1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 I'm going to start with you 2 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:08,800 today. When I was a study in 3 00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:11,900 north Greenville I remember 4 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:12,600 filling a great sense of 5 00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:15,900 urgency. And responsibility 6 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,400 because I knew that God had 7 00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:18,000 called me to pastoral 8 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,800 ministry and I knew that step 9 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:22,000 one was to go to north 10 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:22,600 Greenville get an education 11 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:23,100 and then I could start pursuing 12 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:26,900 a pastor at after that and so 13 00:00:22,700 --> 00:00:27,500 I remember while I was there. 14 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:31,700 I was a pastor at the time and 15 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,300 I was a pastor at the time and 16 00:00:28,700 --> 00:00:35,700 I was more responsible and kind 17 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:36,300 of like I needed to work extra 18 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,000 hard because I was a fairly 19 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,600 recent convert and pretty much 20 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:41,200 everyone around me had been in 21 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:41,500 the faith most their lives and 22 00:00:40,700 --> 00:00:42,000 so I thought I'm going to have 23 00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:45,700 to work just to even catch up 24 00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:46,300 and so my college experience 25 00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:47,300 was not like other people's 26 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,000 because I was looking around and 27 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:52,000 everybody was making friends 28 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:52,700 and socializing and going to 29 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:56,500 things together and I had a 30 00:00:56,500 --> 00:01:01,900 plan to go to a church and I 31 00:00:57,100 --> 00:01:02,400 used to go to the library and 32 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:02,900 sit there for hours reading and 33 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,400 studying and preparing because 34 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:06,900 I wanted to make sure that I was 35 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,400 actually prepared to fulfill 36 00:01:06,500 --> 00:01:12,400 this calling that God had placed 37 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:13,000 on my life and my plan going into 38 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:13,600 north Greenville and this was 39 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:14,200 my naive mind at the time I 40 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:17,400 thought hey God's coming to be 41 00:01:13,700 --> 00:01:18,000 a pastor I kind of need a Bible 42 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:18,400 degree for that so I'll go to 43 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:19,400 north Greenville and then I'll 44 00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:22,400 go to a church. I had no thought 45 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:23,400 of seminary but while I was at 46 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,500 the church I realized how much 47 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,300 I didn't know and how unprepared 48 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:31,300 I was and thought so like the 49 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,000 whole reason I even went to 50 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:35,300 seminary was so that I could be 51 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:37,300 even more prepared to one day 52 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:38,300 serve God's people in a church 53 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:41,300 and so when I look back on all 54 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:44,300 of this I can see that all of 55 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:47,300 my long hours studying in the 56 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:50,300 library were ultimately for you 57 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:53,300 and me laboring to memorize 58 00:01:53,300 --> 00:02:01,100 all of my work and I was so 59 00:01:54,300 --> 00:02:01,700 excited about that that's on you 60 00:01:59,300 --> 00:02:05,200 because that was for you as well 61 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:07,200 and even those times when I 62 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:09,200 fell overwhelmed with 63 00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:10,200 responsibility and super busy 64 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:13,300 that was ultimately for you God 65 00:02:09,300 --> 00:02:15,200 was using that to prepare me for 66 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:16,200 one day being in ministry and so 67 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,200 all of that was preparation to 68 00:02:15,300 --> 00:02:18,200 one day be able to serve you and 69 00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:21,200 what's interesting if you look 70 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:23,200 at this passage Paul's going to 71 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:29,100 say that he's going to be a 72 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:31,100 devotee of the difficulty of 73 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:33,100 discipleship and the hardships 74 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:35,100 of walking with Christ and he's 75 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:37,100 going to make it clear that 76 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:39,100 following Jesus in a world that 77 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:40,100 hates Jesus is not easy and so 78 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,100 what he's saying to us is we 79 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,100 need to be on top of our games 80 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:45,100 so we can actually fulfill the 81 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:47,100 calling that God has placed on 82 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:49,100 our lives you see the point he's 83 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:51,100 making here church is that God 84 00:02:51,100 --> 00:02:58,000 is the only one that's willing to 85 00:02:53,100 --> 00:02:59,000 equip others and this is really 86 00:02:55,100 --> 00:03:01,000 clear when you begin to notice 87 00:02:58,100 --> 00:03:03,000 some repeated phrases in this 88 00:02:59,100 --> 00:03:04,000 passage so if you have your 89 00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:05,000 Bible is looking there I want to 90 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:09,000 point out a couple things to you 91 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:11,000 notice how Paul says he rejoices 92 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:11,000 in his sufferings for your 93 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:11,000 sake. 94 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000 That was not Paul. 95 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,900 He says that he was given a 96 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:24,900 stewardship from God for you and 97 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,900 then in verse twenty eight he 98 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,900 says him we proclaim warning 99 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,900 everyone and teaching everyone 100 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,900 with all wisdom that we may 101 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:37,900 present everyone mature in 102 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,900 Christ that's the goal for us as 103 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,900 a church that's a goal for us as 104 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,900 Christians our aim must be to 105 00:03:44,900 --> 00:03:48,800 be able to be able to be a 106 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:50,800 believer in Christ and in order 107 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:52,800 to do that you need to make sure 108 00:03:48,900 --> 00:03:54,800 that you're equipped for the 109 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:56,800 task that God has put before you 110 00:03:52,900 --> 00:03:58,800 and so the question is what does 111 00:03:54,900 --> 00:04:00,800 that look like how do we do that 112 00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:02,800 how does God equip us to equip 113 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:03,800 others. 114 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:04,800 That's what I want us to 115 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:07,800 consider this morning as we look 116 00:04:03,900 --> 00:04:10,800 at this passage in Colossians 117 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:11,800 how does God equip us to equip 118 00:04:07,900 --> 00:04:14,800 others and I want you to to 119 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,700 understand that this is in my 120 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,700 sufferings for your sake and in 121 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:24,700 my flesh I am filling up what 122 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:26,700 is lacking in Christ's 123 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:28,700 afflictions for the sake of his 124 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:30,700 body that is the church now I 125 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:32,700 know you didn't come to church 126 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,700 this morning wanting to hear a 127 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,700 sermon on suffering but 128 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,700 unfortunately for you that's 129 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,700 what comes next in Colossians 130 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,700 and we preach straight through 131 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,700 books of the Bible so the 132 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,700 problem with preaching a 133 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:48,600 sermon on suffering is that in 134 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:50,600 America we have virtually no 135 00:04:46,700 --> 00:04:51,600 concept or 136 00:04:48,700 --> 00:04:52,600 familiarization with true 137 00:04:50,700 --> 00:04:54,600 suffering but we like to think 138 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:56,600 we do don't we anytime 139 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:58,600 something goes wrong in our 140 00:04:54,700 --> 00:05:00,600 country anytime someone says 141 00:04:56,700 --> 00:05:02,600 something that's unbiblical or 142 00:04:58,700 --> 00:05:04,600 puts forth a law that goes 143 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:06,600 against you know the Bible or 144 00:05:02,700 --> 00:05:08,600 Christ we throw up our hands 145 00:05:04,700 --> 00:05:08,600 and go well this is it this is 146 00:05:06,700 --> 00:05:10,600 suffering we are suffering for 147 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,500 Christ we are suffering for 148 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,500 Christ we are suffering for 149 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:18,500 Christ we are really not what 150 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,500 we have people who oppose us we 151 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:22,500 have inconveniences in our 152 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:24,500 lives but very rarely do we 153 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:26,500 have true suffering and even 154 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:28,500 more rarely do we have true 155 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:30,500 suffering for the sake of 156 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:32,500 Christ and for instance if you 157 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:34,500 want to just take a moment let's 158 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:36,500 compare our experience in 159 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,500 America with Paul's experience 160 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,500 and then let's see if we can 161 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:43,400 share the experience in America 162 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:44,400 with Paul's experience chapter 163 00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:47,400 eleven. Are they servants of 164 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:48,400 Christ. I'm a better one I'm 165 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:50,400 talking like a madman which is 166 00:05:47,500 --> 00:05:52,400 just great to see his honesty 167 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:54,400 there. With far greater labor 168 00:05:50,500 --> 00:05:56,400 for more imprisonment with 169 00:05:52,500 --> 00:06:00,400 countless beatings in often 170 00:05:54,500 --> 00:06:02,400 near death. Five times I 171 00:05:56,500 --> 00:06:02,400 received at the hands of the 172 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:04,400 Jews forty lashes less one 173 00:06:02,500 --> 00:06:06,400 three times I was shipped 174 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,760 from rivers, danger from robbers, dangers from my own people, danger from gentiles, 175 