 who you're giving to us, to equip us with your word and to equip us for the walk ahead. We commit this class onto your hands and we pray that by the spirit of God, you will direct everything that is taught here and that Lord our instructor will speak by the inspiration of Holy Spirit and every one of us Lord will be impacted by the knowledge of what it takes to build your kingdom and that Lord will be driven every day by the kingdom and that Lord will be driven by the things and the purposes of the kingdom to see your kingdom established here. We praise you and we thank you for a wonderful class in that class. Let it be your holy name for in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you Sayin for leading us in prayer today and we will continue from where we stopped in the last class. So we have started the Kingdom Builders the new publication we were doing Kingdom of God in the last several weeks. So Kingdom Builders is what we are doing now and we just started like with some of the introductory notes there. So chapter one we looked at that briefly and then we came over to chapter two which is about the King and the Kingdom. So a couple of things we said in chapter two is that you know we must first of all learn to relate to the King when we talk about Kingdom Building because our relationship with the King is what will help us be a true Kingdom builder. So it's easy to get lost in serving God in terms of activities but you know if we don't have that personal connect and that deep relationship with God then we're really missing out on the point and then we saw how in what Paul writes to the Corinthian Church he says that there are several co-workers different ones God calls to do you know something that is that they are called to do and we work together with the fellow workers and all of us together are building God's Kingdom and we also saw that the foundation must always be the Lord Jesus and we have to build only on this foundation. So Kingdom Building starts with Christ as the foundation. So some of these key truths we have seen in the last class and we also saw the fact that we must give glory to God because ultimately even though we are all serving in different capacities it is God who gives us the ability to serve him so that's what we were talking about in fact we were talking about giving glory to God and making sure that whatever we do that is about the Kingdom of God and that is about glorifying the name of God and we must be very careful that nothing should try to attract God's glory you know onto our lives. So that is another very important foundation that the Kingdom Builder has to get straight before doing anything for God's Kingdom. So I think we were on page 8 so we will begin once again from page 8 and this is APC publication Kingdom Builder so if you haven't downloaded your copy yet you can do that from the website you can just go to apcwo.org forward slash books and get your PDF version of Kingdom Builders yes. So yeah we said that the person who is sent is supposed to supposed to glorify the person who sends him because that's that's what Jesus said so it's not about the glory of you know somebody who is given the task but the giver of that ability and call that's the person that we are out to glorify and we must make sure that we never try to take God's praise or God's glory there's a scripture in our notes here from Isaiah 42 and verse 8 which says I am the Lord that is my name and my glory I will not give to another no my praise to God in which is so that's the kind of God we serve in the Old Testament there are many scriptures where where you see that our God is jealous in that sense okay and it's jealous here it's not a negative jealous but it's it's more like you know God's honor and God's glory is something that nobody can share and nobody can withstand because we are mortal beings and the kind of glory that God deserves he is immortal we we saw that scripture that Paul wrote to Timothy he said you know that he dwells in light immeasurable light the great God so he is this great God whose glory we cannot even you know dare to contain so there's no question actually there's no question of sharing in his glory and God also spoke and said that he will not give his glory to anyone else so why are we talking about this here because when we get into kingdom building it's very easy for us to slowly change our mindset you know when you have more influence when you when you seem to be recognized when you sort of get a hold of what God wants you to do you know sometimes in that in that sense of power or sense of influence in a very in a very subtle way we can move on to a place where we are basking in the glory that that comes from appreciation that comes from applause that comes from you know like just being recognized so when we start out saying okay I never never want to take God's glory it'll just make us more careful and we'll make sure that whether it is in the beginning or you know later on on our journey wherever we are we are clear that it is only God who deserves our glory and it is only God who deserves all the glory because the other thing that can happen is that okay we are willing to give God the glory and most of us say that most of us pray that we say okay God we give you the honor all glory to your name but somewhere in in our hearts 99% of the glory goes to God 1% I'm sure God won't mind you know so that's like a feel good for us we don't we we take that 1% and we feel yeah God is okay and I also feel great to be you know basking in the glory that I'm receiving but you know one beautiful example that the early church said for us is when Peter and John they go and they heal a man who's crippled and how long is this man crippled he was crippled for 40 years since his birth he never walked so at the gate