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In 1 Chronicles 28 we've got the story where Solomon is getting prepared to build the temple and he's getting all these supplies and he has all these things being given to him. I really just want to focus on just one verse there in verse 21 and we're going to come back here at the end as well. So keep something there in 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 21 it says, and behold the courses of the priests and Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skillful man for any manner of service also the princes and all the people will be holy at thy commandments. So he's saying, look, you're going to have all the Levites for the service of the house of God and you're going to have all these people that are going to be coming to you. They're going to be willing to do the work, but I really want to focus on just that phrase there where he says you're going to have with thee for all manner of workmanship in order to get this job done, in order to accomplish what it is that you have to do, you're going to have every willing and skillful man for any manner of service. So it wasn't just, hey, we're going to go down to the day labor and just pull the guy off the side of the street and, or, you know, just get any, anybody who can, has a pulse to get this work done. No, it was very specific people that had to get very specific jobs done, right? This was skilled labor that was being done in the house of God. It wasn't just anybody. It had to be people who were, had, you know, were able to accomplish all manner of workmanship with what, skillful work. They were able to do this. They were skillful people for any manner of service. You know, there's some things that only we can do as God's people. You know, we are in a sense spiritually skilled labor. You know, there's only things, certain things that we as God's people can accomplish in this world. Only we are going to be able to go out and preach the gospel. Only we are going to be able to build the house of God. Only we, because we have the spirit of God, can understand the things of God and therefore able to expound and teach and be an example of the things of God. You know, as a Christian, as a saved person, you are in a skilled position. I mean, think about it. Not everybody can step up and do what you do spiritually. It's a very important job that we have. But really what I focus in on is this idea that it takes skill to serve. It takes skill to serve. And I want to preach a sermon called Willing and Able. Willing and Able. You know, we hang to people who are able to serve God. And again, we have this unique ability. We have this skilled position available to us to serve God in a particular manner in ways that other people cannot do. That should fill us with, I don't want to say maybe it's the wrong way to say it, but a sense of pride. But it should at least give us a sense of value and importance to think about the fact that we can do something that not everybody can do. I mean, people kind of get a sense of that in other areas, don't they? When they kind of have a skill or ability that not everybody has, it kind of makes them stand apart. And, you know, that might be something that they get a lot of self-worth out of. That may be something that they kind of get a lot of gratification out of. The fact that they have a particular skill or ability that is kind of unique to them or only a small group of people that not everybody can do what they do. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's something that we should endeavor to have. That should be something that we appreciate in our lives. Anybody that has a skilled position or has a certain ability, you know, that's not something to take for granted. That's something that we want to put to work and put to use in whatever way, whether it's in a job or whatever. You know, obviously this morning we're narrowing in on serving in the house of God, serving the Lord. But I want, my first point is this, is that it takes skill to serve. Not everybody can just do the service that needs to be done. It has to be skillful men. It says there, skillful men for any manner of service. If you would, keep something there and go over to 1 Chronicles chapter 15, 1 Chronicles chapter 15. So just back a few chapters, 1 Chronicles chapter 15. The reason why this is important is we have to understand who it is that we're serving. You know, sometimes I think people, they do things in the house of God, they do things for church, they do things, and I think sometimes they get it in their heads that they're doing it for the preacher, you know, or they're just doing it just for their church, or they're just doing it because, you know, that's just what they're supposed to do. But we have to always keep in mind is that when you are serving in the house of God, when you're serving God in any capacity, you're serving God. We have to consider who it is that we're serving. And I think when we consider that, you know, then maybe we'll kind of examine our skills when it comes to serving God. Maybe we would look at what it is we can do or what we can't do or what we can improve. It takes skill to serve, yes, but you know, in light of, we need to keep that in the light of who it is that we're serving, okay. It says in Colossians 3, I'll just read to you, servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. So he's saying, look, servants, you know, you employees obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service. Meaning don't just, when they're looking, okay, well, that's when I get busy. We ought to always be working, not being men pleasers, not doing things with eye service, not just, you know, getting busy when the boss shows up, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. So, you know, this is a great point just for those of you that go out into, you know, that have a secular job. You know, the Bible even is commanding there that you do your work in singleness of heart, fearing God. Because he goes on and says, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord. So no, I work for such and such a company. No, the Bible says you should do it as to the Lord. Even if you work for this person, or that company, or whoever it is, whoever it is that's employing you, you should still think, hey, yeah, I have a superior, you know, I have a boss that has a desk in some office somewhere with a plaque on there with his name on it. But, you know, ultimately my boss is Christ. And that's how we ought to serve God. That's how we have to serve even in our secular positions. And that's certainly how we ought to serve when we're serving in the house of God. We shouldn't do things just because, well, you know, that's, I'm doing this for the church. I'm doing this for the deacon. I'm doing this for my other church member. I'm just doing this because, you know, that's kind of what we're doing. That's my Christian duty. Okay. Obviously all that applies, but you know, our motives, the things that move us to do the things that we do, we ought to say to ourselves, I'm doing this because I serving the Lord Christ. I should do things heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that ye serve, that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. He's saying, why is it that you shouldn't be a men pleaser? Why is it that you should just do things