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,000 danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, 176 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,760 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, and often without 177 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:29,280 food and cold and exposure. That's what true suffering looks like. That is the call of a 178 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:35,040 Christian. Should we just give the altar call now, you think? I mean, who wants to sign up for that? 179 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:40,800 This doesn't play well in America because in most American churches today, the pastor is going to 180 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,040 get up there and he's going to preach a message about how God loves you, he has wonderful plans 181 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:50,080 for your life, and if you just become a Christian, your life is going to be super easy, everything's 182 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:55,200 going to work out for you, you're not going to have any troubles, any hardships, any difficulties, 183 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:00,480 life is going to be good and it's going to be easy because now you have made a decision for 184 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:08,880 Christ and the Bible says none of that is true. The Bible says that you will suffer for the sake 185 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:16,960 of Christ. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. I want you to understand that suffering 186 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:24,080 is not uniquely reserved for standout Christians. It is a promise to every single believer in Christ. 187 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:32,400 Notice Jesus says in John 1633, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace, so 188 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:38,640 not peace in the world, not peace in your circumstances, peace in Jesus because in the world 189 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:45,600 you will have tribulation, but take heart, I've overcome the world and he reveals through Paul 190 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:53,280 in Philippians 1.29, for it has been, what's the word church? Granted. It has been granted to you 191 00:07:53,280 --> 00:08:00,160 that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. 192 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:07,120 Notice how that mindset is completely different from the American mindset. We say it's been granted 193 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:12,640 us that we get to be included in the family of God, it's been granted to us that we can believe in 194 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:19,040 Jesus and Paul says it's also been granted to you that you should suffer for the sake of Christ 195 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:25,680 and we know that in this world and especially in this country we will have those who oppose us 196 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,440 and we will have those who hate us. We know this is true, don't we church? People in the world today 197 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:37,600 hate Christians and you might ask the question, well why do they hate Christians so much? And 198 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:45,440 the answer is very simple. They don't actually hate you, they hate Jesus. The world doesn't 199 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:51,360 actually hate Christians, the world hates Jesus and this is exactly what Paul means there in verse 200 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:59,680 24. Look at verse 24 again. Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh 201 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:05,600 I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is 202 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:12,080 the church. Now that's a confusing verse, is it not? Because it seems to be saying that there is 203 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:21,520 something lacking in the atonement of Jesus that we need to add to by our sufferings. But that is 204 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:26,640 not what Paul is saying here. That's a heresy, the Catholic church holds to that heresy, but that is 205 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:31,200 not what Paul is saying and we know that's not what he's saying because when Jesus died on the cross 206 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:39,200 he said it is finished. Meaning his atonement is a definite atonement, it is a finished atonement. 207 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:48,080 There is nothing you can possibly add to the atonement of Jesus because it is finished. So what is 208 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:53,120 Paul saying here? What does he mean by this? Well I want you to pay attention to your Bibles here. 209 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:59,200 This is where context really comes in. I want you to notice how Paul had just referred to Jesus as 210 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:06,880 the head of the church and he referred to the church as the body of Christ. So there's a head 211 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:12,880 and there's a body and the problem for us, and actually it's good news for us, but it also ends 212 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:18,080 up being a problem for us, is that the head is now in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father 213 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,440 and the world wants to punch the head but they can't reach the head because the head's in heaven, 214 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:31,040 so who does the world punch? The body. And so the desire of the world is not necessarily to hurt 215 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:37,120 Christians, the desire of the world is to inflict pain upon Christ and since they can't get to Christ 216 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:43,680 because he's in heaven, they come after his body. This is exactly what Satan does too. We read in 217 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:51,200 Revelation 12-13, and when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the 218 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:57,280 woman who would give him birth to the male child. So can't get Jesus anymore, he's in heaven, 219 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:02,320 Satan's been thrown down, what does he do? He pursues the woman. In Revelation 12-17, 220 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:08,480 then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, 221 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:15,440 on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So again, 222 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:20,720 can't get to the head, you have to go after the body, but I want you to understand this church 223 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:30,000 that Jesus as the head still feels every bit of anguish and pain that his body experiences. 