Transcription
Many people have been chosen and introduced by God to the world. Some have been chosen and introduced by God to many people, and sometimes people that never knew them. Many people also have been introduced by God to certain people, just one person in some instances. And every time God does this, it is for a reason and for a purpose.
Some of these people that God has chosen and, uh, recommended for certain things at different times include Jo. David, 1 Samuel 16:11-13. God recommended him, endorsed and recommended him to prophet Samuel. Solomon, God recommended him as king to his father David, 1 Chronicles 22:7-10. Hazel, J. Elisha, three of them at the same time, we're introduced to the Prophet Elijah by God. And, and God assigned the Prophet Elijah to anoint them for specific offices that God had called them into. Hazel was being called by God to be king of Syria. Jeub was being called by God to be king over Israel. And Elisha was being called by God to also become a prophet and also to succeed Elijah as a national prophet of Israel. You see all that in First Kings chapter 19, verse 15-16. Then Paul would also be chosen by the Lord and introduced to a man called Ananias, one of the disciples and followers of Christ, in Acts chapter 9:1-15.
So, we, in this first part, look at a few lessons. But more specifically, three major issues have been looked at. First is divine introduction, when God decides to specially introduce you to certain people. Next is divine recommendation, when God specifically assigns you, recommends you, selects you for a particular assignment, particular position, particular office, or a particular purpose. And then, of course, divine connection.
So, the first, under the first lesson, we look at when God decides to introduce you to people, certain people. In Matthew chapter 3:1-17, Matthew 3:17, New Living Translation, it says, "And a voice from heaven said, 'A voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved Son, my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.'" And this is quite, is quite interesting because a short while ago, in the, in the leadership meeting we hold every Sunday for workers and ministers in the ministry, the Holy Spirit gave a word in that meeting conveying God's love to certain people, reassuring certain people of God's love for them. And here it says, "A voice from heaven said, 'This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.'" Divine introduction means God himself announcing you, God himself presenting you, God himself introducing you. It could be to just one person, it could be to certain people, it could be to the world. In Matthew chapter 3:17, we see the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it served as an occasion for his divine introduction. So, I'm the Lord is saying to certain people here, get ready because God is about to introduce you in a new dimension. Can that amen connect with heaven? And you would observe that before the baptism, everything about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ was very, very quiet, very quiet. Everything was silent, and nothing much was heard about him or heard from him. But after the divine introduction, the situation changed. The cloud of obscurity gave way as the glory of God came upon him, bringing with it a heavy dose of the anointing of the Lord. The Lord anointed, anointed him with the Holy Ghost, our power, a heavy measure of that anointing, and many things began to happen. And he went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Acts 10:38 will tell us as much.
In First Kings chapter 19:15-17, you see the Lord speaking to the Prophet Elijah. New Living Translation, he said, "That the Lord told him, 'Go back the same way you came and travel to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael.'" Listen, sir, listen, ma. God is about to mention your name, your name, your [Applause] name, your name, your name will be mentioned to certain people. To some of you, in certain quarters, in the boardroom, your name will be mentioned before that powerful committee. Your name will be mentioned, and it's for, for good. It's for approval. It's for empowerment. It's for promotion. It's for a raise in leadership. He said, "Anoint Hazael to be king of Aram." People that perhaps never knew you, God will introduce you to. Anoint Hazael. After God has spoken, one of the things that will go through Elijah's mind is, who is Hazael? Anoint Hazael for what, sir? To be king of Aram. Something was about to happen. God had decided on certain things. One, he wanted to make this man called Hazael president of, of a nation of Syria. And God gave instruction to the prophet, "Anoint him." And that anointing will commence the move that will ultimately lead, eventually, to his installment as king of that nation. He said, "Then anoint Jehu." Jehu. I'm telling you this morning that your name is about to be mentioned. [Applause] He said, "Anoint Jehu, grandson of Nimshi." God would give details, your family background, yes, God will give details while introducing [Applause] you. "Grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel." It has already been decided, and it is God that has decided on it. He said, "Then anoint Elisha." "Anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet." Name came up from nowhere. Elijah, at this moment, was nowhere around Elijah. But God had selected, God had chosen, God had raised up, God had ordained, God had picked someone. That is how it happens. And when he has done this, one of the things that will follow is that God will introduce you. You are about to move to the next level. Yes, God is about to move you higher to the next [Applause] level. And someone by my right, this right, by my right, by my right, you should take note of this. Take note of this. God is about to move you higher to the next level. And the Spirit of the Lord says I should tell you, it is sure and it is certain. It says, "Anyone who escaped from Hazael will be killed by Jehu." Talking about some things that will happen in the assignment. And those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha.
