. So I want to say,

looking at this picture, that's an illustration of how we can invest into things

that are temporal, which okay, it's it's fine, it's it's okay.

But God wants us to look at godliness, righteousness being rooted in Him and

what we are. What we should really focus on in this life are things

that are eternal, valuable and rare. The question is how do we Now

I mentioned just now that I like to take exams, right, so,

how how can I test in this life before coming to judgment day when fire

really tests my my investments, my building? How can I test? How

do I test our material? And I want to just sum up in these

two very simple things. Okay, the first one is obedience. How do

we test our structure? How do we test better we're using hay straw or

wood or the using goal, gold, silver or precious stone. How do

we know because we're not actually physically trying to find goal and build our life,

right, but it's it's something that it's different for everyone. Okay.

So number one obedience. Obedience is how we know if this resource which I'm

putting into my life will stand the test of time and obedience according to God's

plan, because all of us are called to do different things. So I

can't be looking at someone who's maybe a preacher and having a very large following

of someone who's on Instagram that shares scripture and has like one hundred thousand followers

and one thing to be like them even though they are impacting the Kingdom of

God. They are impacting lives, but they are called is different from mine.

And to know and to obey God's call, we first need to hear

and listen and understand what He's calling us to do. So how do we

know and test our materials? We first need to hear God and we need

to make sure that what we are doing is in obedience to his call,

okay, and his plan. And the second way to test our materials is

intention and heart. Matthew six, Verse two was was Jesus talking about the

Pharisees. When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites

do, blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to the acts

of charity. I tell her the truth, they have received all the reward

they will ever get. So you see, the Pharisees and Saducees were still

doing God's work. They were giving to the poor, they were fasting,

they were praying. These three things were mentioned in MATTHEWO. Chapter six.

But every time Jesus pointed it out, he didn't look at just the action

that they were doing, but he looked at the intention. He looked at

the heart because it's something that no one can tell. So I want to

say today as we as we're about to pray and end the service, God

really looks at the intention. And the intention and the heart is something that

only we know and we can control. I mean, sometimes God's mercy is

good and he just bring people that speaks it to our lives. But how

do we know that we're building things for the reward that were last even to

eternity. Jesus says, he looks at our intention and our heart because if

you do it for people, or if we do it for the approval of

people to just get more follow us, then our rewards is just here on

earth. But if you do it for His kingdom and to really bless other

people, then we know that our rewards to eternity. We hope you've been

blessed by this message. For more information on our church, please visit as

church org. We are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week. I hit for you. God bless