Paul did not really have a good start into the Christian life and ministry
• Not like many of us, we are brought up in the church, we know Christ from young. We are placed in Christian families with good Christian environment.
• But that wasn’t Paul’s experience. He fought Christianity and was forced to eat humble pie when Jesus appeared personally to him. He was blinded and converted but entered into a church with few friends.
• Many did not want to accept him. In fact, some tried to kill him, for all the bad things he did in the past.
He went away to Tarsus for few years of ‘personal’ retreat, and then returned to the church.
• Not long, the Lord visited the church and called them to set aside Paul and Barnabas and send them off as missionaries to the regions beyond.
• This was a specific ministry that the Lord had prepared for Paul. When he was converted, the Lord said to Ananias that “this man is my chosen instrument to carry my Name before the Gentiles and their kinds and before the people of Israel.” (9:15).
This was his calling at conversion (Acts 9) and this was the call the church received (Acts 13).
• We expected everything to be good, right? No. Not so. Paul faced difficulties at every turn in his journey.
• A sorcerer opposed him in Paphos (island of Cyrus). In Pisidian Antioch the Jews “were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.” (13:45)
• 13:50 they stirred up persecution against them and expelled them from the region.
• Now in Iconium, despite the signs and wonders, 14:5 says there was a plot to mistreat them and stone them, so they fled.
And this is just the beginning, there are more to come.
• How do like this for a start to your ministry?
• You know you are gifted in certain area and you start to serve in a ministry. You think everybody will appreciate you, and will be very happy with what you are doing. But no, there is always someone who ‘talked abusively against’ you.
• You think everybody will be supportive but no, some did not like the way you talk, or the things you say.
That was what Paul was facing. Amazingly he did not give up. He wasn’t disillusioned or discouraged by what he was receiving from the people.
• “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (13:52)
• But why? Didn’t he question God? Why did you call me into this and had me face ridicule, persecution, and life threats?
• I believe Paul was able to sustain in the ministry and “finished the race” because of the way he looked at his calling of God, his ministry.
The way you see yourself and your ministry affects everything you do.
• Paul believes that what he is doing is important and valuable to God. He was on a special assignment, given to him ‘personally’ by the Lord Jesus.
The way you value your ministry is important. How should you look at it?
1. YOU HAVE A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT
• He said to Timothy in 1 Tim 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.”
Have you ever been chosen to represent your school or varsity? The coach says, “I want you to be on my team.” Isn’t that great! You feel elated, you feel honoured.
• The higher up in the echelon, the greater that sense. If the national team wants you, you are going to represent Singapore in the YOG or something, it will really be special.
• It’s an honour, and you’ll tell yourself, “I’m not going to disappoint the nation; do well.”
Paul saw himself as carrying a special assignment given to him directly by Jesus Christ.
• He was on a mission from God, with a unique role and specific tasks.
• This perspective caused him to greatly value his ministry and to believe that what he was doing was very significant for the Kingdom of God.
• To Paul, serving God was the highest calling on earth and he was grateful for the opportunity to do so.
With this kind of attitude, Paul could endure difficulties and persecutions, knowing that he was carrying out God’s plan for his life.
• Do you are that sense today, because you can. You can have the same sense of honour and privilege in your ministry today.
• Paul says to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you ‘cos you are young…” (1 Tim 4:12)
• You are saved to make a positive difference here on earth right now, not just to go to heaven when you die.
God initiated this, not you. He puts you here in this church for a purpose.
• He has chosen you. It is an act of grace, not because of your own goodness but because of His plan.
• Whatever your assignment may be, see it as important and place a high value on the ministry you are involved in right now.
• You need to think highly of what you are doing, and see ministry as a privilege. It is a call from God.
Jesus too set us a good example. He understood that His Father had sent him to earth as a missionary with a special assignment.
• He was God-sent, a representative of God. Today He sent us out to continue this mission.
• You are on mission, on a special assignment. So THINK HIGHLY of your ministry.
• God sees everything you do, and He rewards you for it.
• Jesus said, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." (Matt 10:42)
There is no reward for position, only reward for work. God will not say, “Alright, all those who are pastors come forward now and receive your special prize.” That’s not in the Bible.
• The only rewards given out are based on what you do with what you have been given.
• The person with 2 talents wasn’t asked why he didn’t have 5, but simply what he had done with what he had been given. (cf. Matt 25:14-30) If you are faithful with the 2 you are given, you can receive the same reward as a senior pastor of a mega-church.
