1Co 12:31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. If we are going to strive for worldly excellence and achieve it, it will bring pride and jealousy. But once we realize that God has given us an excellent spirit, we start drawing from a different Source. Excellence is not something we paste on from the outside; it's not dependent on willpower, but on the Spirit inside us.

2007-03-04 Sermon 10am
A more excellent way
Preached by Apostle André Pelser
(This article is based on notes taken by Morné Fourie and Jean-Pierre Joubert)

1Co 12:31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

excellent
G5236
ὑπερβολή
huperbolē
hoop-er-bol-ay'
From G5235; a throwing beyond others, that is, (figuratively) supereminence; adverbially (with G1519 or G2596) pre-eminently: – abundance, (far more) exceeding, excellency, more excellent, beyond (out of) measure.

I prayed this on the 10th of Dec. 1992 for my family and this church
when we had just started it.

Dan 5:12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.'

Dan 5:14 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

excellent
H3493
יתּיר
yattîyr
yat-teer'
(Chaldee); corresponding to H3492; preeminent; adverbially very: – exceeding (-ly), excellent.

There is a town in Israel's mountains named Yatiir and it means plenty.

Dan 5:14 speaks of “excellent wisdom”. No characteristic wins respect more than wisdom. Teach your children wisdom. It leads to long term respect. Daniel’s menu was simple, and his prayer life extravagant. His wisdom was given from above.

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

God’s wisdom is “willing to yield” (open for discussion), not secretive.

Jesus mentioned Daniel’s prophecies:
Dan 11:31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.

Dan 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

Wisdom shall promote you and bring you honour. Look for God’s strategies in prayer.

Ask God for confirmation of His word. After that, no longer confer with flesh and blood about the matter.

1 Cor 13: Love is not a gift; it is a way of life. It will enhance your life, stimulate the gifts in you.

1Co 13:4-8 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

It is not your will power that produces all the attributes of love. You can do the right thing with the wrong spirit. For example: “Come old lady, I’ll help you across the road. Come on, hurry up!”

Daniel, Joseph and others did not lay out dreams by their will power, but by the Spirit of God. They had an excellent Spirit.

Your will power is used mostly for submission – for submitting to God’s will.

What does excellence mean? To go beyond.

Bakkies Botha, the Springbok Rugby player, honours his Source after a game. He does not say “I set my goals and achieved it with my will power.” He thanks the Lord publicly for giving him the strength to play the game.

The difference between this and the methods of will-power is that if you are going to strive for that excellence and achieve it, it will bring pride and jealousy. Christianity should be different from the world. God gives us an excellent spirit – it's not something we paste on from the outside, it's not dependent on willpower, which can become idolatry. That spirit is in the world and the church, where willpower is supreme.

God says, 'Not by might, not by power but by my spirit.' God's Spirit in you is an excellent spirit and that gives a more excellent harvest where you can be humble enough to say, 'Look at what the Lord has done.' The world says, 'I've done this, I've done that.' but when someone says, 'Look what God has done', it is a different spirit. The point is to give God the glory; it's an excellent spirit because it's humble.

Daniel didn't set goals for himself. They heard that he had an excellent spirit and that he can interpret dreams and he said, 'No, there's a God in Heaven that can do that. I just hear from Him.' David practiced, but he said, 'It's the Lord who taught my hand.' It's the excellent spirit in him that made him say, 'The Lord.' As we begin to acknowledge the Lord more, He will do more. If 'I' has to do it, then 'I' has to do more. The Lord is stretching us, increasing our capacity, so that He can give you more. He extends because He wants to do more.

A certain prophet in Lagos (he is the richest man I've ever met) had six cell phones: one for each company and one for his family. He took me into two of the three lounges in his house. One was for business men, one for statesmen and the other for presidents of nations, kings and princes. It was beyond anything I’ve ever seen.

He said to me, 'Look what the Lord has given me.' But one of his companies made enough money for him to buy all this. He said, 'The Lord told me that He will bless me. You're the first white man who came to Nigeria to give me a big offering. I'm going to bless you now.' His spirit is what I'm talking about, not his toys, his wealth or his companies. His spirit is what attracted me. And there's a price to this.

He prophesied this over me and Nola:
Gen 26:12-14 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. (13) The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; (14) for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

Someone didn’t just give Isaac a cheque. God blessed him because he sowed in a time of famine. When God prospered him, he kept sowing more. God prospered him more. He sowed more. The Philistines envied him.

What did Jesus say? Verily I say unto you, receive and you shall give. No! Give and you shall receive.

Many people begin to prosper and then they stop giving tithes. If you want to enlarge your receptacle, you must give more. It shall be measured to you according to the measure you use. This doesn't come easy, there's a price to it. He began to prosper and continued until he was very prosperous.

The Philistines didn't kill Isaac, they envied him.