224 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:35,280 And we know this is true because if you remember when Saul of Tarsus was on the road to Damascus, 225 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:42,080 Jesus appeared to him, revealed himself to him, and the first thing he said to Saul of Tarsus was, 226 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:51,520 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now here's the question, who was Saul actually persecuting? 227 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,600 He was persecuting Christians, he was going around killing Christians, persecuting the church, 228 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:02,880 trying to end the Christian movement, and yet Jesus felt that anguish and that pain so intensely 229 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,520 that he could literally say to Saul, why are you persecuting me? 230 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:16,960 Me. Jesus feels our pain and the pain is for a purpose. Paul says here that he is rejoicing in 231 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:22,080 his sufferings for the sake of other Christians. So here's what you understand, the point he's 232 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:28,640 making is this, God uses your sufferings to equip you to comfort others who suffer in the same way. 233 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:34,960 And we need to learn to have this perspective in our own lives. I've kind of entered into this new 234 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:42,240 phase of life, which is really surreal for me, but I've been having a lot of young guys reach out to 235 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:48,160 me who were going into ministry, and I'm getting phone calls, text messages, and I'm getting 236 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:54,400 calls from people who are going to the ministry, and I'm getting calls from people who are going 237 00:12:54,400 --> 00:13:01,520 to the ministry, and I'm getting phone calls, text messages, and emails from these young guys 238 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:08,160 who are wanting advice from an older guy because they're going into ministry. 239 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,440 So that's the point of life I'm in now. I'm officially the older guys. Guys, I'm not even 240 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:22,000 33 yet, okay? Give me a break. But apparently I'm the older guy, and so I've been having these 241 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:29,200 conversations with these guys. And what's really interesting to me is that all of the situations 242 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:35,280 they're talking about, I've already been through. They're saying, hey, I'm running up against this 243 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:40,240 challenge. I've experienced this kind of pushback. I've been going through this kind of situation, 244 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:44,800 and I don't know what to do, and I'm like, well, brother, let me tell you, I've been there, I've 245 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:49,600 done that. You want to talk about problems in ministry? You want to talk about contentious 246 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:55,360 Deacons meetings? Brother, I've been there, okay? I've been in Deacons meetings where we've almost 247 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,360 come to blows, okay? They're not like that anymore, by the way. All our Deacons meetings, 248 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:05,200 they're very nice and friendly. We love each other. But in the early days, and some of the guys in 249 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:10,080 this room can attest to it, there were some contentious times. So it's interesting because 250 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:16,160 I've been in these situations, in the comfort for me, in these conversations, as I realized that 251 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:23,760 I didn't go through that situation for no reason. At the time, I wanted to throw my hands up and go, 252 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:29,200 oh, God, why is this happening to me? Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to anger you? 253 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:36,720 But now looking back on it, I can see that God was using those situations not only to build up 254 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,920 my faith and equip me, but he was equipping me to one day be able to help others who were going to 255 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:48,640 go through those same situations. And this is how we need to view our sufferings in life. We never 256 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:55,120 need to think that our suffering is purposeless or meaningless. I know that hindsight's 2020, 257 00:14:55,120 --> 00:15:01,280 but we need to learn to recognize in the moment that God is going to use whatever trial or whatever 258 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:07,600 difficulty this is, not only to build our faith, but to equip the faith of others, 259 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,600 which is why I'm so thankful for this church because I know personally, because I know you personally, 260 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:20,400 that God has allowed so many people in this room this morning to go through so many different 261 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:28,800 challenges and sufferings. And what that's done is it's made us uniquely qualified and enabled 262 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:34,960 to help others. So if we have someone who comes into this church and they say, hey, I just, 263 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:40,880 I'm feeling like the Lord's really impressing upon me my need to follow Jesus and I'm ready to follow 264 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:46,720 Jesus, I want to walk with him, but I'm struggling with addiction. I'm struggling with alcoholism. 265 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,400 I'm going to say, well, brother, let me introduce you to Doug Angel and Brian Huffstetler because 266 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:56,000 they've been there and they are uniquely qualified to be able to speak to that situation. They will 267 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:01,840 be able to know how to talk to you and help you through that situation. Or if you have someone 268 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:07,520 in here who's lost a spouse and they're saying, hey, listen, I love Jesus, but my faith is really 269 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:13,280 rocked right now because I never thought that I would outlive my spouse. And here I am now. 270 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:19,200 I'm going to say, well, hey, I want to introduce you to Steve Bright, Don Cruz, Mary Sue, Miss 271 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:24,640 Dottie, because they all know exactly what that's like and they will be able to minister to you 272 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:30,160 in that situation. Or if you're struggling financially and you're trying to figure out how to 273 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:37,040 trust God without basically having any money whatsoever and learn to depend on him for that, 274 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,400 I'm going to give you my mom's number. I'm going to say, hey, you go talk to my mom because we know 275 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:48,480 exactly what it's like to have the bare minimum and need to learn to trust God with the bare minimum. 