Infinite Fellowship Ministries

Glory & Fire: Sermon By Rev. Richard Muendo

And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord?”

Then the leaders of fathers’ houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king’s work. They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”

Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

1 Chronicles 29:1-22 (ESV)

The Context of Transition: Verse 1-9

The work and the vessel appear to be in disparity. David was mighty in God but his son, Solomon, was young and inexperienced. Even so, God chose Solomon to build the temple. 

The work ordained by God emanates from eternity and manifests in Kairos.  

Transition is the divine portal through which we access our Kairos in the context of Chronos. 

Transition is the wisdom that God employs to align Kairos and Chronos. The location of divine portal is set for the entrance of the Word of God that brings forth wisdom to the simple.

The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light; their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple.

Psalm 119:130 (AMPC)

Transition is the wisdom of God that makes the light of Christ’s supreme purpose shine. 

To make something manifest is to make the unseen be seen; the hidden to be seen. 

The access point is made manifest in the process of transition in the alignment of Chronos and Kairos.  

The Bethel reality is what causes one to transact with the Father. It is in this reality that the Body of Christ should walk in. This portal carries a specific grace that makes the entrance of God word a reality. 

If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

Galatians 5:25 (AMPC)

It is one thing to access the divine portal and another one to tap into the grace of God therein. David discerned in the transition that Solomon had the grace to build the temple despite his youth.  

The word of God comes into a dark arena to break forth light. 

God’s word is an ecosystem of subsidiary realities. Revelation is in part. Full revelation is the province of God and God only. 

No one can assist Jehovah in the fulfillment of His own word.

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands. 

Psalm 138:8 (AMPC)

Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose. 

Isaiah 46:10 (AMPC)

The word of God is living and active. It has a pursuit in it. 

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [a]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (AMPC)

The word of God has subsets of realities accessed by revelation in parts and portions. 

In many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets, [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order].

He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high, [Taking a place and rank by which] He Himself became as much superior to angels as the glorious Name (title) which He has inherited is different from and more excellent than theirs. 

Hebrews 1:1-4 (AMPC)

The word of God is vicious and relentless in the pursuit of its purpose. #SELAH

When you are being processed, the grace of the wilderness allows for you to get away with some things but once fully processed, there is no getting away with some things. 

Angels are ministering spirits sent to minister to saints walking in the word of God. Angels have discerned the interplay between glory and fire.

Referring to the angels He says, [God] Who makes His angels winds and His ministering servants flames of fire.  

Hebrews 1:7 (AMPC)

Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word. 

Psalm 103:20 (AMPC)

God is in His Holy Temple. He chooses His vessel in the consummate expression and fulfillment of the word of God in time. God’s choices are anchored in the choice of the counsel of His will – His heart and mind. 

God’s choice is made from eternity and communicated in time.  Everyone you see in the Church today is a part of the plan of God.   

There is a certain urgency the Lord is calling INFEMI to towards faith and purity.  

The Lord dwells in terrible majesty. 

The vessel is chosen in light of eternal scales. There is an all-at-oneness view in eternity. Christ intercedes for us in light of this eternal view of God. 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord God, He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty (the Ruler of all). 

Revelation 1:8 (AMPC)

We need to access eternity to transact with the Father. This is an arena of concealment. The result of this transaction causes us to repent. 

Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)? 

Romans 2:4 (AMPC)

If you cannot see the past, present and future of a person, you are ill equipped to speak out against them. It takes access to the realm of the Spirit to grasp somethings about people.  

Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]. 

2 Corinthians 5:16 (AMPC)

We need to constantly agree with God’s choice. This introduces us to the realm of repentance. 

And King David said to all the assembly, Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young, tender, and inexperienced; and the work is great, for the palace is not to be for man but for the Lord God. 

1 Chronicles 29:1 (AMPC)

Assembly/Congregation: A public meeting coming together for a united purpose. 

There is the issue of walking in the light. There is no concealment. 

There is the issue of unity in purpose.   

There is the notion of divine patterns.  

A transition makes a demand of the anointing which only flows in the context of unity. 

The Perspective of Glory: Verse 10-13  

Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly and said, Be praised, adored, and thanked, O Lord, the God of Israel our [forefather], forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and the earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and Yours it is to be exalted as Head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hands are power and might; in Your hands it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name and those attributes which that name denotes.

1 Chronicles 29:10-13 (AMPC)

Levels Of Blessing

(a) When God Blesses Man: 

A blessing occurs in eternity and then creates a reality that will sustain the vessel in the realm of manifestation in the context of constriction.  

When God blesses, no one can curse. Balaam knew this very well. 

How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced? 

Numbers 23:8 (AMPC)

You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse or qualify it.

 Numbers 23:20 (AMPC)

Abraham was blessed; God would curse anyone that would curse him despite being a man walking on the face of the earth in limitation.  

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 

Isaiah 55:11 (AMPC)

(b) When Man Blesses Man: 

When a man discerns the grace another man carries. 

The blessing of God disrupts and causes man to leave and recalibrates one’s bounds and journey. 

Let the righteous man smite and correct me—it is a kindness. Oil so choice let not my head refuse or discourage; for even in their evils or calamities shall my prayer continue. 

Psalm 141:5 (AMPC)

Rebuke returns man back to their estate. It is a blessing to be rebuked. 

(c) When Man Blesses God: 

When man discerns God in His work and His wisdom, character and nature. 

To bless God is to affectionately praise and revere Him.    

This is what opens a portal for God to access the praises of people.  

Addendum: 

The past, present and future are tools of transition.

Time is transitorily presence in contrast to eternity which is abiding presence.

Whatever the Lord does is for the purpose of His glory. 

God looks at the heart and how it is aligned to His.