Sermon Transcript — December 2, 2006
One of the things we came to realize as we began to develop the overall approach and policies within the United Church of God was a number of situations that we went through, the sufferings that we had gone through because of separation and the changes that had to be made and we found that a unique situation began to develop in the early going of "United." People had a major distrust of the ministry of Jesus Christ. They had a major distrust of them; and for a while I couldn't figure out what was going on until I began to realize what they had gone through in a number of ways. But also there was one other thing that had occurred.
Between the years of 1987 and about 1995 we began to realize as we looked back on it and as we evaluated the situations that there was a subtle injection of a very damaging attitude that began to be broadcast to the minds of people. And this particular attitude followed on the heels of Watergate. It followed the breakdown in the area of the President and other leaders in the United States and it began to move out until we saw some of it here in Canada and we saw it in other areas of the world and we recognized simply the fact that there was a frame of mind toward authority. There was a frame of mind toward government. There was a frame of mind toward people in responsible positions. And we had stickers; bumper stickers in the United States that began to appear and it said on the bumper sticker, "Question authority. Question authority."
But it was just not questioning authority, it was not just Watergate, it was just not the problems of leaders and people that were going through their problems and the disrespect that was growing among those individuals, but there was a concerted effort by some individuals to undermine the high calling of God to the ministry, to undermine the high calling of God to ministry.
Let me tell you a little bit about what I found. We were asked to reflect on a few individuals who were called by certain people "fat cats;" they were called by these people, authoritarians; they were called by these people, "sheriffs." There was this unique little statement that used to go out, "Are you a sheriff or are you a shepherd?" And there was this play on these words and what we began to realize, there was a very subtle injection of a frame of mind where the respect for the ministry took a terrible beating and trust was lost as that theme continued to be broadcast over and over and over again.
And we began to realize that the feelings, the attitudes and the approaches that we found among some were just simply that the high calling of God to ministry really wasn't what it was when the man, Herbert Armstrong used to bring students to Ambassador College and was there to train them in what? In the development of character, development of leadership, and that sort of thing and if the calling of God was there to be a part of it.
And everybody at that time wanted to be a part of the work. They all wanted to be a part of whatever they could do to better the work or to be a part of a growing development that we saw in the preaching and the publishing of the gospel to the world as a witness, a warning, a calling, and an election. And we recognized that as that particular frame of mind began to diminish over the years there was another attitude that came to take its place. And it was what we saw that was occurring and that was the respect for the ministry was at that particular time really took a terrible beating. They really took a terrible beating and the theme was broadcast over and over.
I remember in 1994, I was sitting at a meeting in Chicago and I was sitting up in the top and I was sitting next to my wife and this particular individual was going on and on. It was actually the first meeting of the day in this particular seminar and ministerial conference. And as I sat there, there were several hundred individuals in that room, and we were being berated. We were being railed on. We were being emotionally and psychologically beaten up. And this particular individual simply told us that we could do nothing right. And it was all based on the fact that we were nothing more than "sheriffs." We were just simply "fat cats," authoritarians, and we needed to get off that particular frame of mind.
Now the sad part about it was, it was not the truth, because you did have a few people here and there that had their problems, you could probably name individuals with whom perhaps we had seen that particular approach. But the overwhelming majority of ministers simply in the years that I had known them as a regional pastor in the United States and in Canada in the twenty-three years that I worked here I did not find that frame of mind among the majority of the men. I did not find that.
And so what we had was this injection of this spirit, or this frame of mind and literally my wife walked out of the meeting crying because it affected her so negatively and so badly, and my wife's a pretty tough gal. And by the way, I was right on the edge of my seat ready to leave as well, but I was really, really concerned about what she had just taken in this particular beating that she went through.
Now, I realize that that sounds like something that's probably not all that important, but when you begin to understand the concept of praying the "Lord of the harvest;" when you understand the concept of flying, train, and ordain as a very important thing; I think the third one that we have to look at is: We really do need to be restored in the church to the frame of mind that we really had that was very positive toward the ministry of Jesus Christ, because it was there.
Here in Canada, believe it or not, we probably had one of the most respectful groups of people across the country that I ever saw. It wasn't until I went down to the United States that I found that it was a little different than it was up here. The people here were very much respecting things, but the attitude that was broadcast to us was simply, "sheriffs and not shepherds." So what I did was I looked at an interesting statement that came out and I'm going to quote it to you because I find it is most interesting, it was said by Dr. Josef Goebels. He was, of course, the man who was involved with Hitler. He was his propaganda minister.