276 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,920 Or if you're at work and you're working in a secular situation and you're saying, hey, listen, 277 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:59,040 I love Jesus, I'm trying to follow him, but every time I go to work, I'm surrounded by unbelievers 278 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:05,440 and it's really making it difficult on my faith. You can come talk to me. You can come talk to Mark 279 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:10,400 because we know exactly what it's like to be a Christian surrounded by a bunch of non-Christians 280 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:16,880 and trying to live for Christ in a secular work environment. The point is, church, I can guarantee 281 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:22,480 you that almost anything that you are battling this morning, almost any struggle you have, 282 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:27,520 almost any trial you are going through, I can almost guarantee that there's going to be someone in 283 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:35,440 this church who's already been there, who is uniquely qualified by God to be able to speak to you 284 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:42,400 in the midst of that situation and help you out. And you see, this is why discipleship is so important. 285 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:48,880 This is why we need each other. Every Christian is called to suffer, but we are never called to 286 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:56,240 suffer alone. We are one body with one head. And so sometimes that means the hands are going to 287 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,800 have to hold up the legs. It means other times the feet are going to have to lift up the torso, 288 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:07,120 but the point is we are all one in Christ, which is why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12, 26, 289 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:15,440 if one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. 290 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,920 And so God is going to use our sufferings to equip us to be able to help others 291 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,600 in that situation. And there's another way too. Look at verse 25. 292 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,400 Paul says, 293 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:48,720 Let's take a poll real quick. Everybody on board? Who here feels like they are called to go into the 294 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:55,920 ministry? All right, we're going to try that again. We're going to do right answers only this time. 295 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:05,600 Who here is called to the ministry? Yeah, okay, so we've got a few more. Yeah, the correct answer is 296 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:13,680 everybody. So if you are a Christian, you are called to ministry. This is exactly what Paul 297 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:20,320 is saying here. He's been given a stewardship by God for others. And I know that in our day, 298 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:25,360 we've kind of just reserved this language for the pastor, right? Like he's the one who's called to 299 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:30,480 ministry. He's the one who's been given this stewardship by God. But Paul is saying that this 300 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:39,120 is true of every single Christian. God has called you and he has gifted you to be able to serve 301 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:45,680 him in ministry, which means if you're a Christian, service to God and to the church is not an option. 302 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:51,120 There's no such thing as a Christian who just sits on the bench and does nothing. If you are a 303 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:56,800 Christian, you are called to service. And I know that many people don't like to think this way today. 304 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:05,520 In the American mindset, we like to think of our duty to God as being attendants, right? I'll attend 305 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:11,360 on a Sunday morning. I'll attend occasionally on Wednesdays. I will certainly be there for all 306 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:17,440 the fellowship mills. And I'll attend whatever I feel like attending, but that is where my duty 307 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:26,240 to God begins and ends. And yet the Bible says you have been gifted and equipped by the Holy 308 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:32,000 Spirit to serve the church. And here's the very interesting thing about Christians. Every single 309 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,800 Christian that I've ever met is interested in spiritual gifts, right? Everybody wants to know 310 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:41,200 what their spiritual gift is. They want to take all the tests and the quizzes and everything else. 311 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,920 They want to find it out. But here's the problem with Christians today. What I've noticed is that 312 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:51,760 most Christians are more interested in finding out what their spiritual gift is rather than 313 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:57,440 actually using their spiritual gift. So I want to know what it is. I don't really care that much 314 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:04,800 about actually exercising. But have you ever noticed this really important detail in 1 Corinthians 12-7? 