beautiful they go and they minister a miraculous healing or recovery to him and when people look at them all the people surrounding that place they look at Peter and John as if they do they've done something amazing as if these two people are not human beings but God so they respite at that time they look at the crowds this is an act 312 they say why do you marvel at this or why look so intently at this as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk okay so you notice that the early church we talk about it working working in incredibles manifestation of God supernatural power but they were always careful to direct the appreciation of man the applause of man the praises of man to the person who deserves it that is God so Peter and John even in this case they say why are you people looking at us it's not us but it is God okay and this man you know what has made this man walk and then they give them the explanation that he gave strength through the power in the name of Jesus so now that's an example we can all always have and direct the glory back to God and when it comes to kingdom building we see that Jesus said about himself he said I do not receive honor from men so that is also something that we must receive in our own hearts and keep that as an attitude throughout otherwise receiving honor from men becomes our motivation okay it can be a good motivation but many times it can be a wrong pull on us because we might end up doing things for the praises that people have to give us okay of course the flip side is praises come from people but you know if you rely too much on what people have to say even when criticisms come we will we will be molded by that so we don't want to depend on what people are saying in order for us to build the kingdom on God so at our core we must depend on the applause that comes from God and so you know a kingdom builder has to be secure in these things and make sure that the motive the motive of hearts is correct and that our eyes are fixed on God and not on people so in Jesus's times you had Pharisees and hypocrites who would do the right thing but you know looking at the motives of their hearts Jesus commented many times and said look you want to receive the reward of man but that's not what is important but the reward should come from God so in kingdom building you let's remember that we must be careful not to please men okay one teslonians 2 verses 4 through 6 this is on page 9 if someone can read it I think that will be very helpful one teslonians 2 verses 4 through 6 page 9 kingdom builders shall I read man yes yes I'm gonna please do thanks but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel even so we speak not as pleasing men but God who tests our hearts for neither at any time did we use flattering words as you know nor a cloak of covetousness God is witness nor did we seek glory from men either from you or from others amen thank you thank you so we see the clarity in Paul's attitude there whatever Paul did he's saying it's not to seek the appreciation of man but he starts out by saying his desire was to be approved by God so in what we do the first question that we have to ask ourselves is does God approve of this is God happy with my preaching teaching ministry any form of ministry that I'm engaged in and if God approves of it my honor comes from God and you know let's say even man approves it that would be wonderful man honors it that would be wonderful but if in case you know it's approved by God but not by man it's still okay because at the end of the day our conscience is clear and we know that God is happy with what we are doing so that's the way a kingdom builder must move forward and what to do when appreciation comes from man okay and honor comes from man there's a wonderful scripture in Psalm 115 and verse one which can be a prayer so in this verse the psalmist writes not unto us oh lord not unto us but to your name give glory because of your mercy because of your truth so whenever appreciation comes from man we can direct it back to God and say God not to us yes you know we are being recognized but Lord whatever we are receiving not unto us but Lord let the glory be to your name it's only because of who you are so your mercy your truth your faithfulness in our lives that we are able to serve you we are able to work in your kingdom wherever you have positioned us so in kingdom building the motives of the heart are more important than the work itself we also see that in the kingdom there is authority which is given for us to exercise and you know that that that is an incredible thing because otherwise nothing will get that no no work of God will get that so God empowers us he gives us dominion he gives us authority and we can use it and we can see wonderful things happen now when Jesus sent out some disciples to go and do the work of the ministry in the book of Luke they come back thrilled and they say wow at your name Jesus we saw demons fleeing we saw this happened we saw that happened so they were moving in the authority of the kingdom but again you know it's important for us to know where this authority is coming from otherwise you know we can get all excited about the work that is being accomplished by the power of God and we might think that it's all happening because of us so being submitted to the king positioning ourselves in right relationship to the king when it comes to authority is also equally important so James 4 7 it says submit therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you so how can you exercise our authority resist the devil and he will flee from you is the exercise of our dominion but before that comes therefore submit to God so our authority flows from the place of submission and we've said this when we talked about believers authority in the last