With Delegation Comes Increase, Pastor Wendell Williams

Here are two audio files from today's service. The first is the message, "With Delegation Comes Increase". The audio will start at about 25 seconds into file. Please be patient. The second is of the Deacon Installation portion of the service.

With Delegation Comes Increase        Pastor Wendell Williams               Sunday, July 18, 2010

Audio from file starts at ~ 25 seconds into audio file… transcription starts at 9:35 into file

In Acts 6: 1-7 the Bible says:

¹And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration…[They were feeding folk].

 ²Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables…[Somebody say, “Serve Tables’] So this delegation that they are about to embark upon is about serving tables… say, ‘Serve tables’…

 ³Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business…[Say, ‘Serve Tables’]…

 ⁴But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

 ⁵And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

 ⁶Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

 ⁷And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Praise the Lord! This message is called, ‘With Delegation Comes Increase’… say it with me… ‘With Delegation Comes Increase’.

2 Timothy 2:2 [page 1056] is our proof text for installing and laying our hands upon those whom God would have us to install in the ministry in various offices. It says this:

 ²And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

This word says ‘men’ BUT it is not a male only word… it means mankind or people… men and women. Can you say, “Amen?”

It says, ‘Commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’ When we look out amongst ourselves the Holy Ghost quickens to us whom we should appoint for this business… God says ‘this one’ or ‘that one’… it is God that speaks through our heart. We may look out and we have done this… if you ask any preacher… ask anybody over time… If you have a business… you are always looking for people with a talent that you need to meet the needs or to meet the job descriptions of your business. If you take that same principle and apply it to ministry you often cause yourself to err and you create hardships with people when you look for talent over faithfulness. You must look for faithfulness first! We have many [many] many faithful people here and because we know that we are encouraged by you. Never [ever] think that the fact that you are here [that] you are [just] here! We don’t see no ‘bumps on a log’… we see faithful people. We remember the night that we had our ‘new birth celebration’ at the Troy YMCA [and] we had all of these people come… it was a wonderful occasion. I had to leave… when it was time and it was done I had to go back to the storefront and take in things. Some people had gone back to the storefront that we were in. We had this big celebration in the YMCA gym… 300 people or more came… bands and people… it was awesome… it was great. I left that and went back to our little storefront. When I walked into that little storefront… some of you remember the storefront… some people had [gone] there during the celebration and had moved all of the chairs [and] waxed all of the floors [and] put in new plants [and] had put up a banner… the place was sparkling. I didn’t leave it that way BUT as I walked in I stood at the door… I went, “Oh my God!” As I did I felt my arms raise… I knew that it was [perhaps] an automatic response to praise to God BUT I felt my arms being raised. That night a woman said, “Pastor, as you ministered and preached…” I preached that night on the faithfulness of Elishah’s and the challenge that his servant Gehazi had… Gehazi moved away from faithfulness… basically being obedient to the Word… We made a dedication in our hearts to be obedient to the Word. [And so] I moved from that message and I moved back to that moment… and in that moment God [just] encouraged my heart… ‘Son, you are being obedient to the Word’… and I believe as this woman said that there was an angel that followed me. She said that she saw it! I believe that the angels were waiting in the storefront and lifted my arms.

I know that God is a good God… I know that He lifted my arms that night. When you pray for us [and] you come [and] you serve [and] you love [and] you sacrifice [and] you are dedicated [and] you are committed; I really thank you that it ‘lifts’ our arms. Be encouraged [today] Good Ground… there is greatness in you. Somebody say, “Praise the Lord!”

So we use 2 Timothy 2:2 and we look for faithfulness. Then, the Bible says [here]… Paul writing to Timothy… ‘Look for people that are faithful that you can make able to teach.” One of the things that we want to do is [to] become much [much] better at teaching and providing guidance and instruction. BUT here in this moment the word ‘deacon’… as you read and heard me read… the word ‘deacon’ is diaconos [and] simply means ‘a waiter’… an ‘attendant’… it means somebody that is taking care of tables… menial duties. Also it can mean a ‘teacher’ [if you will]. Ultimately, at the end of the day we are all waiting on tables for Jesus! We are all servants for God! I love this in Philippians 1 as Paul writes: Paul and Timothy the servants of Jesus Christ to all of the saints in Christ Jesus [which were at Philippi] with the Bishops [the spiritual overseers] and the Deacons [the practical overseers] of the church and of the ‘House’. [And] again I read here that at the end of the day we are all servants… whether ministering in the office [or the realm] of the Elder with a more spiritual connotation or in the office of the Deacon which is a more practical connotation inside the church… at the end of the day [say it with me], ‘At the end of the day we are all waiting tables; we are all serving’ [amen].

The Bible says in 1 Timothy 3:1… here is a trustworthy saying

¹This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

‘If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer… a Bishop… he desires a noble task.’  I am going to get back to this… it gives more of the qualifications of the Deacons.