BRICKS OR CHURCH
The story is told of 2 men who were moving bricks on a construction site. The first was asked what he was doing. He replied, “I’m moving bricks from her to over there.”
The second was asked, “So what are you doing?”
He replied, “We are building a church!”
They are both doing the same job but they had totally different perspectives on the value of their work, because they saw different final products – a pile of bricks or a grand church.
So are we building God’s Kingdom here, or just piling up some bricks?
• When we come together next Sat for AF, are we building the Body of Christ (investing our time in lives that matters for eternity) or do we see ourselves as just moving some bricks? Do we see it as a life-changing event or just another social gathering?
• Bill Hybels: “The local church is the hope of the world because it has been entrusted with the Gospel, which is the only thing that has the power to transform the human heart.”
• The way you see it affects the way you behave.
DO THEY NEED SHOES?
Two shoe salesmen were sent to a remote Island to sell shoes.
After arriving, the first salesman called the home office back in Chicago and told them that he would be returning the next day, because no one here on the Island wear shoes.
The second salesman arrived and immediately noticed the same thing. He too called the home office in Chicago. But instead of telling them that he was returning tomorrow, he told them, “Quick, send 10,000 pairs of shoes here because everyone needs them. They have no shoes here.”
Paul saw something we need to see today – he saw himself building the church of God.
• He knows he is doing something very significant and he is making an eternal investment.
• No wonder he is so commitment and so motivated. Are you investing in something eternal?
See the ‘big picture’. Don’t lose sight of the big picture when you are busy doing your work, even if it looks like you are just ‘moving some bricks’.
• Col 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
The way you see yourself affects the way you behave.
2. YOU ARE SIGNIFICANT IN CHRIST
You are significant, not because of the ministry or the things you do.
• Paul is not afraid of what people say or do. He is not afraid of those who come against him. He knows he is saved by the Lord, and called to do a job. It is His work.
• 2 Cor 5:14-15 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
• His sense of value, significance and identity lies with the Lord. Christ’s love is his motivation. He is doing God’s will, and therefore he is not discouraged by what men can do or will do to him.
His significance is not tied to the ministry. Paul does not focus on the successes of his ministry.
• If no one accepts Christ here, if they reject my message and expel me, I will “shake the dust from my feet” (13:51) and move on.
• Paul has been chased around, literally – by persecutors, people who wanted him dead, false prophets and so on. He is not discouraged because his value and significance is not in the ministry, but in God.
Don’t build your significance in the ministry. The ministry is the work of the Holy Spirit.
• We are called to serve Him. We are to be humble, faithful and committed in our work, and be responsible stewards.
• When the ministry is doing well, that doesn’t mean you are significant and great. When the ministry is not doing well, that doesn’t mean you are insignificant or useless.
• Learn from Paul. Just move on and continue to do what you’re called to do.
When your value comes from what you do, there are a number of potential problems.
Firstly, if for some reason you are dropped from a ministry, you may feel devastated. That ministry has become your security.
Secondly, if your value comes from what you do, if someone else is better or more gifted than you are, then you feel threatened or intimidated. You feel jealous and you want to compete.
• The truth is, there is always someone more gifted than you, AND there is always someone less gifted than you.
• Don’t derive your value from your giftedness or from your ministry position.
Thirdly, if your value comes from what you do, you can easily become very proud. You want people to ‘pat you on the back’ all the time and say ‘job well done’. Soon you will begin to think that the ministry cannot do without you.
• 1 Cor 4:2-3 “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.”
• Your concern ought to be staying faithful. Be involved for the long haul. Finish the race, Paul says. It’s not about the start of the race, the big question is, “Can you finish it?” Will you quit?
If you believe that what you’re doing today is a part of God’s eternal plan, you will last.
• That’s perspective is correct. It will give you the impetus to go on and on, even when faced with mounting difficulties, like Paul.
• Many give up early because they fail to see the big picture. They fall short of the kind of impact they can make because they do not value their ministry the way God does.
CONCLUSION
Let us pray and ask God for grant us a clearer picture. It’s a matter of perspective.
• Reflect on how you really feel about yourself and your calling today?
• What do you think God really wants you to do in His Kingdom, His church?
• Do you value what you are doing right now, and see it as important for God’s work on earth?
• Ask God for help you see the significance of what you are doing? Or for some, the significance of what you are not doing, you need to start serving God!