with eye service? Because you serve the Lord Christ. That's why we should do things heartily as unto the Lord, because we're serving ultimately the Lord himself. Okay. So when it comes to this idea of being willing and able to have this, a skillful ability to serve, we have to keep in mind our motives that we're serving, who it is that we're serving. We're serving the Lord Christ. Don't just go through the motions of service. And this is something that is just human nature. We all fall into this, self included. We can all just say, well, it's Sunday again. It's time to just go to church and kind of just get through it and just, you know, get up and preach the sermon, sit there and just listen to the sermon. Oh, it's the soul winning time. Just time to just go soul winning and just check it off. Oh, it's, you know, this day of the week time for me to read my Bible. Oh, just time. We can just start going through the motions and obviously we should have motions in place. There should be things that we're just doing habitually, just doing out of just, you know, impulse things that are just ingrained into us. The danger is though, is when we have those, even, you know, those habits that are established, those things of just those motions that are just in place is that we go through the motions without really considering our motivations. We just get to the place where, well, we're just doing that because that's what we do. And what we'll end up doing is just going through the motions of service. And what that'll do, it'll drain your zeal right out of you and you're just, you won't have any excitement about it. You won't have any, you won't have any joy in going through that service. It'll just be a drudgery to you. That's not how I want to live my Christian life. I don't want the, I mean, the Christian life's hard, okay, but it doesn't have to be just this drudgery where I'm just dragging myself into church, just dragging myself through my devotion, just dragging myself through the soul winning, just dragging myself through whatever it is I'm doing for the Lord. I don't want to just go through the motions. You know, I want to do things heartily as unto the Lord. I want to do things with some zeal, okay. So when it comes to this idea of being willing and able, the fact that it takes, you know, we have a very skilled position, consider it who it is you're serving, okay. Consider who it is you're serving because that'll affect your motivations. And I'll say this too about Colossians three is that what we learn from that, as I kind of already mentioned it when he's talking about, hey, you servants obey your masters, is that it's this idea that, you know, you're serviced of God. You can't compartmentalize that. You can't just say, well, today I'm a Christian on Sunday and then Monday I'm going to wake up and it's not going to be that important to me. You know, your service to God, it's not in part, you know, your service to God encompasses the whole of your life. I mean, how can it? It doesn't just touch certain parts of your life. You know, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, Paul said. You know, it touches every part of our lives. So I want to preach this morning again just about this idea of, you know, being willing and able. The fact that it takes skill to serve God, okay, it takes skill. And here's the thing about having skill or an ability. That's kind of, you know, the Bible uses terms like skill, cunning, you know, we would say things like ability. These are kind of all the same words, right? But when you have a skill or an ability, it creates opportunity. That's what having skill or ability will do for you. And because we have a skill, you know, we have a certain, a skill that only we have that, you know, the world can't go out and preach Christ. The world can't pick up the Bible and understand the things of God. They can't get up and preach the Word of God. They can't offer the counsel from the Word of God. That's a skilled position and therefore it does what? It creates opportunity, right? And this is true even in your own life. You know, when you develop a skill or ability, it's going to create opportunity. You know, obviously there's a heavy spiritual application to the Christian life this morning, but you could take that same principle and apply it to your job. You could apply that to, you know, your life, making a career. You know, if you want to make more money, develop a skill. If you want to have more opportunity to excel, you know, in making money and succeeding and look, there's nothing wrong with doing well. You know, if we're doing well, if by, you know, we're making money by honest means, you know, if we're skilled in some position and we're being paid well for it and being compensated for our ability, there's nothing wrong with that. But here's the thing. If you want to improve in that area, you know, you have to develop skills. Why don't I have more opportunity to do other things? Why don't I have the opportunity that other people seem to have? It's like, well, do you have a skill? Do you have the ability to do that? Because if you don't have the skill, you don't have the ability to do something, obviously that door is closed to you. You know, why would somebody employ someone who doesn't, who can't get the job done, right? So obviously you can run with that even in the world, but obviously we're going to apply that more in the house of God this morning. If you look at first Chronicles chapter 15, look at verse 22, it says, and Canina chief of the Levites was for song. He was instructed about the song because he was skillful. Now notice the way it's saying it there. It says he was instructed about the song because he was skillful. It doesn't say, oh, he was instructed about the song and became skillful. It's not that he, you know, was given the book of songs he's given. Here's how we're going to worship in the house of God. Here's what we're going to, here's the song. Here's how it's sung. Here's the different musical accompaniments. This is the, you know, he's kind of overseeing the whole song service, so to speak, right? But notice he wasn't, he wasn't instructed about the song and then became skillful. No, he was instructed about the song because he was skillful. That's what it says. If you read it carefully, he, he instructed about the song because he was skillful. This was something that was an ability that he had. You know, he was skillful. He had this ability to instruct and to teach. He was given this responsibility because he was a man of skill. Obviously they didn't just find the guy who couldn't read a single note and say, hey, you're going to, you're going to worship and that you're going to lead the worship in the house of God. That's probably not going to go too well, is it? You know, the guy, maybe it's a guy who doesn't even know how to read. He's just, he's out there at the song book and it's upside down. It's like, you know, it's no, that's not going to do any good, right? Actually, you know what, what's required is that this guy had to know how to direct that. He had to know, Hey, this is your note here. This is where you come in over here. We're going to hold this note. It's a, it's a skill that was, uh, uh, that, that Kaninah had. And as a result, he was able to instruct about it. He was given that responsibility. Go to first Chronicles chapter number five. First