semester we said to the extent that we are submitted to God we can exercise our dominion and authority here on earth so our dominion authority in a sense it is you proportional maybe wrong word but I think you get the point but it's proportional to our submission to God so the the greater submission we have to our king the greater authority you and I can walk in so submission to God is extremely important submission and obedience and we can position ourselves in that manner to be an effective kingdom builder so here it's put in a better way the statement says to the extent he rains in me to that extent he can be through me so we let God rain and we stand submitted under his authority okay the next thing when we talk about kingdom building we said that there are fellow workers there are co-workers in the kingdom of God so we're all serving together now it is also possible to be so far we talked about having the right motivation within ourselves now it's also possible that we elevate people above God when we observe them serving well now naturally it's you know it's a it's a reaction we all have a response when we see someone serving well we we you know give them a very high high place in our minds and we think oh wow this person is honorable they're doing a good job in the ministry that is fine but if we you know on making that person greater than God that also wouldn't be correct so to glory in man is is not something that God is happy about so there are again you know scriptures that are enlisted here I won't go through all of them but one Corinthians 4 6 I read that it says now these things brethren I have figuratively transferred to myself and a follows for your sakes that you will learn in us not to think beyond what is written that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other so puffed up on behalf of one against the other so you see in the temple church what had happened was you know Paul ministered and then for a while he wasn't around so he had another minister Apollos take his place and you know serve there in the church but later on Paul comes to know that there were factions in the church so there were people who liked the way Paul ministered the way Paul preached but then there were others no follows was a very you know well-learned eloquent man that's that's how he came across so there were people who said no no no Apollos is better than Paul so factions you know came to be in the church and there were there were divisions and some people were supporting Apollos some people were supporting Paul so in that context he's telling the people look what is this is Apollos someone or is Paul someone ultimately it's God who gives the increase and it's God who you know God who blesses the work that we do we are all fellow workers in the kingdom of God and on the part of the believers he says look it's it's not right at all that you you get talked up on behalf of a certain worker in the kingdom of God so how does this apply you know to us basically when we see ministers of God well even let's say like in the kingdom or or in our church or something like that where shouldn't we shouldn't be elevating them above God okay so yes we honor that but we must be sensitive you know not to put them on a pedestal and sort of worship them the way we worship God because ultimately it is God who deserves all our glory and that glory should never go to man in any way okay now I'm just going section by section so there are there are important points mentioned in some section all the sections some of them flow but you know you might also feel that you know certain concept is a little disconnected from the previous point that I made but please just bear with me so the next part here is about being accountable to God who will judge all things so again you know accountability in the kingdom of God is very very important now Paul writes he says there are two passages given here so in these passages basically what Paul is saying look if I think about my own life I cannot find something that is wrong okay not right but basically he's saying in my own understanding I feel like I've dealt with everything I've brought it before God I have asked for forgiveness I have tried to live righteous but still I don't judge myself because they become the right time towards the end of the age when it is Christ who will judge all things okay and Christ who will judge all things rightly so we will just wait for Christ to judge everything so and you know while he talks about this basically he's saying that ultimately we are accountable to God okay and a kingdom builder needs to live in that manner having accountability so here in our notes you know it's beautifully put down that accountability means being true to God but at the same time accountability means being true to ourselves being true to our family being true to those we serve true to those who watch over our lives so having a clear conscience okay and making sure that our motives are right making sure that you know we are doing things right and for the right reasons so that's what a kingdom builder would do and you know why how does this apply it applies in many ways in fact it applies all the time you know when we are judging ourselves being true to God and being being true to ourselves you know every now and then as as someone who's serving God this question will come to us isn't it like it could just be somebody maybe our superior asking us a question saying hey have you done this now at that point I can say anything that I want but if I'm true to God and if I'm true to myself you know I'm walking in integrity I'm being accountable to God now maybe the person who entrusted me with that task won't research and find out whether I'm telling the truth or not right it won't matter maybe it'll never like I can just sort