Shall we read please in the book of Matthew 20:20 - 28.
Now to Matt. 23:8-12, speaking to the multitude and to the disciples in reference to the Pharisees:
Let's just look up to the Lord for a moment.
We come to a very important message in our series on the New Testament assembly principles. Because this is a subject which is very much misunderstood by many Christians today, I want to say at the outset that our desire this morning is not and should never be to criticize or even to correct others, but simply to present teaching from the word of God for our own assembly in order that all may search the word of God, and persuade themselves about whether these things are true or not, and then follow as they are led. I also want to say that because of my own position in the work of God, I may make a number of references to our own work, and I hope you'll forgive that. Ordinarily one doesn't want to talk about their own work and so forth, but illustrations sometimes are helpful.
Now, we have been considering the subject of elders and deacons as positions or functions of exercise of authority in the assembly. Then we spoke about the priesthood of the believer and there are a number of subjects that we need to touch on in connection with the priesthood of the believer. Last week we spoke about the matter of spiritual gifts. And of course we know that spiritual gifts are tools whereby each believer-priest may be involved in the service of Christ by serving one another. This week we want to speak about a particular area of gift which would be those in full-time Christian work: and we call these "New Testament ministers". Next week, we want to speak about the matter of Christian sisters in the assembly. In fact I do believe we're probably going to take the next two Sundays on the role of women in the assembly just because it's a matter that's been receiving a lot of attention lately, and we want to make sure there's a good foundation laid upon the word of God for what we believe and what we practice. So, we'll probably spend two weeks on that subject. Then following that, Lord willing, we hope to spend at least week one week on the ordinances - the Lord's Supper and Baptism. So that may give you a little idea as to where we're heading,
This morning I'd really like to touch on three points in connection with New Testament ministers. One would be some definitions, and then the call and qualifications, and then the duties and responsibilities.
So, first of all, let's define our terms just briefly, and then we can move on. Now you remember when we spoke about deacons, we said that the New Testament used the word 'diakonos' which is a very common word in the New Testament, often translated 'servant' or 'minister', but which like many Bible words has a specialized usage, and that usage would be the specific work in the assembly of deacon - caring for temporal matters to assist elders, so that they can devote themselves to spiritual work.
But here we come to that word 'minister' again, and now we see a different shade of meaning. Certainly from reading the New Testament, one could quite rightly gather that there was a number of individuals in the early church devoting themselves because of calling to full-time Christian work.
Incidentally, I think it's only fair to say something about what titles and terms should be used for this class of people. I know that people always wonder what to call such people and they always sort-of stop, and say, "Well I don't know what you call yourself." I got a call the other day from one of the schools I used to attend, and they said, "Well, we're putting a little blurp in our alumni catalog and we have to have a title." And I said, "Well I don't have any title." So she said, "Well, it's the rules; you have to have one." Then I said, "I'm sorry then, you may have to leave me out, because my name is Jack and that's all I have - and I'm just a Christian. You could put down 'Christian'." She said, "No, that wouldn't do."
There seems to be a mentality in the world that anyone who does any service for God should have some kind of title. But in reality in the New Testament, a Christian minister was really just a servant of the Lord. Now today we often call such people 'full-time workers.' You may search your Bible in vain for that title. But the older Christians, I notice, very nicely refer to those in God's work as the Lord's servants. And I quite often hear them speak that way. That is a Biblical term and one that we might use.
Now of course by virtue of our priesthood and our spiritual gifts we all are servants. There's no question about that. We're speaking now particularly about those who would be called into a full-time Christian work, and please make a distinction between the minister of the church and a minister. We believe in ministers. And there are many ministers. We thank the Lord for them. But we do not have the minister of the church. This is not a title, or a paid-salaried position or any such thing. This is a calling to serve God on a full-time basis. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:5 asks the question, "Who is Paul? and who is Apollos? but ministers or servants whom ye believe." And so we want to make special note then that in the New Testament there is no class of clergy - there is no special class of professionals in the church, they were never regarded as professional men - rather they were those who had a spiritual gift, were using it, and found the need because of the call of God to use it in a full-time way. So much for a few words of definition.