But here's what he said. He said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it often enough, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can only be maintained for such a time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic, and military consequences of the lie. Thus it becomes vitally important for the State to use all its powers to repress dissidence for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie and thus by extension the truth is the greatest enemy of the state."
We found that frame of mind and as a result of that we find that many of the young people who stayed with the church, we found many of the young people who came to ABC, many of the young, shall I say, married and single people that are out there in the local churches simply had to face the fact that they had heard these things and they did not want to be a part of the ministry. It was not a positive frame of mind in thinking that perhaps some day Christ would call some of them to be a part of the ministry. And the sadness that we see is that it simply was something that was injected and perpetrated upon us unsuspecting going back years and years and years ago.
If we honestly look at the example of our ministry in the United Church of God over the past eleven years plus it has been proven that most of our men are truly, most of our men have shown truly a heart of a servant and a shepherd. As we watch and we look at the very things that we had to live through and work through we see that these men have. They have endured the distrust. They have endured and reflected the very nature of Christ working through this very difficult time. But we are concerned, I am concerned, my whole responsibility in Matthew 9:37-38 and Titus 1:5 all has to do also with the fact that we must recognize that this negative injection that we had, it was simply wrong.
The ministry is a noble calling and the realization that the ministry is a legitimate way to spend one's life in service to the brethren. I think this has been a problem and we're beginning to see us turn the tide.
This particular sermon that I'm giving was first started in a lecture that I gave the ABC just a few months ago. And I gave that to them because of the fact that I recognized that many of them, of the fifty, fifty-two, fifty-three young people needed to have someone tell them that ministry is a good place to be, that it is a good calling. It is a good responsibility if this is where Christ wants you to be, if Christ is calling you to that particular responsibility. Because we recognize there's no greater feeling than spending yourself for people and seeing what a difference it makes in their lives.
I think we recognize that preaching is only a small portion of a pastoral family's responsibility. The care and the attention to people's needs, the struggles that people go through is our number one thing that we are dealing with and working with all the time. People want to know how much you care. Sitting all night at a hospital, holding the hand of the sick and the dying, seeing teens turn their lives around, watching young people begin to make right choices is hard to put in words, it's just hard to put in words.
And it's amazing when you will see that a minister, as I have seen over the past year, go to a hospital and stay with a family whose member had a heart attack and literally was brain dead and they stayed with them for three days and worked with them until the decision had to be rendered about turning off the machine. And then the minister went on and did the funeral and the response by the people recognizing, "This is where it's at." Pardon the poor English. "This is where it's at." This is where, you know, this is the bottom line. It's what we do. This is where we're supposed to be.
And I think this is very important, that we begin to re-establish that the ministry is not a forty-hour a week occupation that we leave behind at the end of the day or the end of the week. It is a way of life. We are looking at the calling of God and the attitude of I Timothy 3:1, which says, where a man "…desires a good work." And we've begun to amplify that and to teach that as a part of a way of life.
We also taught at ABC and we taught our youth in the summer camps this year, we taught our youth in the Challenger II Program that being a part of service, being a part of the active aspect of serving within the church allows you to see the inward workings of the body of Christ and to see where perhaps you do fit with your gifts and talents and abilities as a human being.
We want to work with the younger people. We started to do that now just this past year as we began to amplify this particular program. And we are also trying to work in a new way with the older and settled and tried and tested members to develop a way by which we can know, "Is God calling a man and his wife to serve in the ministry?"
We want to emphasize there's nothing wrong with wanting to serve in the ministry if God is calling an individual there. But you see, before there was this frame of mind, this negative frame of mind that this is all these "fat cats" are. This is all they approach it from was from this particular wrong attitude. But we recognize that it is not true. We recognize that if God is calling am individual to that kind of service it is what should be. Now, it should be no place for a person if it is simply a career choice and God's calling is not there.
We do believe the calling to the ministry can be a great help to the families of the church, to see the example of the husband and his wife working as an example in the smallest form of government, in the marriage. It's a wonderful thing. I have seen over the years in working with men that I was mentored by to see the attitude of how they worked with people and in their family set an example for me. I had a man named Dean Wilson, and I think many of you know the man. I spent hours and hours and hours with him in the automobile. I spent hours with him in his own home and I watched the way he and Marilyn worked together and worked with their family and it was really a fine example of what I felt was the foundational aspect of the ministry, and it started with marriage.