Chronicles chapter number five. Did I have you go there or 15? You went to 15 first, right? All right. I wasn't, you had no idea. You weren't sitting there scratching your head. So go to first Chronicles chapter number five verse 18. Look at verse 18. It says the sons of Reuben and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh of valiant men, men, uh, eight men able to bear buckler and sword and to shoot with bow and skillful in war were 40 and 4,703 score that went out to war. So it's giving this, obviously in Chronicles you have a, you know, that it's an aptly named book because there's many, many chronologies in the word of God in the book of Chronicles in particular. And what he's saying here is he's, he's, he's numbering these sons of Reubens, the Gadites, half the tribe of Manasseh, he's numbering these people. But what he's saying about them is that they were valiant men, right? And that they had what they were skillful in war. What made them skillful in war? What was it that gave them that ability? Why would we look at that person and say, Hey, this is the guy that you want to go out to war. This is the guy that we want defending us. This is the guy we want fighting for us. You know, it wasn't the weakling. It wasn't the guy who had never picked up a sword. It wasn't a guy who had, didn't have the, uh, you know, the physical ability to do what was needed to do in order to fight the war. It was somebody that was skillful in war, right? And then it's real particular about what those skills are, aren't they? It says they were men that were able to bear buckler and sword. I mean, he could handle the equipment. I mean, when you go into the military, you know, the first thing they, one of the first things they do is they put you in a boot camp to get you prepared to be able to actually, you know, marched all those miles with that pack on carrying all that gear. You have to be able to bear the buckler and sword, so to speak, right? It's the same thing in the Christian life. You know, if we want to be the people that can go out and accomplish something in the spiritual battle that we're all involved in, if we want to go out and fight the spiritual fight that we are involved in, if we want to go out and save souls and pull people out of the fire, look, you have to learn to be able to bear buckler and sword. And again, you know, that's an opportunity that's there, but not everybody's going to take advantage of it because they're not going to develop the skill to do so. Just like going to war to be those that went out to war is going to be off limits to anybody that can't bear buckler and sword, anybody that can't shoot with the bow and be skillful more, they're going to say, you know what, why don't you just stay at home? Why don't you just, we're going to put you in maybe another position. It's important, but it's not this one. You know, you can stay in the hospital, you can stay back here in the barracks, you know, you can clean the barracks when all the skilled troops go out. You can go ahead and clean up, you know, we're going to have you in the med tent, you know, you're going to fill some other role. But if you want this role, you know, obviously you have to meet the skills that are required for it. And look, if we're going to serve in the house of God, if we're going to serve God, we're going to serve the Lord Christ, you know, we're going to have to develop the skills in order to do that. That's something that we're going to have to do is become skillful people. It's not enough to just be willing. You have to be able. Okay. A lot of people want to do things, you know, a lot of people want to take on responsibilities, but it's like, do you have the ability to do that? Have you developed that? Is that something that you, that you can do skillfully, right? You have to have the right man for the job. You have to have the right man for the job. And who is the right man? Who's the right man for any job? The one who can do it well. And I'm not saying you even have to be the best man for the job. You know, sometimes you just need somebody who can do it well, who can just do a good job at it. They don't have to be the best at it. You know, perfect example right here. Okay. You know, I'm, I am not the best man for the job. I'll be perfectly honest. There's probably, you know, I'm sure, you know, thank you for not amending that by the way. There's a lot of people out there that could probably preach a lot better than I can. In fact, I know of several, you know, they could probably be a better leader in a lot of, a lot of ways that I'm not. They could probably do a lot of things a lot better than I do them. But you know what? They're out there doing other things, aren't they? You know, and when it comes to this position, we just need the right man. We just need the person who fits the bill, someone who can just step in and has enough skill to get the job done. So it's not like I'm trying to say, hey, we're setting the super high bar that if you don't meet, then you just can never do anything in the house of God. No, you just have to have the ability. You just, you know, it's one thing to be willing, but you got to be able, you know, you got to be able to be the right man for the job. You got to perform it and perform it well. Go to first, second Chronicles chapter two, second Chronicles chapter number two. When they were getting ready, you know, when Solomon was going to start building a temple and he's got out, he's got everything he needs. All the supplies have been brought in, people are bringing, and now he's getting down to doing the actual craftsmanship of building that temple. You know, it wasn't Solomon that did that. Now Solomon had wisdom. He was the wisest man, but you know, there was this particular skill that had to be given to a particular man. It says there in verse 12, Huram said, moreover, blessed be the Lord God of Israel that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son. So it wasn't that, you know, he was just stupid, he just, well, he doesn't know how to figure it out. It's just that he didn't have this skill. He didn't have this ability. This is something he needed to delegate to somebody that had an ability. And he says he had a wise son and dude with prudence and understanding that that might build a house for the Lord and a house for his kingdom. So he's been given this prudence, this understanding to build God's house. But when it came to the particulars, when it came to certain skill positions, you know, Solomon had to employ other people to do that. He had to find other individuals that could do specific tasks within the house of God. And he says there in verse 13, and now I have sent a cunning man, and the cunning again is just an able man, someone who has ability, somebody who is skillful, you know, a cunning man and dude with understanding. You know, cunning today sometimes has a negative connotation of someone's cunning. You know, we think of like the cunning craftiness whereby they lay in wait to deceive, right? Well, that just means they're really good at it. They're, you know, those deceivers that are out there laying in wait, they're just really good at doing that. Okay. That's what it means that they're cunning. You know, they're cunning craftiness, right? Being cunning is not a bad thing unless you're doing it. It's what you're doing with that