Now we want to talk secondly about the call and qualifications of such a person. And may I say, I want to be sensitive this morning to the fact that there are quite likely people in the audience who may be called of God to special work and service. We have to remember that we're raising young people in the assembly constantly. They grow up to be teens before we know it. We think they're about ready to go out and pursue some course of study or some life-calling in business which of course if it's the will of God, it's excellent, but it may be that in their hearts they're experiencing a call of God to specific service. And so I want to be sensitive to that this morning and encourage any who may be here considering a call of God in your life or feeling a call of God or praying about it - it's good to pray about such matters - let's look at some of the things that constitute the qualifications and the call of someone who would be a servant of God.
Four things I would highlight.
First of all, a specific call of God is ABSOLUTELY essential. Bill Goddard(?) in his study said something over and over that I've found very helpful:
"THE NEED DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE CALL!"
Now I've memorized that and would that I could live by it. To me it seems that whenever I hear of a need, my response is "Sure I'll help." And I just have had a real difficulty learning that a need is not necessarily a call. Paul in 1 Timothy 1:2 speaks about how the Lord called him, and put him into the ministry. And in 2 Corinthians 3:6 he says, God has made us able ministers of the new covenant. So the word then is well-attested in New Testament usage.
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Bible study up in Cheshire -- actually it was in the home where I was raised. We had sold it, and I went back there to meet in a Bible study one night. It was taught by an elderly woman - one of the finest Bible teachers that I ever had the privilege to hear. The first time I sat under her ministry before the class was held - it was a few minutes and she went around the room looking at the various people. It's quite a crowd there. And she singled me out and she came right over to me and she said, "And you, what are you going to do?" And I said, "Well, ma'am, I hope to serve the Lord." And she said, "Young man, let me give you a piece of advice. STAY OUT OF THE WORK AS LONG AS YOU CAN, AND WHEN YOU CAN'T STAY OUT ANY LONGER, YOU'LL KNOW THAT YOU SHOULD BE IN THE WORK OF GOD." Well, I really had a problem of how to take that at the time. I thought you were supposed to encourage young people to go into the work of the Lord, and not tell them to stay out as long as you can. But she is now long with the Lord. As I looked back over the years, I can certainly say that she had more wisdom than I knew at that time.
I would not advise any young person to go on a mission for God if He has not sent you. Because as soon as trouble develops and most certainly it will, the first thing we do is question our call - "Well, I wonder if 1'm here by the will of God at all, and if I'm where God wants me to be." And if we don't have a clear-cut calling it can be a very unsettling experience to ask searching questions and not have answers.
So, the call of God is essential, and may I say also INSTITUTIONAL ORDINATION IS UNKNOWN IN SCRIPTURE. There is NO scriptural support for human or institutional ordination. One writer has said that to call a servant is a prerogative of the Lord Jesus. To add to that the requirement of institutional ordination is like hanging gaudy tinsel on fine gold.
That's true. We do not in the assembly believe in or practice institutional ordination. Now, schooling to further your skills may or may not be a help. It's according to the leading of God, and if God should lead and you should need to go to school, God can certainly bless further education. We should study the word, we should educate ourselves, as God provides. But to require an institutional ordination - as one professor I had who used to say 'someone putting their empty hands on your empty heads' - it really doesn't accomplish anything, and in the long run I believe it's really a real hindrance, because there is no justification in the word of God for a clergy-laity division.