of get away with it but when I walk with the attitude that look I'm accountable to God I have to be true to myself in what I'm saying and I have to be true to God that that will preserve us to serve God with purity okay and I gave you one small example now this way everything we do in kingdom building right now for some of us we will set up churches we're talking about house of God in the other course we will run churches and there are so many things involved the way we manage money the way we we communicate with the people the way we manage human resources in everything we need accountability if we are not accountable you know one way or the other right and you know and and I don't know if we will talk about this later but as long as we maintain this pure conscience right we will be able to serve God well but you know there is the danger of self-deception that we could come into the most dangerous thing is when I know something is wrong and I know how to justify that okay so as a kingdom builder in the smallest things if we can learn being accountable to God accountable to ourselves right then that carries on with us no matter what we do it because small is not the issue but being sincere having a clear conscience in fact Paul writes to Timothy he says when you entrust the ministry to faithful men he also adds a point he says find people with a good conscience the people who are true to God so these things matter they matter a lot so this this section is talking about having accountability and you know making sure that we are transparent okay to all the people who God has put in our lives so that you know that there isn't let's say a false front in front of the church and then you know you have another front elsewhere because that wouldn't be the right way of living and of course it would never be the right way of serving God or building his kingdom okay so we need to be accountable and in the section there's also an encouragement to you know be true to God in such a way that we don't make our life about our reputation because when Apostle John writes to the seven churches in the book of Revelation he addresses one particular church in Sabbath and he says that I got the Lord Jesus comments about this church and says I know your works that you have a name that you are alive but you are dead okay so what's happening with this church in Sabbath the church has a reputation you have a name okay so again you know it's about being true to oneself it's about being true to um uh that that uh person that we project because when we are being true now you're the same thing in this church it had a name that it was alive but it was actually dead so having a front in before people and then being someone else there is a disconnect in that and that's lack of integrity but instead if we can maintain our accountability to God then we will not so much you know worry about our reputation we'll continue to live our lives accountable to God and whatever you know that whatever reputation that brings us you know that's that's fine so basically having integrity right and I'm being accountable to God not worrying too much about our reputation okay so again this is very important for a kingdom builder because you see it's sometimes easier to uh be accepted by people because the people think we are unminded okay now behind the scenes the story can be very different now God can be disappointed in our lives right our walk with him our private walk with him you know our accountability to him the truth of our hearts all that nobody knows only people see outside and you know sometimes the pastor always says this person says like see the anointing comes from God so when we are ministering in that anointing actually the ability is from God right and sometimes God works in spite of us God works in spite of us but we cannot think that oh okay just because I'm able to do powerful ministry I'm seeing the demonstration of God's supernatural power every time everything is fine with me oh it may not necessarily be fine okay so but for the people they only perceive that oh this individual is so anointed so anointed that's okay that's a good thing but ultimately it's God you know who sees everything and what is the point in you know having the approval of man while God is disappointed you know having a reputation that we are alive we are anointed behind the scenes only God knows the reality so you know these are things these are foundational things in the life of any kingdom builder that you must be careful to give glory to God we must be careful to receive our honor from God we must be careful not to exert you know any any human being above God we must be careful to be accountable be true to God in every way so some foundational things here that we want to talk about before we go any further in kingdom building so based on what we've discussed in this chapter I think I'll pause and have your thoughts right now we could talk about no we said that it's important for us to deepen our relationship with the king okay when we say kingdom building Christ should have the three elements so that is very important and kingdom building should follow from there so how can a kingdom builder maintain this strong relationship with the king okay so maybe we can start there and then you can also share your comments on this whole thing about accountability and honor and all of that and then we can move on to the next chapter here so how can one maintain a deep relationship and connect with the king as a kingdom builder yes yes I think one is to keep our sights on him like uh being doing being intentional about uh seeking him because in fact being what I'm understanding being a king kingdom builder is not something that comes easily it's something that you have to to work hard toward so keeping our eyes on