cunningness, right? So anyway, he's saying here, look, I've sent you a cunning man and dude with understanding. So we're getting an idea again of what that means to be cunning. You have understanding, you have knowledge, you have ability, okay? A cunning man and dude with understanding of Hurah my fathers, the son of a workman of the daughters of Dan and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work. So this is something that's been kind of passed down to this individual. He's skillful to work in gold and in silver and in brass and in iron and in stone and in timber and in purple and in blue and in fine linen and in crimson. I mean, this guy knows how to take all these different materials and work with them and create things out of them. Take all these raw materials and produce something. In fact, produce something that's so good that it's fit to be in the house of God, okay? So he's got this skillful man coming and also to grave any manner of graving and to find out every device which shall put to him with thy cunning men and with the cunning men of thy Lord David, thy father. So he's fitting right in with all these other men who have cunning skill ability. Do you see how it's kind of because he's the right man for the job, it's kind of opened a door of opportunity for him. Look, if you have skill, if you have ability, if you develop a skill, if you develop ability, it will open up doors of opportunity for you. There'll be somebody who says, man, we need, we have this really important job. You know, it has to have a certain, there's a certain set of abilities that need to be possessed by somebody to do it. You know, if you're that individual, don't be surprised when you get put into that position. You know, and if, and again, this all goes back to, to the, to the secular world. This all goes back to, you know, great work advice. If you want to get a better job, develop the skills for it. And there's this attitude out there today that's just so backwards of, well, I'll pay them, I'll work harder when they pay me more. That's not how it works. You know, I'll start doing more when they start recognizing my innate, you know, dormant abilities. How do we know you have them if you haven't put them on display? They're just going to say, well, there's just another guy who just, you know, manages to show up on time. Big whoop. You know, even though today that's turning into quite the skill anymore, right? If you could show up on time and pass a drug test, you're like a superstar, right? But look, that's not our, that's not our standard, you know, and that's not like, well, I'm pretty good. You know, I don't do drugs and I'm punctual. You know, that's, that's great. That'll get you hired. But you know, that's probably not going to take you to the next level, you know, get you to that next position. So you know that obviously that works in the work world, but it's no different in the house of God. You know, we want to put people in positions where they fit best, you know, and if you want to do more in the house of God, then you know, you should develop that skill. You know, perfect example of this again is the pastor, you know, the preacher. One of his requirements is that he's apt to teach, right? Apt to teach. I'll just read to you. This is something that's reiterated several times in the pastoral epistles. It says thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who should be able to teach others also. So he's talking about, hey, the things that I've heard, you've heard from me, you need to teach others so they can teach others as well, okay? But they have to be able to teach others. You know, not everybody possesses that ability to get up and teach. Not everybody has that ability to explain things. Not everybody has the ability to get up and just address people publicly. You know, I sometimes I wonder about myself, right? But again, this is just something that comes up over and over again. Obviously if you can't get up and stand in front of a crowd of people and speak coherently, I'm not saying you have to be, you know, some great orator that's just going to bring a tear to every eye in the room, you know, but if you can, got to be able to get up and at least speak. And some people really struggle with this. Some people get up and it's just, they just don't have this ability. And it's not that they're deficient. It's not that there's something wrong with them. It's just that they're not the right man for that job. They're just not, that's just not for them. They're just not cut out for that. They just don't have that ability, right? They're not apt to teach. This is again something in verse 73 that he has to be apt to teach. Second Timothy 2 again, but, and the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle and ultimate, apt to teach, meaning they have to have a natural ability to do something. That's what it means to be apt. They have this natural tendency. And this is kind of, and this is what I want, but I don't want to get people, give people the wrong idea here with this is that I'm just using that as an example to say, Hey, you have to be the right man for the job in order to fulfill certain roles. Obviously when it comes to this, to being the pastor, to being the preacher, you either kind of have that aptitude or you don't, you know, but, but I don't want people to get this, that's the wrong idea and say, well, you know, I can't do this job or that job just because I'm not naturally gifted in that way. I don't have that aptitude. Okay. Obviously that this, this being apt to teach at being ha having a natural ability to do this particular job, that's kind of a more unique set of set of circumstances. Don't take what I'm saying wrong. Don't take that and say, well, you know, I preach the gospel, but that's just not my spiritual gift. You know, I just don't have that aptitude. That's not how I'm geared. You know, I, I would serve more in the house of God. I would do more, but that's just not my spiritual ability. You know, soul winning is not a spiritual gift that's given to us. That's something we're all called to do, okay. You know, opportunity is limited by your ability. That's what I'm trying to get across this morning. If we want to do more, then we have to have the ability to do it. You have to be somebody who can get the job done. It's not enough to be willing. You must also be able, okay. So again, going back to that idea of not, you know, the pastor has to be apt to teach, but don't let that become an excuse of, well, you know, I don't have that aptitude. Okay. I'm just using that to say, you have to be the right man for the job. You have to have the skill. You have to have the ability. You have to have the aptitude, right? Because here's the thing, you know, you might not have skill in a certain area. Maybe there's something, you know, you don't have an ability. Skills can be developed. Skills can be developed. You know, public speaking, things like that, you know, maybe that's something that's a little bit more, comes more naturally to some people than others. In fact, that is the case. And it's just some people, it's never going to come to them. But you know, there's other things that, other skills and abilities that can be developed and used greatly in the house of God. I mean, going back to our example, you know, of Huram there, where he's very skilled in his ability to work with