How many men I know who are ordained ministers constantly lecture the audience - "Why don't you people get involved? Why don't you serve? Why don't you do this? Why do you just sit there?" And I think how often one would like to stand up and say, "You don't go down to the plumbing shop on Monday and help him with his job. Why should he be a professional and help you with your job? You're paid, why don't you do it and be quiet?" So if we think of serving God as a professional, a professional-paid position, then one ought not always to be appealing to the laity to get involved and "help me with the work I'm paid for". If on the other hand, there's a place for those who want to serve God to equip the saints and help them, then we're quite right to appeal to the Christians to get involved and to serve God.
Paul could say in Galatians 1:1 that his calling was not BY man and it was not OF man. He was called of God. And so first of all, there needs to be a clear call from God.
Now, I don't want to be specific and tell you how my call came, or how yours should come. God is able to make it clear to us if we're sensitive. Let's not make a stereo-type and tell the Lord He must act in this way. Much blessing is lost by trying to dictate to God how He must work or how He must call. God is sovereign and He calls. The point is if we're ready and we're sensitive, He'll make it plain to us.
Secondly, there needs to be gifts for service. Let's turn to Ephesians 4. Paul is going to go on in this section and speak about the various gifts in verse 11 - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But he begins in verse 7 (Eph 4:7) and he says, "but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." So there is a differing measure then (or measuring out of the gift of the grace of Christ).
And in a given locality where there are Christians congregating, it's important that some be recognized to take on an equipping ministry. And it's really important that we have not all chiefs and no Indians - and it's also important that we not have a large group of saints but no one who has the time and the ability to do some of the things that others are not able to do. Just want to share, through the years, one of the criteria that I try to apply to things that I get involved in. "Are there other Christians who can do this and do it well? If not, why have I not equipped them? If so, why don't I turn that over to them and allow them to do it!" And I want to say too that it's been a real thrill to me when we first came to the work here, as some of you old-timers know, I was preaching virtually every Sunday. And now it seems, aside from this extended series, there's only a couple of months in the whole year that I'm on this platform. And there are good godly young men who are able to open the word, and teach from Scripture. Now that's a real answer to prayer. And we thank God for all of you who are laboring in the word. Some are not here this morning because they are in other assemblies ministering the word of God. And we're very very thankful for that. So there needs to be gifts for service.
One note in that point too - those who may be called of God, please remember that the CALLING IS TO A SPECIFIC TASK NOT JUST TO A LOCATION. So often young people say, "I feel called to go here or to go there." There doesn't seem to be any clear-cut concept or calling as to what it is that they hope to accomplish. As you study the calling of the men of God and women of God in Scripture, you'll find that God gave a mission. Now, it wasn't always clear at the start but eventually God made it clear they had a mission.
May I just take a moment and recommend a little booklet to you. It's called "GOD'S CALL TO SPECIAL SERVICE". It's written by Mr. T. Ernest Wilson from New Jersey, formerly of Angola Africa. He takes there ten men of Scripture - seven from the Old Testament, and three from the New Testament - and he traces their special calling, and applies it. He sets out principles today. This is printed by CMML and it's available and it's excellent. It's very brief, not expensive, and yet I think anyone who is praying about special service for God should get a hold of this booklet and read it carefully. There are precious helpful principles involved. And he brought out this point that needs to be underscored -
"God does not give a general calling" -
well, serve ME but there's no faint idea of what you may do or what your gift is. Sometimes we meet college students who feel called to serve God, and I always like to ask them some searching questions if perhaps there are not just some stiff exams just ahead. More often than not it turns out that they're getting tired of school, or their grades aren't so good or there's some hard exams and they're thinking, 'Oh maybe I'd better serve the Lord." Now that 's not the way we take up service for God.
Number 3. There should be recognition by those in authority - recognition of both character qualities and gifts.
Let's look at Galatians 2. There are many scriptures obviously that we could turn to for each of these, but in Galatians 2 Paul gives a bit of his testimony of his early years and service for God, speaking about his early meeting with those who are obviously gifted men of God, the apostles and so forth in Jerusalem. And in Galatians 2:9, he says, "And when James, Cephas (that would be Peter), and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas their right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision." Here were men of God in the assembly in Jerusalem perceiving that God had committed a real special measure of grace to this man and accordingly in recognition of that they extended their right hands of fellowship. "We are with you and behind you. We support you in the work to which God has called you." So, there should be a recognition of those in authority.