God has placed ministry in the church with the responsibility and the authority to show this and we do believe that there should be a level of respect. I do believe that there is a greater level of respect in some areas than in others, but I do also recognize that it's a part of what I decided that I'm going to do as one of those working on the development of pastoral, the development of ministers. And that is to begin to talk about the fact that it is as honorable a profession as it is for a man to go into anything else, and this is what we're trying to show at this particular time.
This is what we would like to do as Christ gives His church direction and respond to the lies, to the half-truths that have been woven into a web of deceit that has been perpetrated on us, that the ministry is bad. And we want everybody to know that that is simply not true. So what I am describing to you is simply today the high calling of God to ministry. I would like to examine the matter of the calling of God to ministry first. I would like to examine some things that I would like to share with you this afternoon.
I've handed out several papers to all of you in the audience today. I hope that you're able to follow with me in this particular area and go through with me some of the things that I would like to share with you at this particular time.
We are to go about finding, training, and ordaining, but I'd like for a moment to look at something very, very important. Over in I Timothy 3:1, let's go over there for a moment. The apostle Paul talked about the calling of God to ministry and he said the following words. Let's notice what he did say. He said,
I Timothy 3:1 — "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work." Now here in I Timothy 3:1, all the way down through verse 7 he begins to describe some of the characteristics or the qualities that are required. He talks about the fact that the very first thing that has to be is that a man desires the position of a bishop for the purpose of what? Desiring a good work.
We recognize that people have wanted to be in the ministry for reasons that were not according to I Timothy 3. We recognize that in this particular case that the apostle Paul is simply saying that there is a distinction in the motivation. There is a distinction in the motivation with human beings because it may be either to serve others or for personal gain. To gain a particular position, to gain certain type of esteem that you might get from this particular point, but the key, or the bottom line to the question of the calling of God starts with this particular verse. It starts with this particular attitude and I believe that years ago we used to explain this point as having a desire to serve in the work in whatever way leadership determined we could best be used.
The emphasis at that time was upon the work but really I think we carry it a bit further in the understanding over the last few years when we recognize that the correct approach should be to serve God first, not the people first. We recognize the important thing is that we take the time to recognize what people are doing and to ascertain to a person's true motivation. We also ask for feedback so that we can have a vital tool to the pastor in regarding motivation by an individual. But here in I Timothy 3 we recognize that this is the first bottom line of an individual being called to ministry and that is found simply here in verse 1, that "…If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work."
Now I gave you a piece of paper and I'd like you to just take a look at it. It's entitled, "The Four Purposes of the New Testament Ministry," and I'd like to just simply highlight for you what is found from Ephesians 4:11-15.
In Ephesians 4:11-15, Paul lists four basic purposes for the existence and the work of the New Testament ministry, so we begin to understand the foundation and why we have the job that we have. Why we're doing what we're doing. What an individual will be doing if he is serving in the ministry, whether it is as an elder, as a pastor.
And he said under number one the first purpose listed for the ministry is, verse 12 — "to prepare God's people for works of service…." That's the New International Version's translation, but it means simply that it's the, shall I call it the emphasis on the centrality, as the second line said of service as a part of the way of a Christian's life. But we also recognize that this is where ministry is. Ministry is in the concept of simply preparing God's people to serve, whether it's to serve the work or to serve the church, or to serve the overall needs that we have within the body. This is the number one purpose that we have.
Number two — the second purpose for the ministry is for the edifying, or the building up of the body of Christ.
The third function of the ministry is to bring a sense of stability and unity in both faith and knowledge. It is very, very interesting to see the concepts of the apostle Paul in doctrine when he tells us that we are to teach as we have been taught. He goes through the concept that we are to be one in doctrine, we are to be one in the faith, and the ministry is to gather people into that one faith, to gather people into that one doctrine and to gather people into that unity that should be in faith and knowledge of God's particular way of life.
Number four — we said the ultimate purpose of the ministry is summarized in verses 13-15 as leading the church to a spiritual maturity which is defined as being more Christ-like. It implies that the minister is expected to actively set an example of spiritual growth, not simply sustaining the same level of spiritual understanding and Christian living that he has already attained. It means that a minister of God has to be one who grows with his people and grows in the ability to lead them.