all this, you know, all these raw materials, right? But he's not going to be the king of Israel. You know, he's not going to be the one that's dictating what happens in the house of God, but he has a very skilled ability that's going to be of great service in the house of God. That not everybody can do. You know, and that was a skill that was developed. That was something that was given to him. Whereas King Solomon, that was something that was just kind of inherited, wasn't it? That's something that just kind of came to him. And obviously God gave him the wisdom and things like that. But you know, that doesn't mean that if you're not the king, if you're not ruling, if you're not Solomon, so to speak, that you know, you don't have it, there's no use for you. No, you know, I don't know that Solomon would have been able to do everything, you know, to do all that cunning work, to do all that craft that needed to be done. Skills can be developed. And I want to make this point before I wrap it up, is that we don't want to plateau in the Christian life either. Because sometimes people develop skills, and then they kind of get to a certain point where it's like, they can coast. They can just kind of coast on the ability that they developed. We don't want to do that. Okay? And this goes back to my first point, where we have to consider who it is that we're serving. You know, not just start going through the motions. And when people develop, even they've already developed a skill, they already have an ability, they can kind of say, well, you know, I'm doing good enough, and then just start to kind of coast. Because what happens when you start to coast is you tend to start to dip down. You're certainly not going to get any better. Coasting doesn't get you to the next level. In fact, you tend to get worse. If you would go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 10, 2 Corinthians chapter number 10. Skills can and must be developed. If you want to have more opportunity, if you want to have more doors open unto you, then you have to have the ability to walk through that door, to be the right man for the job, to be the one that has the skills and abilities that are going to help you excel in that area. And the good news is, you know, that those skills can and must be developed. They can be developed. There's certain things that we can get better at. And those of us that already have certain skills, you know, we don't want to plateau. We don't want to say, that's good enough. You know, I'm doing a good enough job in this area. I don't need to be any better. I can just coast from here on out. We should always try to be trying to get better. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter number 10, if you would look at verse 12. He says in verse 12, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. So it's kind of a mouthful, but he's kind of saying the same thing. He's kind of just saying it a few different ways. He's saying, we do not dare, we dare not make ourselves of the number where we don't want to be like these other people, this specific group, this certain number of people that compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. We don't want to compare ourselves with people who commend themselves, meaning there's people who commend themselves because they look at somebody else and say, well, I'm not as bad as them. I'm better than that person. You know, because you could just as easily turn around and go, well, I'm not as good as this person, but they don't want to do that. They don't want to look at the other guy who's doing a way better job and say, well, I'm not as good as him. They want to look at somebody else who they think and they deem and say, well, they're not as good as me, so I'm doing okay. And what they're doing is they're commending themselves by what? Comparing themselves. And again, you know, people who want to commend themselves, that's what they do. They compare themselves to other people. They say, well, I'm doing pretty good because I look around and I say, I'm better than everybody else. I'm doing, you know, that's a pretty proud statement, right? Even though, but you know what? There might be a grain of truth to that too. There might be truth to that. You know, you might have a skill and ability that you are better at than the people around you. You might say, hey, I am better than this person in this area. I am, I can do a better job than them in this area, but you know what? That's not the measure. That's not how we say, well, that's, you know, because when you start to do that, you plateau because there's no end of people that you're better than in some particular area. We could, we could all say, hey, I have this particular skill. I have this ability and can just say, well, I'm better than this person. I'm better than that person. I'm better than this person. I can do it better than them. I mean, I could go down, you know, as, as you know, even as, as not a, as a skillful preacher as I might be, I bet you I could go down to the quick trip and stand in front of the store and just watch people go in and say, I bet I'm better than them. You know, I bet we could go find the guy down, you know, hold the cardboard sign in the corner and get him up here to preach a sermon. I could just sit back there and go, I got that guy smoked. I'm so much better than him. He couldn't preach. He can't hold a candle to my preaching. Couldn't preach himself out of a wet paper bag and I can start to feel pretty good about my preaching, huh? But that'd be pretty stupid because that's pretty obviously, you know, we can all find people that we're better at in some area. That's what happens when you start to plateau, when you stop developing certain skills in the service of God, you just start to say, well, I'm better than so-and-so and you're commending yourselves among themselves. Then you're comparing yourselves among them that can bend themselves. Look at the last half, but they, that measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. It's not a wise thing to do. You're not using wisdom. You're not being a good steward of the ability that God has given to you when all you're going to do is just compare yourself to somebody else. Look at verse 18. For he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. That's how we should measure our ability and our skill. Is God pleased with the job I'm doing? Is God pleased with how I'm doing what I'm doing in the service for God? Is God pleased with, you know, my singing? Is God pleased with my preaching? Is God pleased with my playing? Is God pleased with, you know, the way I'm doing my soul? And is God pleased with the way I'm living this Christian life? Is God pleased with the way I'm being, what kind of employee I am? Is God pleased with the kind of a spouse, child, whatever role? Because again, as I said earlier, the Christian life and company, you know, your Christian life encompasses your whole life. It's not just part and parcel, today I'm a Christian, tomorrow I'm not. It's everything. Every aspect of your life should be done in the service of God. And you should ask yourself in every aspect of your life, in everything that you do, is God pleased with what I'm doing? Because a lot of times what people do is they'll just say, well, I mean, it's good enough for the preacher. It's good enough for the pastor. I'm better than another