One of the very important functions of elders in the assembly is to be watching especially the younger people among us to make sure that should God call to be separated for special service, that young person should not need to continue on indefinitely, carrying a burden that "I feel called of God" and yet no one seems to recognize it. But may I say to young people, Elders, you know, don't have a crystal ball. They have to do what all of us do and i.e. watch your life. And if you're not getting involved in the simple things in the ordinary things, if you're not faithful in small amounts, the Lord says, "Who will commit to your trust true riches?" Be willing then to serve in small things. Know that those who are over us in the Lord are watching and observing.
And then finally, those who are in God's service should be recognized and known among the saints. Now this is not by title. You remember there in Matthew 23 of our reading, our Lord Jesus said, "There is one Master and all of us are brethren." How much that truth is passed over today. The Lord Jesus there gives three illustrations of religious titles. And He says, "Do not be called Rabbi. Do not be called Father. Do not be called master or teacher." I sometimes think that the Lord in His wisdom anticipated what would happen in Christendom, and there is one for the Jews (rabbi), and one for the Catholics (father), and one for the Protestants (teacher). And the Lord says, "Don't be called by these titles because the principle by which the word of God is to go forward is ONE master and all equal brethren." It's always been an amazing thing to me that good men who love the Lord, in the face of a clear scripture like that, nevertheless will take and assume a religious title, and continue to be called "Pastor so-and-so" or "Reverend so-and-so" and so forth. There is absolutely no scriptural warrant for that, and we should avoid it. So there is to be then an acknowledgment or known among the saints.
Let's look at I Timothy 4:6. The question could be asked, "How are the saints going to recognize these individuals?" Well, it's certainly got to be by their faithful work. And Paul writing to Timothy says in I Tim. 4:6 - Remember now Timothy was a younger man - and Paul says, "If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, unto which thou hast obtained." I think it's very interesting that this verse to Timothy should follow chapters 2 and 3 in which we find such matters as the prayer meeting (verse l), the place of women (verses 11 and 12 and so forth), the qualifications of elders (3:1-7), the qualifications of deacons. What is Paul saying to the young man Timothy is "if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things ..."- what does it mean to "put in remembrance"? It means "to bring a continual reminder". You know that there are some that chafe whenever a subject needs to be presented again. "Oh, we know these things. Why must we hear them again?" But Paul defines the good minister Jesus Christ as one who is willing to remind the Christians about these fundamental basic things. And there can never be a time when we can say, "Well, you know, we don't need to be taught the fundamentals anymore - we're beyond that. We must have consideration for that fact that there are young people coming up in the assembly. There are college students coming in among us. Others are being won to Christ. And from time to time we need to put the Christians in remembrance of these things.
Paul going into Timothy's home area - you'll remember there in Acts 16 - finds this godly young man and desires to take him out into the work of the Lord. And one thing we read there in Acts 16:1-5 was that Timothy was well-reported of the brethren. And then he mentions a couple of assemblies near Timothy's home. I think it's quite likely that the young man Timothy spent some time traveling, visiting those nearby assemblies and ministering the word. And he gained a good reputation, so that when Paul would take him out into the work there were other older brethren who were willing to say, "This young man we stand behind. We think, Paul, he's a good choice. He'll do well." And right to the end of Paul's life and ministries, Timothy stood by and proved to be a faithful servant of God. I think it's a blessing to contemplate what it was that gave that young man such a good grounding in the faith. He had a godly grandmother, and a godly mother, he had a good reputation, and he was willing to serve in his home area first.
So these are then a few of the things that would be important for the qualifications and calling of someone in the Lord's service.