Jesus reading it with praying and holy spirit will will move us thank you yes thank you thank you mangy so mangy saying uh to keep our eyes fixed on god that will help us stay on track okay abhishek taking it to the next level he's saying die to self yeah definitely definitely abhishek um yeah so as you're serving the lord that's where the submission comes in right so the extent that the lord reigns in me is the extent to which he will be able to reign through me so when we die to self we let him take over completely okay so samuel I'll come to you say samuel says you did deeply in the word of god and okay say yeah so sorry sorry say just a moment I just muted you please excuse me I will finish reading samuel's comment here and then you could unmute yourself I hope that's okay so I was saying samuel has mentioned deeply rooted in god's word and constant fellowship god speaks through his word not lying at all times no matter what circumstances okay yes thank you thank you samuel yes say please go ahead yes so what I just also want to add was um constant self evaluation of where we are standing and how we carry out our service in building the kingdom because it's very easy that unconsciously we're just giving to taking the glory you know listening to the praises so just sometimes reflecting on our day to day or month to month activities or service of how we did this just basically stepping back and reviewing you know with the holy spirit speaking to us so that we can we can quickly repent and turn away from taking the glory or you know taking the praises and the applause of men I think that way to help us to help us stay in check in ensuring that we never steal god's glory in building god's kingdom here that's yes yes thank you say that's true so you know keep ourselves in check at all times and be careful to give the glory to god which is due to him uh and how oh yeah Anita says the same thing periodic check on our spiritual life checking what actually drives us to ministry okay great uh Charles excuse me it is quite possible to get distracted while we are in the kingdom ministry we can find the epsilon's who can take our attention so first spiritual Anthony I'm not alert it will be easy to concentrate on the gate and fail to see the king okay we need to know our king and keep posted about his room yes sure sure Charles um and I think when we uh anchor in our relationship with the king uh in some way you know uh it helps us it always helps us to come back um and relate rightly with god see for example I am saying now as a kingdom builder if I am engaging in some form of ministry and I'm only getting busy with ministry and you know there's people's praises there's people's honor coming my way but I'm not spending time with god or I'm not spending time with the word of god prayer things like that where I am deepening my relationship with god and having my intimacy with god uh you know somewhere my my conscience uh it will lose its sensitivity because when I come back into the presence of god every time I have to be accountable you know every time there will be the ministry of the holy spirit come with me about hey you said this you did that that was not right so I have to set it right in order for me to deepen my relationship with god so keeping that relationship maintaining that relationship on a daily basis is very very important okay and more so when things get busier because otherwise we lose that anchor and once you've lost your anchor your ship is all over the place so and that's what you know many of you are saying here not get distracted have a periodic check and all this works when we are in relationship with the king so maintaining that relationship is the key okay uh devi says having genuine fear of the lord yeah very good point there so having genuine fear of the lord it is his work overall correct remember we said uh the kingdom thy kingdom it's not my kingdom it's not your kingdom it's not my church it's not your church it's his church I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it so we must recognize that the work is his work and we are his servants then Charles is saying the sensitivity is quite paramount daily encounter yes true true Charles so we must maintain that okay how do we respond when we go unrecognized you know when when we're serving and let's say you nobody appreciates you for the work that you're doing how do you react to that so far we talked about receiving all the honor no let's suppose there's no honor coming your way okay and that's as joyful has anyone had an experience like this in kingdom building where you were not appreciated many times pastor especially if you're a woman minister okay yeah yeah sure Billy you wanna I mean if you don't mind you want to share some more yes yes pastor so uh so Billy sorry to interrupt you uh another point is that this is on record and generally it is course on youtube after the recording so you know you could share whatever you're comfortable yes yes yes please go ahead uh so thanks for the reminder anyways yes so definitely there are challenges that we face especially I I feel like uh when you're a when you're a woman you're not easily accepted or the new minister also is like you know you don't have that acceptance I would say and appreciation but then I just feel like this question that you have asked is a tide to the question the previous question that you spoke about and the discussion we had it's all tied to our relationship with our king when that relationship becomes a deep one a one that is intimate when it becomes that uh it becomes the matter of the heart when you're so passionately involved with God when you're so passionately involved in that relationship and then what happens like something that was driving me throughout in no matter what the challenge was