church member in this area. That's not wise because what you're doing is you're just going to plateau and then you're going to get worse. What we want to do is say, is God pleased with what I'm doing? Is God pleased with the work that I'm doing? If you would, keep something there in 2 Corinthians, we're going to go to Matthew in a minute, but go back to 1 Chronicles 28 where we started this morning. The Bible says in 1 Chronicles chapter number 28, verse 21, and behold, the courses of the priests and Levites, even they shall be with thee for the service of the house of God. And they shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship, every willing, skillful man for any manner of service. He's saying, you have a need in the house of God, there's going to be somebody there to meet it. And it's not just going to be anybody. It's going to be people that are skillful and can meet, get the job done that needs to be done. That's what we need in this church. We need people who can meet certain criteria to get certain jobs done and not just plateau and just think, well, it's good enough. We should always be trying to get better and always trying to improve and not just coast. And in order to do that, you have to be willing because remember the title of the sermon is Willing and Able. I spent most of the sermon talking about, hey, we need to be people who develop abilities and skills. We have to be people who can get the job done and that it's a very unique opportunity that we have. But here's the thing, what if you have the ability but you're not willing? What if you have the ability to get better? What if you have the ability to improve? What if you have the ability to develop a certain skill and you just decide not to do it? How was it that Solomon was able to create that great temple? Wasn't because he did it all himself. It's because he had a lot of people that were, yes, skilled, yes, very cunning in all these different areas, but what else were they? They were willing. It's not enough to just have the ability. It's like if we go back to the Gadites and the Reubenites and all those men that were skillful in war, the first thing they were told to be was valiant. That was like the first quality that they had to have. They had to be valiant men and skillful in war. They did great in boot camp. They can hit the bullseye every time in the rifle range. Just amazing soldiers. They're really good, but they're not valiant. When it comes time to actually go out and do the work, they're just like, oh, I don't feel like doing it. That's not going to work either. You have to have the skills, but you have to have the abilities, but you also have to be willing to use them. I believe there's people that have abilities that other people don't have that aren't using them simply because they don't want to. That's it. That's the only reason that they're not doing it. It's because they don't want to. They're not willing. Oh, they're able, they have the ability, they could excel, they could do better, but they just don't want to. That's it. That's the only thing holding them back. We could all say that about ourselves. I say that to myself. I'm the only person that's holding me back from being a better preacher, from being a better leader. I'm the only person that's holding me back from being a better husband, a better father. I'm the only person that's stopping me from improving in the area is me and my desire to do it. Through desire, a man seeketh an inter-metal with all wisdom. We become more intelligent, more skillful, more able, have more ability when we have the desire to do it. We actually say, I'm going to put in the work that's necessary. I'm going to put forth the effort. I'm going to develop this skill so that it's better. Whether it's a skill we already possess or don't. That's what he had there. I had you go to Matthew, I told you I was going to go there, go to Matthew chapter number 25. So the question this morning is, what will it take for you to be willing? Here's the thing. It's like I can get up here and preach sermons like this and try to prod people along, but that gets tiresome. Try to just get up and motivate people. A lot of people are always looking for motivation. They want to do things, but they just don't feel motivated. They watch some motivational video. They watch some compilation with some speaker, Tom, yeah, you can do it, you got to get up there, don't stop, whatever, whatever. They just want to get pumped up in the flesh. They just want to be like, yeah, I can do it, oh yeah. They want to be motivated. Motivation is just an emotion that comes and goes. You know what ultimately is going to get you to where you need to be is discipline. Is when you start doing these things that are going to make you better when you don't want to do them. When you don't feel like doing it. When you're tired. When you're unmotivated. And you just say, well, I'm just going to do it anyway. That's what makes a difference. You know, I can get up here and try to preach sermons like this and try to fire people up and hopefully it's firing some people up. Hopefully it's making you want to improve in some area, but you know what? Don't count on that every Sunday. Don't count on every Sunday. You need to just try to fan the flames of your zeal for God. There's other things that need to be preached. At some point, you know, you should be fanning somebody's flames. You should be the one that's motivating and being an inspiration to other people. But that's going to come through discipline. So the question is, what's it going to take for you to be willing? You know, a lot of times the preaching is not enough. And it goes back to my point earlier that I made. You serve the Lord Christ. Say, oh, I would do more at church. I would serve, I would improve in this area. I'd stop coasting. I'd develop the skill. You know, but I really don't, you know, it's just, it's, you know, it's just for the deacon. It's just for the church. It's not really. No, you're wrong. It's for Christ. You know, that's the mentality you have to have. What I'm doing is for God. What would it take to make you be willing? Look at Matthew chapter 25. And this is a very familiar passage. And I understand that, you know, this, this greater context here is applying more to the nation of Israel and things like that. You know, the kingdom being taken away from them. But it's this principle here that when God gives us a talent, when God gives us an ability, if we don't use that ability, if we don't improve upon it, that's not something we're going to be proud about in heaven. That's something that God is going to be disappointed about over in us. He's going to be disappointed over that. If you look at verse 14, it says, for the kingdom of heaven is a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered them unto his goods. And I just want to emphasize that part right there. He called what? His own servants and delivered them unto his goods. God's not calling the world to come do the work of God. He's calling me and you, his servants. And that's what we are. We are God's servants. You know, and just because you're God's servants, that doesn't, that doesn't mean you serve though. That's kind of what the point of this, of this is, this, this parable. You know, some people are servants, but they don't serve. You know, being a servant isn't, you know, isn't