Finally, we would like to spend some time looking at the duties of a servant of God. Now in very general terms we could say that there is a three-fold responsibility to serve God, to equip the saints, and to win the lost. And that really can occupy the remainder of our time looking at those three areas of responsibility.
Let's begin with the first one: to serve God. We have said in past messages that elders and deacons confine their labors necessarily to the local assembly. The servant of God though is called to serve all of God's people in an area. He's not necessarily confined to one assembly. Remember he's not a servant of the church. He's a servant of God. Some years ago I got a call from a brother, known to many of you, and he said, "The minister in our church is going away on vacation, would you come and speak on Sunday morning?" Well, I don't like to miss the Lord's Supper; and I try not to do that. So I had to pray about it, but anyway the Lord did lead me to go; and I went and spoke at that particular church down in New Haven. Afterwards I had a meeting with some of the Christian people there and they said, "Look we're five couples, and we're all saved, and we're just dying here because the word of God is never opened and the Bible is not believed or taught. What can we do?" We got together with them on a regular basis, taught the word of God, went over this same series on the New Testament principles, and of course you know from that has come the assembly in Westville - growing and prospering in the things of God. That's been a real reminder to me that at the time those men and women were all in the Methodist church - they were all in a denominational work and I've just been so thankful to God that His leading was : "There are Christians, there are needs, I'm leading - go and serve them. Don't ask questions about what their affiliation is. There are Christians, there are needs, it's my leading, go and serve them." And of course a real door was opened and God planted an assembly in the area. And we're very thankful for that. So, SERVANTS OF GOD ARE COMMITTED TO THE SERVICE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN AN AREA, NOT NECESSARILY CONFINED TO THE ONE PARTICULAR WORK.
Also we should note, as part of the duties of the servant of God, the servant of God TEACHES SCRIPTURE, NOT A DENOMINATIONAL POSITION. That is so important. Anything that you hear from this platform - whether it's myself or another speaker - you have every right to open the word of God and test what is said against scripture. And if it's not there or it contradicts something in scripture, I should strongly suggest that you should go and talk to the elders. In fact, I know that they would want to hear from you. We want to base our assembly and our practices and our beliefs on the word of God. We're not here to open up before you some denominational position, or some council, or creed or something that some localized group makes you subscribe to. We're here to learn and to obey God's word - not a doctrinal statement.
Another thing would be I think that I've already mentioned it but some may have questions along this line, because the servant of God is a servant of God and not of the local church, HE IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE. Many have asked me this question, and I don't mind sharing with you - we do not have any contract with this or any other assembly. We do not have any agreed-upon salary or salary requirements. I file with Uncle Sam the IRS as a self-employed person, and from time to time I get a call from Andover (?) - somebody who just can't quite figure out what that really means. And God in His kindness finally led me to a man up there who understands. So he says, "Oh, yes, I know what you people are like. You follow the Bible - things like the book of Acts and all that, right?" And I said, "Yeah! That's right." And so he says, "Well, I know about you and I understand, and so I'll help you." He gave me a lot of help in filling out forms and things. And when he got down I said, "Can I take your name and number because I'm going to need to talk to you again?" And he said, "Sure." And over the years, and it's a real provision of God because even though he doesn't profess to be a Christian, he does understand our position. It's very difficult to convince someone in the world that it's possible to just go by scripture, and have it work.
Let me say that again because it's so novel to some people's ears - it's very difficult to convince many people in the world that it is possible to GO BY SCRIPTURE ALONE, AND THAT IT WILL WORK. I've had men - good men - in Christian work, looked me right in the eye and in all seriousness said to me, "You mean to tell me that you actually believe that if you had a whole room full of people gathered together, and bread and wine on the table, and no leader of worship up front, and allow those as the Spirit led to get up and express themselves. You mean to tell me, you don't think you'd have chaos and bedlam?" And I've had to say to them, "Well, you know, I've been doing it for forty years - and I think it's been all right. Forty years every Sunday, and the Lord has blessed and led." Well, they can't conceive of that. Imagine that - that there could be order and harmony in meeting - a public meeting without a leader of worship. Why, it's unthinkable. Well, it's only unthinkable if we don't believe that the Spirit of God could come and lead and be in the midst. But once we accept that, why, there's no problem at all.