315 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:11,760 Paul writes this. He says, to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for what? 316 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:20,640 For the common good. And this is in reference to spiritual gifts, which means church that even 317 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:29,600 your spiritual gifts are not for you. They're for the church. You think about your different 318 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:35,600 spiritual gifts. God has given me the stewardship of preaching and teaching. But let me ask you a 319 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:43,280 question, church. How does that spiritual gift benefit me? Do you think I'm in my office writing 320 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:48,160 sermons to myself every day and then preaching them to myself every day? And then I'm going, oh, 321 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,920 man, that was a good one. That really benefited me. Like, I don't do that. All right. I write sermons 322 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:59,920 for you. I think about you. I pray for you. Of course, I preach the gospel to myself, but I'm 323 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:07,120 not writing separate sermons for Alex to preach to Alex on a daily basis. My spiritual gift is 324 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:14,240 only for your benefit, not for my own benefit. And so the point Paul is making here is that what 325 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:23,840 God gives to you is meant to be used in service to others. What God gives to you, it's not for you, 326 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:32,000 it's a stewardship that you were meant to use in service to others. And so there are really two 327 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:39,120 questions that you need to be asking yourself right now. Number one is, what has God entrusted to me? 328 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:46,800 In other words, how has God gifted me? What abilities, what talents, what spiritual gifts 329 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:52,800 has God entrusted to me? That's the easy part, right? That's the go online and find a quiz, 330 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:59,680 take a quiz. Anybody can do that. The second question is, how am I stewarding what God has 331 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:06,800 entrusted to me to build up others? So it's one thing to know how God has equipped you and how 332 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:13,520 He's gifted you. But the second question is, what are you actually doing with it? If God has 333 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:18,640 entrusted you with musical gifts and abilities, I promise you we can use that in the church. Amen, 334 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:25,760 Mazzan? All right. So sign up with Mazzan after service today. If God's entrusted you with hospitality, 335 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:32,320 we can use that in the church. If God's entrusted you with wisdom, I promise you we can use that in 336 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:38,480 the church. If God's entrusted you with teaching, acts of service, mercy, or even the ability to 337 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:45,760 build things and create things, we can use that in the church. And you're not doing anyone any good 338 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:52,080 by keeping it to yourself. All right? If you want another just way of thinking about this, let's 339 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,880 imagine we wake up tomorrow morning and the headline across all the news stations is, 340 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:03,280 a man discovers the cure to cancer. We'd immediately rejoice, right? We think this is the greatest 341 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:10,000 thing that man's ever discovered, the cure to cancer. But here's the question. Is that cure 342 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:18,000 worth anything if it's never actually administered to anyone? No, it's worthless, right? Like the 343 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:25,920 only value of a cure to cancer comes from its administration to people who have cancer. If 344 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:31,520 you keep it to yourself, it is no good. And in the same way, the stewardship that God has given to 345 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:39,040 you is worthless if you're not actually using it for the good of others and to build up his church. 346 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:46,080 And so ask yourself, how am I using what God has given to me to build up the church? And one of the 347 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:51,920 main ways we can do that is by faithfully proclaiming and teaching the Word. Notice what he says here 348 00:24:51,920 --> 00:25:01,040 in these final verses, verses 27 to 28. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles 349 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:08,480 are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim 350 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:15,200 mourning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 351 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:21,200 Now you may read this and think to yourself, this was only for Paul, or this is only for the 352 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:26,240 preacher. He's the one who's supposed to proclaim the gospel and teach. But again, look at your 353 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:32,000 Bibles, get your pens ready, get ready to circle or underline. Notice that Paul does not say, 354 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:43,440 him I proclaim. What does he say church? Him we proclaim. Meaning that this is the responsibility 355 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:51,440 of every single Christian we are called to proclaim, to teach and to warn. If you want the 356 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:57,360 different way to think about this, proclamation is saying, hey, here's the good news. Warning is 357 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:03,440 saying, here's the bad news. And teaching is saying, and here's what we do about it. Here's how we 358 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:10,000 actually live this out. And so you could think about it like this, proclaiming would be telling others 359 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:17,040 to put Christ first because he alone is worthy and greater than all things. Warning would be 360 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,480 telling someone of the dangers of not putting Christ first in their life and what they can expect 361 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:28,320 when they don't put Christ first. And then teaching would be to say, now let's talk about practical 362 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:33,680 ways to start putting Christ first in your life. Let's talk about what it looks like to put Christ 363 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:41,040 first in your marriage, in your parenting, in your finances, in your time and in your schedule. 