Then in Exodus 31:2-5, Lord was speaking here to the man Moses. New Living Translation says, it says, "Look, see [Music] behold, I, the Lord, have specifically chosen [Music] Bezalel." This is one of the things that you encourage you in life. You have a destiny. You have a destiny. Your son has a destiny. Your daughter has a destiny. There is something that God has picked you for. Life is about discovery of many things, and one of them is discovery of your divine assignment, your divine calling. Some of these assignments will come at different stages of your life, some at different levels. As you do well, you excel in some measure of the assignment, then at a point in time, God will take you higher to a much higher level, bigger responsibilities. As time passes, he said, "I have specifically chosen Bezalel, son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom." So, the, the magnitude of wisdom, the measure of wisdom is emphasized here, not just wisdom, great wisdom. You are going to discover that when God was going to give this man, he put him in charge of some major construction work of very holy things, including the Tabernacle where the Spirit of God will come down and dwell. God gave details of many things. Then God did not also give details about some things, and those things that God did not give details about, he left it to the discretion of Bezalel, that with the wisdom he has, he is loaded, among other things, with creativity. Creativity that grace upon him will inspire him to come up with all kinds of designs beyond what God will tell him. I pray for someone in the fashion business today that a higher measure of the grace of God in that line will come upon [Applause] you because it will shock you to find out that the first person in the Bible that was recorded to be filled with the Spirit of God was not a prophet, was not a priest, was not a judge, was not even a patriarch Abraham or the leader of God's people, Moses. He was this man. This is the first time you read in the Holy Bible that a man was filled with the Spirit of God to do what? You begin to see the dimensions of God's assignment that God wanted, had anointed him to use him for. One of the mistakes the church had made in the past was to focus only on building people in the church to become pastors, building everybody in the church only for spiritual, spiritual assignment. And that's why the church for a long time stayed away from certain critical areas of the society and life, such as governance. Governance. So, this is an eye opener for every one of us here that the anointing is not only to serve and do things in the house of God or just to minister, to teach and preach the word. God anoints people for different roles and assignments. He said, "I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts." All kinds of crafts. Anointing is not only for deliverance from demons. Anointing, the grace of God flows for different roles and assignments. He's a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. You can see God introducing this man to Moses, telling Moses the areas where this man is exceptional, is outstanding. In fact, he has become an expert, an authority in doing certain things. He said, "In verse five, he is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He's a master." Can you imagine God describing you as a master of something? May that be your testimony. May that be your testimony that you are an expert in something. He's a master at every craft. Divine introduction, divine. And when this was done, everything changed for this man. Bezalel's name was never mentioned before Exodus 31, but the moment God introduced him, everything changed. Hallelujah. Everything changed. And you know, sometimes in life, when certain, one certain people know you and meet you and begin to deal with you, every other person will know you. That was what happened. The moment Moses discovered this man through this divine introduction, you follow, and you begin to see by Exodus 35:36, everybody knew him. Everybody knew him. Doors are about to open for you in your area of calling, your area of talent, your area of divine specially given abilities. Doors are about to open. God himself will introduce you to certain people in the name of Jesus.
So, Bezalel was already an expert. He was already a master craftsman, yet Bezalel was not yet known by Moses. You can be excelling in life, you can be excelling in life, and people that ought to have, uh, started patronizing you are not yet in connection with you. Because Proverbs 22:29 tells us that if you do well in life, you excel in certain things in life, something will usually follow eventually. You would have a connection, you have an access to, to great men and women, great leaders and kings, because those people are always looking for the best hands. They are always looking for people who excel in whatever they are doing. But in this case, this man was not yet known to Moses. So God introduced him. And take note that God did it himself. There are times when God will do it directly, and there are times when God will use someone to introduce you. Anyhow, it is God in action. In Genesis chapter 41, you will see the Lord inspire the chief butler to remember Joseph and the gift of God in him for the interpretation of dreams. What you have long and patiently waited for to happen, God will finally make it happen. Let your amen be the loudest in this [Applause] auditorium. Please be seated.