Now if you flip it over for just a moment and go to I Timothy 3, let's go over there and take a look at the concept of ministry, what he is supposed to be doing. Now again, why am I doing this? I'm just simply showing you that the high calling of God is something that is very positive. It is very good. It brings about a nurturing and a nourishing and a building up of individuals within the body. It is a service to the individuals within the body of Christ. Notice what he says in about the fourth paragraph. He says, "So why do we need a special listing of ministerial qualifications?" He said, "Actually there are several reasons."
Number 1 -The minister is often the most visible representative of the church. Therefore it is important that individuals who represent the church in the public should exemplify the highest standards of the church. Now he goes on to show as we're going to see in just a moment with the chart, what are the basic qualifications and the responsibilities that are there.
Number 2 - He said one of the primary responsibilities of the ministry within the church is to lead by example. These qualifications enable the church to know that they can look to the ministry for an example in these areas. Now these are minimal requirements for all of you to understand. These are minimal requirements for an individual who is going to be qualified by Jesus Christ to lead His church in some eldership or pastoral responsibility.
Number 3 - Some people see the ministry as a position of honor and want the position for the wrong reasons. These qualifications show this is a position of service. This is what we in United have emphasized and part of this paper that you have before you is what I had done for ABC and for the ministry to give out to everybody to see the foundational bottom line as to what we're trying to do and have been doing and are trying to continue to do as we reach out to train and to work with people in an ongoing way.
Going on, he said in number 4 - For those who have a proper desire to serve in a ministerial capacity, this allows them to evaluate their own lives and see the areas in which they need to grow. Now we're going to cover that in just a moment because I think we'll see that this is very, very important that people see that they have something by which they can judge themselves to see how they are doing within the body so far as these qualifications are serviced.
Going on, number 5 - It says it enables those who are responsible for ordaining people in the ministry to have a list of those qualities important to God and help them not be swayed by appearances or impressive personality. Yes, we've seen that happen in times past; we understand that. This is something that we desire to make sure that we eradicate but we also have to recognize that it takes time to do that.
Number 6 - The list of qualities helps us understand more fully the proper role of the ministry and how the minister should relate to the membership, and again it shows you in these versesfrom verse 1-7 that particular point.
Number 7 - Some of the qualities example apt to teach show that while the ministry is a wonderful opportunity to serve, the ministry is not for everyone. The ministry is not for everyone. People may be righteous, dedicated and obviously showing the mind of Jesus Christ, but they can serve more effectively in some other capacity.
Last of all, most of these qualities are qualities all Christians should have. This listing does not indicate superiority in the ministry any more than a job description implies the superiority of one in that particular position.
Now, we put those together with another thing we gave you and that is found with the chart. I wanted you to have that chart because what it does, it starts out with the English phrase, then it goes to the Greek word, then it goes to the comments that are made about that particular Greek word and what it means, and last of all, the attitudes and behaviors manifested.
Now why should I hand these out to you? Why should I hand these out to you? Why should I give you this and give you this? Is there a reason for it? You bet. There is a major reason for this, because we recognize that while we look at the chart explaining the qualities that are inevitably necessary, and the point is that all Christians, according to the last part of the section on I Timothy 3 show that these qualities are things that Christians should have.
We must recognize how then God goes about calling someone if these are the qualities a Christian should have. These are the qualities the Christian should have, therefore, how do you go about then looking at the calling of God to ministry if you as a member of the body of Christ are supposed to develop these characteristics?
Well, I'd like to read to you from a book. I found this book to be probably one of the most interesting and helpful books that I read on the topic of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The title of the book is THE MEASURE OF A MAN. It's by a gentleman by the name of Gene Getz. Now, what he says in this particular case is simply the fact that these ultimately are foundational qualities that every one of us in an overall sense, man and woman in the church of God, should be developing as foundational qualities. Why? Because of the fact that we are called to become kings, we are called to become priests, we are called to become teachers and for the world tomorrow we need to have these basic qualities to give leadership, to give direction, and to give help to people.
Let me read to you from Gene Getz, just a couple of paragraphs I'd like to share with you. His concept about looking at these foundational qualities for everybody in the church and then we'll take this one step further to talk about the question of simply the qualities that are needed for the ministry.
He says, "I have come to realize that there is no quick shortcut to becoming a man or a woman of God. It takes time and effort to become a man or a woman of God."