what makes you serve, so to speak. You're a servant, whether you want to be one or not, you're just, you're just a good one or a bad one. You're either a good servant or a bad servant. That's it. It's not like, well, I serve Christ, therefore I'm a servant. No, we're all servants. We're all his servants. The question is, it's not whether or not you're a servant. It's whether it's what kind of servant are you? We want to be the type of servant who's willing to serve. Who's willing to develop skills and abilities to excel in these areas. It says in verse 15, and unto the one he gave five talents to another two and to another one. To every man according to his several ability and straightway took his journey. So again, you know, some people are going to be able to do some things more than others. Some people are giving five talents, some two, some 10, some one. Everyone has different skills and abilities. Everybody's at different levels. Is that a sign, should we wrap it up? Who's messing with the lights? Everyone is at different abilities. Everyone's given different abilities. But notice, we know the story here, you know, the one has the five, he goes and he puts it to the user and he makes more. And his servant and his Lord comes back to him, verse 21. He says, his Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a few things. I will make the ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. I mean, when it comes to this idea of what's going to make it, what's it going to take to make you willing to serve, just think about, you're either going to hear those words or you're not. You're either going to hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You know, are you going to hear those words or not? I want to hear those words. I want to hear God say to me, well done. You know, I gave you this ability and you did something with it. Well done. You know, I gave you an opportunity and a position in that church down in Tucson to do something for God, to win souls, to build a church, to change lives, to preach the word of God. You took advantage of it. You worked hard at it. You developed your skills. You developed your abilities. And now at the end, you know, life's over. You've run your course. You finished your course. You kept the faith. Well done. Thou good and faithful servant. I have been faithful over a few things, I will make thee rule over many things. What's the motivation for doing everything that you do, brother Corbin? To hear those words, well done. If he just stops there, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I mean, to me, that's all I need to hear. Well, what about the ruling and the reigning? That's just icing on the cake. That's gravy on the potatoes. I mean, I'll take it. You know, past the plate. But you know, that's, you know, if I could just hear those words, well done. Because if I don't hear those words, what am I gonna hear? How lazy and slothful servant. And it's funny because, you know, it's the guys that were given more that did more. You know, they did, the guy who goes and hides his one talent in the earth, you know, he had less to do. He could have done, he could have gone and taken that one and made two. It's less work, and he would have been told the same thing. That's what happens in the parable. He also, verse 22, that received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents, and behold, I had gained two other talents beside them. Oh, you didn't get as much as the guy who got me 10. Why didn't you get, no, because he only had two. You know, he had less than the first servant, but you know what, he took what he had and he did something with it, and he hears the same thing. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee rule over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. You know, he gets the exact same reward because he did something with the ability that he had. He did something with the skill that was given him. He was willing. He wasn't just able, but he was willing, okay? Then, verse 24, then he which had received one talent. He didn't have to make 10, he didn't have to make five, he didn't have to make three. All he had to do was just get one more talent. Just do just a little bit with what he had. And he came and said, I knew thee that thou were an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid and went and hid my talent in the earth. Lo, hear that it has that, the design. He's like, well, you know, I mean, I know you gave me this, I didn't lose it. Yeah, but you didn't do anything with it either. Well, I know I have this ability, I know I have this talent, I know you gave me something to work with, but I didn't lose that. Doesn't that count for something? You know, that's the idea again of plateauing, right? Well, I'm not doing worse. I mean, I still have the one talent. Yeah, but you're not gaining. You're not making any ground. You're not getting better. You haven't, you're not, what are you bringing back? You know, he's expecting something in return for the talent that he gave a servant. You know, God gives us skills. God gives us ability. God makes us apt to do things. And then when we just sit on it, that's not good enough. Like how, what world is that gonna be adequate to anyone? I mean, try that at your job. Well, I know you hired me. I know the manual back and forth. I could tell you every company policy, but I don't produce anything ever. I just sit at my desk and just stare at the screen. You know, I know how to use that drill. I know how to swing that hammer. I know how to do a lot of things, but I just, I know where all the tools are. I got the tools, but I just, I don't use any of them. You know, but I'm real safe. I've been 365 days without an accident. You know, you're not gonna get the boots. You're not gonna get the bonus. You're not gonna get the safe work boots, you know. You're gonna be like, you're fired. You know, but then we think, oh, but God's different. It's different with the Lord though. God should just be grateful for any bone I throw him. You know, if I just scrape some of the scraps of my life off the Lord, he should just be satisfied with that and take what he gets. That's a really bad attitude to have with God. You know what, and people are gonna reap what they sow. If that's your attitude, you know, you will reap. I mean, this servant, I mean, he reaps his bad attitude. He's saying, well, you know, I know you're a hard man. I was afraid I hid thy talent. Thou hast that is thine. You haven't lost anything. And he answered in verse 26, thou wicked and slothful servant. So what's the problem with this guy? He's just lazy. And isn't it funny that wickedness and slothfulness are just like put right together? I mean, you could've just stopped at wicked. He's not a wicked servant. But what makes him wicked? You're slothful. Yeah, you have ability, but you're not willing. But you're not willing to do anything with that ability. You're not willing to improve upon it. You're not willing to do more. You're holding back. You're hiding it in the earth. You know, that's slothfulness. That's laziness. That's idleness. That's what, and God says that's wicked. If you would, go to 1 Peter chapter number four. You know, hopefully that'll make you willing to serve. Hopefully that'll make you willing, not just able, but willing to do more for God, to work harder for God, to do things for God, and not