WORK OF MINISTER!
Every believer is called to service the Lord. In some way everyone in the Church is a minister unto the Lord. In this sermon we are speaking to Ministers, Workers and Christians and their need to serve the Lord by working for the Lord!
1 Tim 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
I. Good Work---Fine Work----Willing to Work.
A. We believe on Jesus.
John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
B. Gods Work will be a fast Work in these last days.
Romans 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
C. We can and will see the result of doing His Work. Well Done.
1 Cor 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
D. The reason we do the Work of God:
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
E. Soul winning, we all need to do the work of an evangelist.
2 Tim 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
F. Greater Works.
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
II. Order in the Church. We need to know the condition of the people we minister unto.
Pro 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
A. Correct order in belief
Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things, which are most surely believed among us,
B. Order in our preaching, the heavens declare His order
Acts 11:4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
C. Order in your services.
1 Cor 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
Col 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
1. We do not let the enemy disturb our service and worship.
a. In our large overseas crusades we have workers whose job is to take care of any misconduct that would disturb the service.
b. In Chile, I remember, one man heading for the platform was stopped by a worker. He said he was god and how could we keep him off the platform. When he saw the policeman coming he took off. The next day in the newspaper there was a photo of him behind bars. The caption said something like god was captured and put in jail. That same night that he tried to disturb the service we had about 200 people come to Christ for Salvation. The devil lost.
III. RISK,
Matt 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
A. We have preached in many dangerous places.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
B. Preaching the wrong gospel can be a curse.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
C. Risk of being the right time in the right place.
2 Tim 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
D. Some places in the world the work of a minister can bring death.
Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts 14:19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium,who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
E. The work of a minister is to obey God.
Acts 5:40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
F. The work of a minister can bring suffering. Look at Paul.
2 Cor 6:5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
2 Cor 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2 Cor 11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
2 Cor 11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2 Cor 11:28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
IV. KNOWLEDGE, the work of the minister is to seek after knowledge.
Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
A. As an minister and believer we can never know too much about Jesus.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
B. We must impart this knowledge into others.
Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
C. We must continue to grow in this knowledge.
2 Pet 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
D. We must keep learning. Paul is a great example.
Phil 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Whether we are a minister, worker or believer we need to love the Lord and the way we prove it is to serve Him. To serve Him is to do His Word and to do His Word we must do his work and all of us that are saved by His grace are ministers of what He has given us in our Christian life.