So, how do you go about recognizing a man or a woman of God? How do we recognize a spiritually mature person? What he says is that Timothy and Titus form a very powerful profile for testing a Christian's maturity level. When you look at the twenty points that are found when he put them in order you'll see most of them in the chart that I gave you and see comments about what how they're represented to all of us in the concepts that they refer to.
He goes on to say, "Paul got beyond generalization to those particular characteristics that are the marks of a man or a woman of God. Here is a person who has become a man or a woman of God through a process of spiritual growth and development over a period of time. He or she has learned to reflect Jesus Christ in their total lifestyle. It is certainly implied that this person has put off the old man and put on the new. He has abandoned those attitudes and behavioral patterns that were connected with his former lifestyle and has adopted these attitudes and behavioral patterns that are Christ-like, but also it's obvious that it has been a result of a process that's become more and more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ."
So in essence, when we look at the calling of God to, first of all to the church, we see that you and I are called to the church and that there will be a certain number of people who will be called to ministry, but all of us together must develop these foundational qualities so that when the kingdom of God comes we are capable and qualified with those character issues, those qualities that foundationally that should really be a part of everybody.
"Paul did not look to men," he said, "with the gift of pastoral teacher or the gift of administration or the gift of helps or the gift of exhortation."
In fact, there is very little reference to ability or a skill. Rather, out of the twenty qualifications listed, nineteen have to do with a man's reputation or a woman's reputation, ethics, morality, temperaments, habits, spiritual and psychological maturity. And the other one has to do with their ability to lead and work with their own families. So you begin to realize that as we look at these things there is a fact that we are all put into the body of Christ and we all have responsibility to learn these things.
He went on to say, "Why these criteria?" He said, "First, they appear to be normative for spiritual leaders. Second, for selecting these characteristics they appear to be the qualities that every Christian should have. Thirdly," he said, "for choosing these characteristics these individuals show that these are qualities enumerated by Paul to form a composite profile that is complete and comprehensive." So it shows you that these are foundational things that we should be working on.
Last statement: "To sum it up, a man or a woman of God does not appear suddenly. It takes time to become Christ-like, a process of course that is not complete until we are finally in the kingdom of God. But there is definitely a level of spiritual maturity that is discernable, there is a level of maturity that is discernable both by the individual who is evaluating his own life as well as by those who associate with him."
I thought, "Just a very, very interesting concept when you begin to look at what we are dealing with in the body of Christ."
So we recognize these things; this is very important, but I think there is one other aspect of this that we want to look at this afternoon in the sermon. And that is the fact that you have, first of all, the fact that we are to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers. We are to recognize the apostle Paul sent Titus to go out and to look for, to find, to train, and to ordain people that were of those qualities.
But the third thing that we saw was the fact that we had all individuals within the body of Christ who should begin to develop those foundational characteristics. But last of all, we come to the final thing, and that is there is also within all of that a specific calling to the office of ordination. There is also that particular fact.
Let's go over to Hebrews 5 for just a moment and look at this example here in Hebrews 5:1. This is something that we add to the mix and that is the fact that while we all develop the I Timothy 3 qualifications and we are all going to be ministers to the world tomorrow whether we be priests, a king, or teachers, doesn't make any difference, any one of those things. Notice what it says:
Hebrews 5:1 — "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Verse 2 — "He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
Verse 3— "Because of this he is required as for the people, (so) also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins." We see that the Levitical priesthood simply was a group of individuals chosen by God, but they were human beings. They had to struggle like everybody else in Israel with their own set of difficulties. But he says in -
Verse 4 — "And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as was Aaron (was.)" So we recognize there's one more step that is found here and that is the fact that no man takes this honor to himself. Jesus said it a different way when He dealt with the apostles, when He dealt with those individuals.
Let's turn over to John 15:16. Notice what He says here:
John 15:16 — He said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, and that what so ever you ask the Father in My name He (may) would give it to you."
So we see that Christ said, "I have chosen and I have ordained you and I seek from you the fruit to show that you are going to take on this responsibility and carry it out." So he chose twelve; he chose twelve individuals at that particular time. When one of those men fell from the grace that was given to him and the opportunity to be a part of the twelve, then they all had to get together and they all had to cast lots and to find out upon which man the lot would fall as to who would take his place. That was not done by them, but it was done by God.
Until the Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost they were still casting lots. They were allowed to do that. It was a part of what we describe simply as an Old Testament tradition and God did show that. But let's go over to Acts 1:24 and let's notice what it says here:
Acts 1:24 — He says the following, "And they prayed and said, 'You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen
Verse 25 — "to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.'