just for Faithful Word Tucson, not just for Deacon Russell, not just for whatever, whoever, but for the Lord, for God. Hopefully you'll say, hey, I have this skill. I have this ability, and I have an opportunity. I'm actually gonna put that to use so that one day I can hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Sometimes people are always looking for, they want the praise and commendation of men. They want the deacon to slap them on the back and say, good job, and hear their name from the pulpit or something. That's such a, who am I? What a vain, fleeting, empty reward. You know, and I try to give praise where it's due, but you know, sometimes I don't, honestly. And I've noticed this in other people. Then it makes me examine my own motives. I'm like, man, I've been working hard. I've been doing all this, and it just seems like so-and-so never acknowledges it. It seems like they never say anything about it. Well, is that what you're looking for? It's for me to pat you on the back? Like, go tell somebody that, hey, I know you don't know this guy, my deacon, Deacon Russell at Faithful Word Baptist Church. He said I had to get a job this weekend. Go tell that to some guy on the job site. He'd be like, so what? Who? Who cares, right? But what about when we're standing before God, when we're receiving the things which are done in our body, when we're being rewarded for our works or lack thereof, and you hear those words from Christ himself, well done? That's gonna be quite the moment. Hopefully that's enough to motivate you to serve. Hopefully that's gonna make you not just able, but willing. Look at verse 11 of 1 Peter chapter four. It says, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. You know, if God's given you the ability, do it. If you have the ability to minister, you have the ability to serve, do it. Don't be the wicked and slothful servant. So that you can what? Receive the praise of men. No, why do we do what we do? Why do we want to not just be able, but willing? Why is it that we want to develop our skills? Why is it that we want to get better and improve and not plateau in the Christian life? That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. That's what we're here to do, to bring glory to God. And if we develop our skills, if we're not just have the ability, but we're willing, if we do the work, if we use the talents that God has given us, with the right motives, it will bring glory to God, to whom he prays in dominion forever and ever, amen. So in closing, just ask yourself, what skill, what ability do you have that can be used in service for God? I just sat here and thought of a few. And again, I don't get up and give an exhaustive list. I can't think of every little thing, the ways that people can serve God. But here's a few, how about soul winning? That's a big one. And I know we preach it a lot and I'm not gonna stop. That's a big one. Why go soul winning? Well, what's your motive? What's your motive? Is it to bring the praise and glory of God? How are you doing at that? Is it getting better? Is it getting worse? Are you improving? Are you plateauing? How about musical ability? I know we've got people here that play instruments. Are you getting better at that? Are you practicing that? Are you developing that skill? Or are you starting to coast? Or what about, here's a big one. How about speaking Spanish? Yeah, I'm gonna ring this bell right now. Because I'm in Tucson. I don't know if you've noticed, but that's a pretty big demographic here. The Hispanic community. That's why we have all this great Mexican food here. Probably the greatest in all the country, amen. And I'm not exaggerating. I don't know, maybe it's pretty good in San Diego. Amen, all right. We've got some competition, right? But we have a huge Spanish-speaking population. Good night, Mexico's less than an hour away. You know, and people complain about how unreceptive it is sometimes. It's like, yeah, but if we would just start speaking Spanish, if we would use that skill that we already had, that ability, and actually turn it into a skill, you'd probably get a lot more people saved. I mean, they went down to Rocky Point and had dozens. You know? If we have that ability to speak Spanish, we have the ability, has it become a skill yet, to preach the gospel, to explain the things of God? Well, I don't want to do it, it's hard. Well, God forbid that he should ever expect you to do anything difficult in the Christian life. You know, we need to be willing to do hard things to bring glory to God. If it were easy, anybody could do it. You know, if serving God in the local church were easy and anybody could do it, what are we here for? God could just get whoever. You know, God could just bring in somebody else. You say, well, what do I need you for? But you know what? We are the servants of God. We are his own servants. We are, nobody else. It's a unique position. And God has given us, and has given us certain abilities. And some of us have certain abilities that other people don't have. You know, we're already a specialized group in the fact that we're God's servants. But even within this specialized group, there's people in this room, you have an ability that other people in this room do not have. You know, whatever it is, music ability, preaching ability, maybe you're artistic in some way. You know, maybe you speak, you know, you have the ability to speak Spanish. You could develop, all of these areas could be developed to the glory of God that other people can't do it. You know, I'm not an artist. I'll never be one. And as much as I can appreciate art and people have that ability, you know, if I drew you something, you'd think my kids did it. You know, there's no, that's not a skill I have. That's not an ability I have. I'm not gonna develop that into, you know, but I do have this ability. You know, you might be doubting that right now, to get up and preach. You know, try to motivate people to get, you know, to serve God. We all have the opportunity, the ability to go out and preach the gospel. I don't know if I can go solo today. I don't know if I have the ability to preach the gospel. Well, do you have the ability to comprehend the gospel? I hope so. If you're saved, obviously you understood the gospel. That's all you gotta be able to preach, is just be able to preach the gospel. And look, I get it. It's hard, it's nerve-wracking. But you know what? It's an ability that we all have and it's a skill that we must develop. But it's hard. So what? The guy that got five talents, that didn't come to easy to him, but he managed to get five more. The guy who got, you know, got the other talents, you know, the two, he was able to make more. But it must have been easy for him. No, they actually had more work to do to double that amount. Think about it. If I had one talent and all I gotta do is make one more, that's a lesser load. If I have five talents and I'm responsible for all five of them, I gotta double five, that's more work. If you have an ability that you can develop into a skill and the only thing that's holding you back is the fact that it's hard, I mean, what else can you say besides thou wicked and slothful servant? And what else can you say about that? So use the ability that God has given you. Develop that skill. Why? So that God can be glorified. Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer.