THE MEASURE OF OUR COMMITMENT BEFORE THE LORD FOR OUR OWN PERSONAL MINISTRY!
I. The foundation of our commitment to ministry is CHARACTER AND CALLING.
A. The calling of God is forever.
(Rom 11:29 KJV) For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
B. God can use anyone. He even used a donkey.
(1 Cor 1:26 KJV) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
C. We need to stay the course and be faithful in our calling.
(1 Cor 7:20 KJV) Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
1. If God puts a glass of water in our hands that is all He expects of us.
D. There is hope in your calling.
(Eph 4:4 KJV) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
E. We never stop in our pressing forward.
(Phil 3:14 KJV) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
1. There is a prize to be won.
2. Our calling is called a high calling.
F. That we would be worthy.
(2 Th 1:11a KJV) Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling..........:
1. He has made us worthy of His calling in 2 Cor. 5:21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
G. It is God who saved and called us.
(2 Tim 1:9 KJV) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
1. Not our works.
2.His own purpose
3. We were call before the world begun.
H. It is a heavenly calling.
(Heb 3:1 KJV) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
1. It is called a heavenly calling because that is where we will spend eternity.
II. The nature of our ministry is SERVANTHOOD AND LEADERSHIP.
(Mat 23:11 KJV) But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
(Luke 22:26 KJV) But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
A. Before we can be a good leader we must learn to be a servant.
III. The motive of our ministry must be LOVE.
A. To God first.
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
B. To Man second. Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
C. Then we must let the Love of God motivate us.
(2 Cor 5:14 KJV) For the love of Christ constraineth us;........
IV. The measure of our ministry is SACRIFICE.
Luke 9:23And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
A. We sometimes think what a great sacrifice we are making when we give our tithes or offerings for the Work of God.
B. There are many millions in the past and still in the present who have made the supreme sacrifice of giving their lives for the cause of Christ.
V. Authority of our ministry is SUBMISSION.
John 1:27 AMP It is He Who, coming after me, is preferred before me, the string of Whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose.
Matt. 3:11 KJV I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire
A. I have leaned over the years that like John, I must decrease and He must increase in my life and ministry.
B. I want people to see Jesus, not me.
C. We must left Him so high in our lives that people can only see Him.
1. There is an old song saying the on the Jericho road there is room for two. Just Jesus, and me. I have leaned that if you get down the road far enough there is room only for one. That is Jesus in you the Hope of Glory.
VI. The purpose of our ministry is the GLORY OF GOD.
(2 Cor 1:20 KJV) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
(1 Cor 10:31 KJV) Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
A. God will share His Glory with no one. I believe many have gone home ahead of their time because they let man glorify them.
VII. The tools of ministry are PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD.
Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
A. There is an old expression, All Word and not prayer and we will dry up. All prayer and not Word and we will blow up. However, a lot of prayer and a lot of Word and we will go up!
B. Jesus used both the Word and he was given to much prayer.
VIII. The privilege of ministry is PERSONAL GROWTH AND CO LABORERS.
(2 Cor 6:1 KJV) We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
(Eph 4:15 KJV) But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
A. What great joy my wife and I have had these past 45 years, meeting and fellowshipping with fellow laborers in over 100 countries of the world.
B. Our personal growth comes by speaking the truth, the Word, in the love of God.
IX. The power of ministry is the HOLY SPIRIT.
Zech 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
A. Without Him we can do nothing, yet with Him we can do all things.
B. Without Him we are nothing, but with Him we are more than conquerors, we are His children.
X. The model of our ministry is the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
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;
A. Not comfortable but conformable or as the AMP version says,
[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]
(Heb 3:1 KJV) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
B. I love the words of the old song, TO BE LIKE JESUS,
To be Like Jesus, To be like Jesus,
All I ask to be like Him,
All through life’s journey,
From earth to Glory,
All I ask to be like Him.
For more help and info, go to:
Tony Abram, Missionary Evangelist at www.abundantlifecrusades.com