I want to take you to Exodus 18… and I want you to see the Old Testament application of this. Go with me… in your Bible… Exodus 18… I want you to hear this applied in scripture… this principle With Delegation Comes Increase… say it with me, ‘With Delegation Comes Increase’. The Bible says… I am going to verse 13 of Exodus 18… Exodus 18:13 reads this way…

Now the setting for this is Moses’ Father-In-Law [Jethro] had come to see him. He had come because he had heard of the great report of a victory that Moses and the children of Israel had. The Bible says here that Moses was tending to the needs of the people… and Jethro who was called the Priest of Midian watched Moses administration to the people of Israel. As we look down here at verse 13 it reads this way:

¹³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

Say, ‘That is a long time!’

¹⁴And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people …I couldn’t get by that word in the King James. What does it say in the New King James? “For the people”, I like that. The King James [is not chucking and jiving… it says, ‘what he did to the people’, he made them stand for a long time. BUT ‘for the people’ is nicer…

he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? ¹⁵And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

 ¹⁶When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.

So, Moses heart was right BUT his methods were wrong. His heart was right to want to teach the people and give the people the Word of God as to help them make decisions about their lives and the circumstances and the situations that they face. Isn’t that a good thing? Don’t you want the Word of God? BUT the Bible goes on to say:

¹⁷And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.

 ¹⁸Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

And then it goes on to say… [where are we?] I want to go down to verse 25… He says:

 ¹⁹Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

In other words he is saying, “Understand your office as a spiritual leader” [like] in the Book of Acts in chapter 6 when the apostle says, ‘We ought to be looking God-ward”… We need some people to help us look man-ward. And so [now] Moses is being told by his Father-In-Law [that], ‘You need to be able to look God-ward and take these things from the people to God… BUT only focus on what the people need… don’t miss your time with God!’ I need my time with God… I need you to help me get my time with God. Those of you that are being installed you are being installed to help me get my time with God! [Now] that sounds selfish doesn’t it? It is Biblical! I would rather that you think it is selfish BUT I would rather know that it is Biblical! I would rather know that it is Biblical… what we are wanting to do installing people to help us is to help us hear God better so that we can guide and lead ALL of us. It is not just for me… God forbid I couldn’t contain all of this. Moses went up on the mountain and got into the presence of God… his face shown so much ‘tan’ that he had to cover his face with a veil! He couldn’t consume all of that God for himself! First of all he was incapable… what we receive from the Lord feeds our vessel BUT it also equips us to feed the people of God. That is why this is so. And then he says:

 ²⁰And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

 ²¹Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men,

…There it is in the Old Testament as well…

 such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

 ²²And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

 ²³If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

…Verse 24 says that he listened to wisdom. One of the things that I believe in is a multitude of counselors. The Bible says that in the multitude of counselors is wisdom. How many of you think that you have got it all? Nobody has it all… that is why the New Testament speaks about members in particular. That is why in the Old Testament it speaks right here about Moses having people come around him. In other words I believe that God can speak a Word to you that I need to hear… that was a Word that we needed to hear [Sister Lisa Katsberg earlier today]… I did not have that exhortation planned… BUT God says, ‘Take a moment and [just] share with the people the intent of the pulpit!’ The intent of the pulpit is to make the Word of God plain so that it can enter into your hearts… that you can have success in life. That is the intent of the pulpit [amen]!

 ²⁴So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

 ²⁵And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

So Moses chose… and when he did that what it did… it brought an increase of wisdom spread throughout the nation of Israel so [that] more people got their needs met faster! That is a good thing [amen]!

[Now] go with me to… let me just tell you this:

When we think about delegation bringing increase… when we think about that delegation it basically says… when everybody is put or helped establish to find their place… say, “Find their place”… I need you to wake up… I know that it is warm… I am sweating more than you… turn to your neighbor and say, “Find your place”… Find another neighbor and say, “Find your place”… Make a neighbor, “Find your place”… Be your own neighbor, “Find your place”… When we find our place… when every member is finding a place in the Body… members in particular… [you know] that everybody is not the ‘head’… neither is everybody the ‘hand’. You say, “I would rather not be the ‘foot’ BUT I would rather be the ‘hand’… It looks [kind of] weird if I have got a foot where the hand ought to be. In other words when everybody finds their place we work better as a Body; that is what God is wanting to do.

Here is what I want you to see. Go back with me… just flip back to Exodus 17… go back one page. I want you to hear how the Body is blessed when everybody finds their place. Exodus 17:8… look here. As a result of the outcome of this chapter it brought Moses Father-In-Law to him in the following chapter to [basically] express how great a victory it was when everybody found their place. Say, “When everybody finds their place we have victory!”

Exodus 17:8 says:

⁸Then came Amalek,

Amalek is an enemy…

and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

 ⁹And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

Now… look at verse 9 [real quick]

Moses spoke unto whom? Moses spoke unto whom? Moses spoke unto Joshua. He gave him delegation… he gave him instruction and he said

⁹Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

I am going up on the mountain!