there's something like you know that you live for the audience of one not for anybody else that you run this race as the book of Hebrew says like you know the we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and run this uh you know in the Amplified Bible it's talks about the appointed course that is set before us and we keep running that no matter whether you get the appreciation or not whether you receive the honor or not whether you're accepted or not but you're doing it for the king so that keeps you going in spite of whatever challenge or comes up okay um yeah sorry I got logged out of the call and I'm sure Bula you you've shared right I missed what you shared though yes I did so I actually thought I my internet got disconnected no no no it it was me I hope you shared fully and you didn't uh yes I did yes I did okay great great great thank you thank you so I'll watch it I'll watch it on YouTube yeah sure thanks yeah thanks Bula thank you for sharing so yeah it can happen that you know we don't get recognized but then again the right attitude comes from uh being anchored in our relationship with God so that's something you know we can maintain uh because of our intimacy with God okay um another thing here uh these questions are by the way in your in our notes and you know very relevant and pertinent questions uh how about you know getting our identity from a ministry or a ministry affiliation is is that is that something we struggle with and if we do then you know how do you deal with that getting our identity from a certain uh it could be a denomination it could be a you know maybe a very successful ministry how do you deal with that and could you rephrase your question okay uh basically it's like you know sometimes we we have a sense of pride that we are we are associated with a certain ministry or a denomination or you know a group of people a group of ministers of God or a certain minister of God who is very successful and um it's as if we are drawing our identity from that so i i just talked about not elevating people okay so in that context i'm saying um you know do we make that a big deal our associations with people do we make that a big deal or how do we deal with our associations yeah it does is that rephrased better samyal um not sure like um so what are you saying so we are doing we're doing God's work yeah but uh let's say let's say we want them to come to apc or for fellowship so are you asking should we mention apc at all or should we not like no it's it's not just about uh you know bringing someone to the ministry uh it's it's more like you know gaining your identity from that ministry for example uh let let me say um now that i i am part of apc if if it brings a sense of pride to me that hey you know we are better than everybody else uh and you know my identity itself is is rooted in this if anything happens to my association with you know apc and the ministry that i do it shouldn't be like i'll i'll hit rock bottom you got it my identity should be in christ and my identity should be in the king while i'm building the kingdom yeah you gave you gave the answer i gave the answer yeah i'm sure so yeah so these are things uh to think about and to just set our hearts right um as we go about building God's kingdom and child says uh yes identity can be drawn like serving in an evangelistic enterprise and that you are moving sit cities with the gospel and you could tend to boast of it and introduce yourself and tell the people of your profile correct correct yeah so uh yeah not to make that an identity yes you know sometimes uh it is needed because then people wouldn't know like if if somebody asks you where are you from which ministry do you work for it may be important to say i am from this ministry and this is the role in which i serve but at the end of the day you know that association that ministry association shouldn't be everything because what happens when people don't introduce you like that uh you know it's sad to say that ministers of God can get offended that oh no they didn't tell my they didn't talk about my years of experience uh you know i i i wasn't introduced properly so you know uh yeah so that's what we're saying uh we must have our identity in Christ uh and these are but functions right uh whatever we are we are doing uh in different ministries okay and Avni is saying yeah so having our identity in the ministry or our associations like we could say oh uh i i serve with pastor so and so okay and that becomes my identity now what happens if i'm not going to serve with pastor so and so for whatever reason right god says okay now you move to another part of the world and then you're on your own what happens to your identity so uh these are things that you know we have to work on hmm so it's also saying uh bishop introduced not as a bishop can run hurt yeah correct so yeah so but if you have the right identity then it won't matter it won't even matter uh sometimes when people don't know your name right you go you serve and they they don't even address you by name it's fine because you went there to serve god you went there to impart to the people you've done your part so you know you're happy you're accountable to god um and that's what matters at the end of the day so having the right motives and to know that god is going to judge the hearts god is going to judge the work that we do um uh so you know we stay true to our conscience we stay stay true to god and at the end of the day give all glory to god and that's how a kingdom builder should serve okay so uh at this point let's go ahead and take a 10 minute break we'll come back and uh we will look at the next chapter here which has to do with the holy spirit directing the work of a kingdom builder so yes so uh let's go for the break class and see you soon thank you