Now while we speak about the servant of God as a servant of the Lord, and not an employee of the church, I might also speak to another question that arises quite frequently - what about the support of those in full-time work? Now I know this is a touchy issue but we do need to cover it. Let me say that any servant of God should be willing to accept support from the Lord in any of three areas.
First of all he may receive financial support from the group to which he ministers. This is of course a biblical principle found in Gal 6:6 - that those who receive spiritual blessing should share in a temporal way with those who teach and serve.
But what about those who are serving in a pioneer area where the believers are young? They're new, they don't know Galatians. In fact, they hardly know anything in the Bible. They don't yet know and understand the grace of giving. So the second way in which a servant of God should be willing to receive support is from distant believers, who know of pioneer efforts and send. Remember Paul said, "While I was at Thessalonica, you Christians from Macedonia sent once and again to my need. The Philippians understood Paul is in a new area, in a pioneer outreach, and those Thessalonicans are young believers, and they will not have yet learnt the grace of giving. So we should send Paul a gift so that he can support himself, and continue to serve God.
Those of us, and I include myself, here who are fortunate to labor in an area where God's people had been very generous through the years, we have need for nothing. God has blessed us, and our needs are met. But I think of those who are out in pioneer areas, where the Christians are too young, and the work is too small, I want to say that we should have a burden for sharing with those who are in areas where others are not meeting their needs. We should give part of our giving, I do believe, to those who are in difficult pioneer areas, trying to work to get a foundational or a base planted. And the young people and the young Christians are not yet matured enough to understand the grace of giving. We should have a burden to share with them.
And then thirdly, and I include this because this is absolutely scriptural, the servant of God should be willing, when time requires it or when need requires it, to earn his living by making tents. Paul is a tent-maker. He turned to tent-making in certain cities so that he could buy his bread. And if we do believe that being a servant of God is not a professional position, whether the employee of some church or some organization, but rather being a servant of the Lord, then the Lord may so lead that in a certain situation it's necessary to go out and use our skill.
Now I bring that up for another reason. Any of the young folk who might be here ... and you might contemplate going out in service for God some time in your life ... might remember that the very studies that you don't see why you should do them now - it may stand you in good stead some day. The Lord may ask you to provide your own support for a month or a year or whatever, and that's nothing wrong about that. Paul did it, and you might do it.
And we should be willing as God's servant to accept our support from any of those three ways according to how God will lead. The point is, and Hudson Taylor said this, and it's a very famous statement by now, "GOD'S WORK DONE IN GOD'S WAY WILL NOT LACK GOD'S SUPPORT." We can count on that but we must be willing to be in the work of God, and make sure that it's God's work and that we're doing it in God's way.
So, the servant of God serves the Lord.
Secondly, he is responsible to equip the saints. Now in Ephesians 4:12 and following, we saw there that those gifted individuals mentioned were responsible to EQUIP THE SAINTS SO THAT THEY THE SAINTS COULD DO THOSE TWO GREAT AND IMPORTANT THINGS - THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY AND THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY. Reading from Eph 4:11 - "He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." And as we now know the way that verse should be read, because of the prepositions that are used in it, is something like this: "for the perfecting of the saints to DO the work of the ministry and to DO the edifying of the body of Christ." So, then gifted men should restrain themselves from the impulse to do it all. They should realize that God has raised them up to equip to bring the saints to maturity. And as the saints begin to do the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body then the assembly will grow and will prosper, each one finding and using and developing their spiritual gift.