Verse 26 — "A nd they cast their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias…" Now the point is a very simple thing; this is not a put down of anybody else. This is not a put down of one of these two men who were ultimately chosen, but God knew internally what was in the man's ability to be used as an apostle. He saw in an overall sense that this particular individual would be better qualified to be used in that particular position to serve with the other eleven apostles. And it says, "You, (O) Lord, (who) know the hearts…"
Even when David was ordained as king over all Israel it says, "God sees not as man sees, He sees from the inside, or from the heart." Does that mean somebody is better? No. The point is it was never a question of better. It was a question of who was called by God, because He saw within them certain abilities that he felt he could use in that specific way.
There are some people that would never be able to be used in ministry because of the high stress. There are some people that could not be used in ministry simply at this time because they face certain weaknesses and difficulties that simply do not allow for them to be used, yet they form a perfect part of the body because they're able to use their talents and abilities in other ways that perhaps they could not in ministry.
But we come down to the final point is, and that is that God is the one who ultimately chose. Jesus Christ is the one that ultimately chose. Let's go over to Ephesians 4. We'll see one more scripture as we look at this. This is Ephesians 4 beginning in verse 11; this is speaking of Christ because He's the One who descended, also is the One who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things showing that Christ was the one responsible for His church. In Verse 11 it said,
Ephesians 4:11 — "And He Himself gave some to be…" So Jesus Christ had a direct hand in choosing individuals to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He's the One who did that. How did He do that? He simply looked upon the inside of the individual and said, "They have the qualities to be used here; this individual has the qualities to be used there."
Now, if you'll go over with me to I Corinthians 12:18 we will also see one other thing that people simply feel, in the sense of the word from years ago, they felt inferior because the ministry was a high calling and that they were not able to reach that particular high calling, and this is not what the scripture says we should be doing. Notice —
I Corinthians 12:18 — "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body (just) as it pleases Him (He pleased.)" So He knows, He knows where each individual member who has been called and has been chosen and has been sanctified to eternal life, He knows where they fit and can continue to work with them as to where they should be. But He makes the final decisions as to how these things are done.
Now we in the ministry simply deal with people from the outward fruits that come. We recognize that the ministry must fast, the ministry must pray and then choose an individual seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit from within us to see what an individual is like, what they're capable of doing, and what they are doing through the process of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and then just simply working with them.
The BIBLE says, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." And so we recognize in talking with people you understand where they're coming from. You understand what their needs are. You understand what their strengths are. You understand what their abilities are, and this is what God is doing.
Now there are a number of men who were called by God and it took a period of time before those fruits and those abilities came out. We're going to see in the last few minutes of the sermon here the fact that Abraham was a man that God made promises to. He worked with Abraham over a number of years and he was tried with his wife. They were tested. And just as God tested Abraham with Isaac, if you remember the story and the covenant became unconditional, God said, "Now I know." And it is at that particular time that we see this particular covenant became unconditional that followed throughout all the generations of Israel. But the point was Abraham was tested along the way. God wanted to find out what was in his heart.
What people don't always understand is that Paul, before his ordination, had a nine or a ten-year training period. People don't understand that. They think when he was struck down in Acts, the ninth chapter that from there he was sent out to be the apostle of God. That is not true. That is not true.
What you recognize is that you go back to history and you can prove this; 34, 35 A.D. the apostle Paul was struck down. But it wasn't until Acts the 13th chapter that God showed to the prophets and the men in Jerusalem that he was to be ordained as an apostle and to be sent out. You know what time that was? That's somewhere around 44, 45 A.D. Look at the period of time between chapter 9 and chapter 13 and you do not see an ordination to elder or preaching elder or pastor or anything like a rank in that particular way, but you see when you get to Acts 13 that he was ordained to the office of an apostle. And God gave him some time. He gave him the ability to be tested and to be worked with over a period of, in this case, probably eight, nine, ten years.
Abraham was tested eight, nine, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years before finally those things came to fruition. We see this in the overall development of the ministry. We see this in the overall development of the leadership that will be in the world tomorrow and we have to come to accept the very fact that this is true.
Let's go to I Thessalonians 2:3. I think it shows the apostle Paul mentions this very thing.
I Thessalonians 2:3-6 — Notice what he said, "For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.