Now… if you were Joshua… and you have got an attitude and I say, “Get your sword… get some guys… run up there and fight against Amalek…” Maybe you are outnumbered and you have got an attitude… and you hear me say that I am going up on the mountain… “How come I have to go and fight? You have [got] a better sword than I have got! You are going up on a hill?” And then it goes on to say that he [Moses] takes Aaron and Hur! You are like, “Aaron and Hur? I like them… I need them to come and go with me!” What if Joshua had started having a fit? What if Joshua got out of his place? What if Joshua began to go, “Wait a minute… I am not sure about the wisdom of this. Do you know what? I want to take a poll… in fact… you go over there and I am going to call together a committee. Me and the fellows… we are going to ask this… and then we are going to get back to you later!” It would have been a mess!

So… we are not installing [you] Elders and [you] Deacons to go and call committees to make a mess. We are calling you to get in your place… flow in your place… sharpen your sword… get out in the valley and kick Amalek’s butt! That is why you are being installed! [So] that you can do your job the way that you are supposed to do it… when you are supposed to do it… with the direction that you are supposed to do it… Minister of Dance… Minister of Youth… Minister of Music… Elder’s and Deacon’s [and] everybody… Hospitality… Guest Services Minister… Photographer… Keyboard [guy]… Do your job[s]… when you are told to do it… when you are supposed to do it… [then] we have got victory!

What if my ‘bread man’ had an attitude about the bread? The bread would get moldy by the time it got here BUT he is as sweet as pie [Brother Freeman]… my ‘bread man’… hallelujah! When you find your place get in it and let’s all be glad… because when you do… [then] we have got victory!

“I don’t want to play the congas… I want to play the keyboard”… “I can’t play [BUT] she sounds good BUT if I get over there [then] I might sound good too!” Shut-up! Stay on the congas. I can talk to [Freddie] like this…

Are you all ready for the truth? It will set you free… you are going to need to apply faith!

He said:

to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

That is the signature of God’s authority… [here] it looks like a microphone… I threw that in for free… it changes when somebody else has it.

¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses had said to him,

I like that… Joshua did as Moses said! Ain’t that good?

 and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Everybody has got their place… say it, “Everybody has got their place”

 ¹¹And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed:

Hold your hands up…

and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Hands up… prevailing… hands down… butt whooping! Hand up… winning… hand down… losing. How many of you [all] want to win? I want to win for God [hallelujah]…

 ¹²But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Now here is what happened. We are [all three] standing up here… we are [all three] watching the battle… Moses is standing there with his hands up… Aaron is over here watching… Hur is over here watching… BUT then [after awhile] they got the picture. When Moses is cool [then] we are cool… when Moses ain’t cool [then] we ain’t cool. We need to make us ‘cool’ all of the time. In other words How can I be a blessing? [Say], “How can I be a blessing?” That is the essential question of your life… from this point forth. Deacons… Elders… people… believers and the like… your essential question is this [one of the core questions of our ministry]… we want to be a blessing so the core question is ‘How can I be a blessing?’[So now] I look around and see… hey, Moses is cool [then I am cool… Moses ain’t cool and they are getting killed down there. We need to do something… and what they decided to do was sacrificially find some place [and] encourage the man of God to sit in his authority… sit in his place… and they took their places to hold up the arms of the man of God so that the whole nation would win.

Let’s go to the scripture:

It came to pass… [verse 12] hands heavy… took a stone and put it under him… he sat there on it… Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands… the one on the one side and the other… his hands were steady…

 ¹³And Joshua discomfited Amalek…

That is an old timey word… he whooped up… he defeated… do you have that? It’s a nice English word… defeated Amalek…

 and his people with the edge of the sword.

 ¹⁴And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out…

Now the thing that he is writing is the thing that we are reading… and what he wrote is what we are reading. What we are reading is that there is victory when you take your place! Not just when Amalek was defeated… he was writing this victory when you do your part the man of God stands in his place… the armor-bearers stand in their place… somebody with a sword is in the valley in their place… the hand of God is held up… the rod of God and the authority is established in its place… That is what we are reading. What He commanded him to write is what we are reading thousands of years later. Aren’t you excited about that? What they did then we read now! What they experienced then we can experience now! Praise the Lord! It is not some old timey dusty old book and a historic story… it is real life applied now and installed today! And it says this

 …the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

 ¹⁵And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah nissi:

… the Lord God my Banner… just like in the song that we sang today… the Lord God my Banner. What was the banner? One psalmist used to sing that the banner over all of us was love… BUT the banner was a banner of victory… that is the banner! Jehovah gave us victory…

 ¹⁶For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

In other words… you have an enemy… and your enemy is God’s enemy. God has promised and sworn in His Word that He will always cause you to be more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves you. That is the commitment of the Covenant of the Blood of the Lamb… you shall be victorious, amen!

The service now continues with the Deacon installation…