Another responsibility of God's servant is to PRESENT THE SAINTS PURE AND MATURE TO CHRIST. 2 Corinthians 11:1,2. To see to it that when the Lord Jesus returns, as many Christians as possible are pure and mature in their faith.
And then finally, to win the lost. And we've talked before about Eph 3:8,9 - Paul's calling NOT ONLY TO WIN THOSE TO CHRIST BUT ALSO TO SEE THEM GATHERED TOGETHER INTO LOCAL ASSEMBLIES. And may I say I think this is something that needs to be clarified in our day. I don't find anywhere in scripture where Paul went into a town and then won a lot of people for the Lord and then said, "Well, I'm glad you're saved. Good-bye. I have a schedule next week and I must be going." Paul stayed with that group and showed them how to gather together around the Lord, how to remember Him, and engage in prayer, in fellowship, and teaching. When he returned, visited them, he helped them recognize elders so that they could go on. And really, the concept of the gospel has gotten a very distorted view in our day and age. We think of a gospel as merely leading someone to Christ and then just dropping him. Well the gospel means the "good news", and there is good news for the whole person - the new believer. There's good news for the unsaved person, once they are saved there's good news for the new believer. And there continues to be good news right along through their Christian walk. So then we need to go back to the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, we're to win the lost. Yes, we're to make disciples. But we're also to see them baptized and to teach them all things whatsoever He has commanded us.
Well, our time is about gone. As we close I'd like to ask you to turn to 2 Corinthians 11. Paul gives a long list of the many things that have beset him as far as trials, but also the things that are concerns on his heart. And I can really identify with Paul in one verse here, and I'd like to just single it out - 2 Cor 11:28. He says, "Beside those things that are without (in other words, "external to my existence"), there is something inside ("there is an internal wave or burning")", and he says, it is "that which cometh upon me daily, THE CARE OF ALL THE CHURCHES."
You know I learnt something. I have to confess it was just this morning I learnt it, about that word 'care'. I looked it up and that word 'care' is the same word that Paul uses in Philippians 4:6 where he says, "Be anxious for nothing". He says, "Be overly concerned about nothing". Well, that's the word he uses here. And he uses it of himself, and he said, "Upon me daily the anxiety, the anxious care of all the churches". Now I don't want to go into why he would tell us in Phil 4:6 NOT to be anxious, and then write that that was a heavy weight for him - the care of the churches. But I can sympathize with him. And it's a real concern. I know it - to my wife and I - in the work of God that the churches in the area do well, that they prosper, and that they grow. I want to share that because from time to time we hear people say things, I'm sure, innocently - I just want to share it with you so that you might understand a little bit of the burden that we carry. As you know, our planting of assemblies and ministry takes us farther and farther afield to other towns and cities. And sometimes people will make a comment like, "Well, you know Jack isn't around anymore. We need another worker." I want to share with you my insight or perspective on a comment like that.
If what is being said is, "There is a lot of things that need to be done - visitation, counseling and help of those in the assembly here - and the assembly is growing and we need to see others raised up to share that burden", then I say a hearty Amen. Yes, I am a hundred percent behind that. It's true because Scripture bears it out.
But if what is being said by a comment like that is, "We don't want to do the workings of Christianity, we want to hire someone. And if so-and-so isn't going to be here, then we'll get somebody else to fill his place. And I'm very sad about that because that says that I have failed to equip the saints so that they can do the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body.
So you see the way one interprets comments that are made are very important. It is my desire that men and women be raised up and recognized to help carry on a growing work. We do need that. But let's not do it with the attitude we're going to get somebody to save from rolling up our sleeves and serving God. And if it can't be this one, well, we'll get somebody else. We do not, in the assemblies, like to pay professionals to come in and relieve us from the responsibility of serving God. We want all the saints to be involved. But it is true, there is a place in the things of God for a person in full-time Christian work. And we need to honor that and respect it.
Let's pray.