Verse 4 — "But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but pleasing God who tests our hearts." So the point was that he had to be tried; he had to be tested before he was put in responsible position. And we're finding now that we must look at this particular frame of mind. This is what we have to look at.
My point is a very simple one. It's simply that the calling of God to ministry, the bearing of fruits to ordination take time and we are asking God in Matthew 9, we're asking God in Titus 1 to show us, to help us find out where God wants us to go and what he wants us to see. This may not happen over night, but the point is we've started the process, as the expression goes: "The snowball is leaned over," and we're just turning it over and turning it over and turning it over with our pastors and our elders in the church to see what God has in mind, because somewhere in all of this we may have to come to the place that Mr. Marshall said. We may come to the place where finally I can't figure it out anymore, or we're all getting too old. Show us; will you God, to take us the rest of the way?
But we have developed a period of time in which we are going to watch that and God we pray will take us down that road. This a foundation upon which the whole program is based and I think we have to ask the question, "What's your responsibility in all of these things?"
Yes, Matthew 9, you pray. The second thing is that you become a servant of Christ as a member of God's church, and thirdly you use your natural abilities and your God-given gifts to be a part of the body and let Christ work with you. And if He decides to raise up one out of this congregation or two or three people to be elders, that becomes His responsibility, but I think it's very important that we see that we all have the ability to be a part of the body and to let Christ show us where He wants to take us.
Let's go over to Romans 12:6. I have two more scriptures and this will bring us to the end of the sermon, I pray. This is Romans 12, notice what it says. In this particular chapter we talk about giving yourself to Christ as a sacrifice, verses 1 and 2. Then you drop down to verse 6, and He said -
Romans 12:6 — "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given (to) us, let us use them:…" Now when you go on, you see that the grace of God refers to the fact that when an individual has been baptized and they receive the Holy Spirit of God, God's spirit begins to work with the natural abilities of a human being and there's an impartation of some ability to serve and to work within the body of Christ. What that may be in what we call gifts we do not know. I do know that there are certain strong developmental abilities that people have. We recognize that people have qualities to be able to do a number of things and then you have certain recessive qualities as well that we have from the human genes that are within us.
But we recognize that when you look at verse 6 we see then that there is an added aspect of this in order to serve. We have gifts that are different. We've been begotten by God's Spirit. We have natural abilities. We have this spiritual gift or gifts that have been given to us. Christ places the member within the body with these gifts to bring a balance to the body. Some of the gifts that we've seen here are used for the purpose of just simply serving. A few of the gifts are given from the purpose of teaching and working at a little different level. That would be in some of the classes that we would have to teach in church; the Sabbath School, things along that line or even as a deacon or an elder in ministering to people's needs.
Let's go over to I Peter 4 beginning in verse 10. The apostle Peter writes these words. He says,
I Peter 4:10 — "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another,…" So we recognize these things are given through God's spirit to be able to do a better job within the body of Christ. What those abilities may be, I don't know what yours are, but I do know that we recognize that each one of us has to use our natural capacities and that which God gives us through one perspective, and that is the perspective of service. Notice what it says in:
Verse 11 — "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it (as) with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever…." So we see that within the body of Christ that we're all here to serve. The body is to serve one another. That's the whole purpose behind it.
Jesus said, "Whoever will be the greatest among you, let him be your servant." So we recognize in all of these things and the development of I Timothy 3 as qualities first and foremost we have to see that we're called and chosen to bring together with the body these abilities to be used by Christ as servants to one another. But I think if you will do this, you will see where Christ wants you to serve.
If you will continue to use the service mode that we see here in verses 10 and 11, you will see that this is what He wants us to do; to go out among the brethren and to just be servant to each one, to humble yourself to do that, to be a servant to your brother or your sister in Christ.
Therefore He will show you, he will show me, He will show us who is to be placed in the ministry, and at the same time he will give you a most satisfying and rewarding lifestyle because it's all based on service. It's all based on giving yourself to the needs of one another in whatever way, whether it's prayer, whether it's using the phone, whether it's writing to people, no matter what it could be. You will find a satisfying and rewarding lifestyle somewhere, somehow within the body of Christ and in so doing we will honor and uphold as well the high calling of God.
So brethren, when we think about what we've been through and we see the wonderful things that have been happening within the body of Christ, I hope we will stop and evaluate how important it is to understand the concepts of I Timothy 3 and understand it as a member and understand it as some few individuals who may be called to become a part of the ministry of Jesus Christ.