364 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:46,160 Hey, here's what it looks like to put Christ first. You don't schedule everything for the whole year 365 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:52,880 and then you figure out where you can put Christ with whatever remains. You say, Christ comes first, 366 00:26:52,880 --> 00:27:00,400 everything else will be fit in around Jesus Christ. And Paul is saying we do this with one goal in 367 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:10,560 mind. It is to present everyone mature in Christ. So my goal as your pastor is to be able to present 368 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:17,280 to you mature in Christ. And your goal as a Christian is to present everyone else around you, 369 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:24,320 fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, mature in Christ. But what you need to understand this 370 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:32,000 morning is if we're not maturing, we won't be able to present others mature. If we're not maturing, 371 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:40,080 we will not be able to present others mature. Another way to say that is if you are not growing 372 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:47,600 in your faith, you will not be able to help other people grow in their faith. We need to learn to 373 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:53,360 embrace the communal aspect of our faith. Yes, we are all called to have a personal relationship 374 00:27:53,360 --> 00:28:01,200 with Jesus, but listen to me church. The faith is not just about me. You see, when I read my 375 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:08,640 Bible, I'm reading it to grow closer to the Lord, to grow in my own faith, to learn more about God. 376 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:16,320 But listen to me. When I read my Bible, I'm also doing it for you so that I will be able to encourage 377 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:21,040 you with God's word. So I'll be able to correct you with God's word, to counsel you with God's word, 378 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:26,960 to guide you with God's word, to teach you with God's word. As a Christian, you need to be prepared 379 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:33,680 to minister to anyone facing any problem at any given moment in time. And the only way you're 380 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,600 going to be able to do that is to make sure that you're prepared to meet that challenge. 381 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:43,840 You face this all the time as a pastor. You never know what you're going to get. Okay? I get a phone 382 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,400 call, I see a name, and I'm like, I have an idea about what this is going to be. And then there 383 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,800 are other times where I get a phone call and someone will say something out of left field, 384 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:57,360 and I'm like, okay, here we are, moments noticed. Let's see how much Bible I can actually pull out 385 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:02,480 of my head right now. Or I've had conversations with people in various places like that, and they'll 386 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:07,040 say, hey, I'm dealing with this issue. What does the Bible say about that? You got to be able to 387 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:12,640 write there, moments noticed. Now, the Bible does encourage us and tell us that the Holy Spirit is 388 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:19,120 the one who brings these things to our remembrance. And I say that to you, to warn you, because I know 389 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:24,720 that a lot of you have said in previous times, how do you remember so much Bible? It's the Holy 390 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,920 Spirit. Okay? Like you can ask my wife, I forget a lot of stuff. So this is not Alex is just so good 391 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:36,560 at memory. This is the Holy Spirit is drawing these things to our remembrance for the purpose 392 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:41,920 of ministering to people in a given situation. And so when you read your Bible, you don't need to 393 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:47,520 just read your Bible to say, I've read my Bible for the day. You don't need to just read your Bible 394 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:52,400 to say, I've done the Bible recap, I've done my reading for the day, or I've done my Bible plan, 395 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:57,680 I've done my reading for the day. When you're reading your Bible, you are seeking to grow in your own 396 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,760 faith. But listen, you've got to start thinking about your brothers and sisters in Christ too. 397 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:07,360 You got to start reading your Bible with an awareness that so and so is might be going through a 398 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:13,680 situation and God is using me in this time to prepare me to minister to them when they're in 399 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:20,240 that situation. And so you're doing it for the sake, not just of your own soul, but for the souls of 400 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:26,480 others, which means that we need to be intentional this morning. We need to realize that stuff does 401 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:32,960 not just happen to us by accident. You know that, right church? That everything we go through in life 402 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:40,160 is overseen by our sovereign God, and he is going to use those events to grow our own faith, but also 403 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:46,240 equip us to be able to minister to others. We need to also realize this morning that God has given 404 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:52,960 us each, gives and talents and abilities, not to serve our own ends, but to serve the church 405 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:59,520 and build up the church. And we need to be intentional and discipleship. Each one of us this morning 406 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:06,160 is called to present our brothers and sisters in Christ, mature in Christ, and we can't do that if 407 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:13,600 we're not prepared to meet that challenge. So God has equipped us to equip others in my prayer 408 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:21,200 and my hope and my goal as your pastor is I want this church to be known for fulfilling that calling 409 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,960 well. I want this church to be known as a church that looks out for their brothers and sisters in 410 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,400 Christ and is always building each other up and lifting each other up and ministering to each 411 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:38,400 other so that we can present each other mature in Christ. Amen? Let's pray. 412 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:49,840 Father, I pray that you would help us to enter