So, God himself introduced him to Moses. And take note, why did God choose Moses for this divine introduction? Why Moses? It was intentional. It was strategic. It was strategic. It was strategic. Moses was the leader of God's people. So, he, he already had certain privileges, certain authority conferred on him by God, and the people were, were very much aware, and they were already working together. So, ultimately, in choosing who will handle and supervise that project, Moses was certainly going to have the final say, at least from the human perspective. So, God went straight to Moses. There are certain people in particular that God needs to speak to about you, and once that happens, everything will change. Yes, everything will change. You will get phone calls. You'll get phone calls, and things will just begin to happen. Things will begin to happen, and it's going to happen fast. It's going to happen very fast. It's going to happen very, very fast. It's going to happen very, very fast. Because for some of you, someone listening to this message, your time has really come. Your time has really come. Your time has come. God will publicly honor you in this new season.
So, the Lord appointed Bezalel, God and picked him for this specific task. God knew his name, what family he belonged to, and which specific tribe he was a member of. God gave these names to Moses, so he knew how to find him. He knew how to find him, and he knew how Bezalel was already gifted and how far he had advanced in the grace, in the area of grace that the Lord had bestowed upon him. And one or two things you pick from these: God is the one who calls people to specific roles in the kingdom. It's God that calls. This was the assignment for this man, Bezalel. You have an assignment. Some of you have many assignments, many roles for different seasons. Discover it. Be sensitive at all times to recognize it. God is the one who enables and empowers those who he has called to do things for him. You could also see that God had highly endowed this man to be able to excel in his area of calling. Now, it will interest you to note that this man, Bezalel, discovered his abilities. He discovered his areas of strength. Have you discovered yours? He developed himself. Have you gone for any kind of training in that area where people say you are good? Have you gone for any kind of training? Have you gone for further training? Bezalel developed himself in his area of gifting to the point where he became an expert, and God himself, the Almighty, called him an expert. Another thing that will interest you: Bezalel had gained experience. Bezalel had gained experience. In my little journey in life so far, I'm still a youth, and a youth is age 0 to 60. It's when you are 60 that is when you cross out of the youth wing, and still a youth. In my little journey so far, and crossing 60 doesn't mean by force you must leave the youth wing. If you want to remain, remain. No hurry. Bezalel had gained experience. Brethren, I have learned to listen to elders. I have learned to listen to elders. If you are observant, many things they will tell you at critical times, you will find out it was true. You may decide to go your own way, do your own thing, but you will find out later that what the elders told you, time, circumstances will confirm that that was actually the word to hold on to. Bezalel had gained experience. Have you gained experience in your field, in the things that God has gifted you to do well? Experience does not have to come from having a big platform, a big shop. You can gain experience from a small, from a small shop, from a one-room office. You can gain experience using just your laptop, even without a physical office. He gained experience in using his special abilities before his divine assignment, and that brings us to an important point that we all, please, must take note of. Bezalel, God was going to use him for the building of the temple. Listen to this, but that was not going to be the only thing he will use his gift for in life. Bezalel did not say, "God has anointed me, he has gifted me with these things, and I'm going to use my talent only for church, only for church." No, he was using it for other things. You can have some boundaries. Maybe if they are going to build a temple to worship Baal, and they now come to you, "Bezalel, can you please help us handle this project?" You, you will back out. But if someone wants to build a residential house, residential, or build a school, what stops him from using his talent, his skill for that project if he's approached? So, Bezalel was using his talent, and it was because he was using his talent before the time of the calling that was why he had all these outstanding things in his CV and profile, everything God was praising him for. He got those things before the temple project, before the temple project. I hope someone is getting something from these. So, let's avoid extremes. Let's avoid extremes. Let's avoid extremes. You can do consultation, yes. You can consult with some other thing that you have. You can also consult while you are focused on your primary job on the side. You can consult, and that area where you will consult, whatever is the, whatever you are doing, it will be highly appreciated because you are going to add value there. You're going to add value there. So, Bezalel used his abilities for other relevant needs and projects, and not, not only for the temple project.