JELLICO FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH/JELLICO. TENN.
SUNDAY Morning: January 7, 2001
PASTOR: Michael Blankenship
WHO ARE WE: JARS OF CLAY OR POTS OF HOPE?
Introduction:
Paul is writing to the church at Corinith, as well as to each of us today.
Many false profits had sought to destroy Paul’s work that he had begun.
They plied their words on the ears of their victims planting both the doubt as well as, the thought, and concept that maybe Paul did not have apostolic authority. The troublemakers presumed that he was to hard, and to rigid, in his observance of the guidance of the Holy Spirit to really be authentic. Many of the false profits had even stirred up questions about Paul’s motives.
Have you ever dealt with similar situations, where someone enviously begins to try to erode your ministry? Maybe you taught Sunday school and someone who wanted your class started telling anyone who would listen that you really were not a good teacher. They may have even posited that you had other motives for teaching the class, like getting into a better social situation. Perhaps, they said, you were trying to politic, and advance your desires through the Sunday school program. If this happened to you, would you be hurt? Would you be surprised to find out that your class could believe such irrelevant rhetoric?
Paul was and yet, rather than retaliation, as many of us might do in a knee jerk situation; Paul thinks on the higher things of Christ Jesus.
That is where you and I must look to in our hour of distress and pain, to God who mercifully gives us life and all the accessories we have obtained along the way. Scripture says that, “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them [you and I] that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
Now, I do not know what trial you maybe facing today but I do know Jesus holds the strength you need to get through. He is the refreshment amidst this dry and desolate existence in which we endure. Will you trust Him? Paul points to Jesus our Savior’s glory as he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:1-7. This is our standard for ministry regardless of how large or how small our mission may seem.
1. WE MUST PERFORM OUR MINISTRY WELLGIVING HONOR TO CHRIST.
I believe that today right now more than ever before we must band together as believers in Christ holding each other up in prayer and supplication.
A. Because we have this ministry: what is your ministry today? Many people when asked what their ministry is often times do not have a very specific answer. We each have a gift instilled in us by God almighty. And more often than not, we are not just good at a single task. we are in fact, very good at seeing several tasks performed.
B. Paul in writing to the church, or body of believers at Corinith says, “we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;”
- We have a ministry of mercy as children of God, saved through the blood of Jesus Christ.
- We have a ministry of love to others inspite of how they may behave towards us. Sometimes people make us very angry, and we want to retaliate, and develop a type of reciprocal, sort of exchange. The result is losses on both sides of energy and emotions and time. Time you could spend enjoying the company of friends and loved ones, rather than fighting.
I was listening to Public Radio on Thursday as My family and I drove to the funeral home where my Grandmother’s service was. They were doing a series of interviews with Centurions. Not, like the Roman soldier type, but folks who had celebrated their one-hundredth year of life. One thing they all seemed to have in common, as they were interviewed from various parts of the country was their love to just sit and talk. At first thought, we may dismiss this as natural. heck your hundred, you probably do not feel like doing much else. Just sit and talk, eat and sleep. Then as the interview progressed, one elderly man said something that struck me as quite profound.
He said, “life’s years pass by so fast, yesterday I was twenty and today I am one hundred and two.” When asked what he though the most important thing in life may be his reply was in itself as unique as turning one hundred.
He said, “the most important thing is to talk to each other, to make friends as often as you can, to be loved, and enjoy one another’s company.”
- Wow! It seems that is what Paul is telling us here, is that we have a ministry to each other.
- It is very important not to be stuck in an anal retentive rut, that tries to dissect every shred of life we have. Sit back and enjoy the ride occasionally, or you will miss the whole adventure of life. Minister to someone you are not quite sure of, who stand on some shaky ideas, try and see things from their perspective. Be slow to condemn and quick to console a friend who needs you.
- I am convinced that we glorify Christ the most when we allow Him to guide us and give him the glory. Not the other way around.
If you are going to glorify Christ with the ministry you have it is imperative do not give up simply because you face a stone wall, or a stone face.
The word Paul uses for faint not is “ouk egkakoumen” And it means not to give up, quit, or loose heart, do not become discouraged and throw in the towel. At times, we have all become discouraged. The thing about discouragement is this, if we hang in there and keep trying we will grow stronger and move forward carrying the banner of Christ Jesus. If you quit, you can sit and and think about what might have been, if only you had stayed the course.
One of my favorite posters is of a crane whose eyes are bulging and his legs look weak. Small hands squeezing his throat choking the large bird; belong to a frog he is trying to swallow. The caption underneath says quite simply, “don’t quit”.
We cannot quit because we have received the mercy of Christ Jesus that helps us to continue onward. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.”
And Eph 2:4-7 Read+
1 Corinthians 15:58 read+
PH 1;27 read+
James 1:12 read+
We must see to it that Christ Jesus is glorified in every ministry we perform never ceasing and always holding Him in highest esteem.
Paul was able to write that Christ would give us hope long after he himself had cursed the Christian Church, and had persecuted Christ’s followers. He writes to the Church at Corinith perhaps from bondage in Rome and seeks to encourage us who deal daily with the bondage of evil that sells itself as good.
2.Is the gospel hidden? We live in a day when folks would rather not know the truth. Some say, “tell us something from God”, and yet when the conviction of the Holy Spirit comes they become angry and wroth with the messenger. Today’s society wants to buy into satanic tarnish that says ecumenicalism is ok. That the church should change and not offend anyone is in itself a total contridiction to scripture. Have you ever wondered why Paul was stoned, or why he was beaten? Do you think it was because he never preached under guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Satan opposes God on all fronts, and men who are lost(apollumenois) cannot adequately see the truth. When a human soul is lost it has in essence seperated itself from God, and sevierd the ties that bind. The lost and dying soul is traveling on a road of lost and damned souls that have no peace , no hope, no comfort.
The god of this world has blinded lot sinners to the truth 1 John 2:15-16, and enslaving them to the fleshly desires of this world. The sad part is the more evil that a person sows the more enslavement he or she reaps.
