Ministry = Life

1 Timothy chapter 1, we'll read verses 12 through 14. 1 Timothy 1, verses 12 through 14 say this in the word of God. And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it, ignorant and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding, abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come before you again through the blood and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you, we glory in you, we boast in you, we magnify you, we lift up you, for Lord thou art worthy, worthy of praise and honor and glory. Lord, as that song we sang, Lord, just to give our life and Lord, let it be whatever your will would desire. Lord, we pray for each one that's here today, Lord, we thank you for the faithfulness of thy servants that are here. And Lord, those that are listening in, God, we pray that you would help each one that's here. Lord, if by chance there's somebody here, somebody listening that's not saved, Lord, it should be a great day. See the Holy Spirit of God and the word of God, get ahold of a heart and open that heart and help them understand the absolute need of salvation through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Lord, perhaps that saint, Lord, something's burning in the heart, burning the mind, the life, or they need a direction. God, I pray that you would help that saint to yield to you and trust you with whatever's going on. Lord, again, we thank you, Brother Frederick this morning, we thank you, Sister Judy. Lord, we thank you, Brother Woody's friend, we thank you, Sister Muxlow, Sister Diane, and Lord, many others that are up on our heart. Well, we thank you of the church and Lord, the important decision that needs to be made today, dear God, I pray, again, that Lord, we would just yield ourselves to you and trust you, allow you to guide us. Lord, we thank you for this local church and the testimony that it's had through the years and God, that you would just continue to work in and work through and Lord, keep the testimony of this local church going until your glorious return. Now again, Lord, help us through your word in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So we see verse 12 again says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for the account of me faithful, putting me in the ministry. For just a few moments, I wanna talk about ministry, but let me look at verses 13 and 14 first, because right, these things had, 13 and 14 had to happen before really what happened in 12 could happen, right? So I wanna give you this thought in verse 13, Paul says, he changed me, amen. Paul says, he changed me. I liked it, it says, who was before, amen, a blasphemer. Right, look at this, he says, I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy. Thank God for that. Boys, we think about those in the ministry. One thing we have to remember about those in the ministry is those in the ministry are no different or better than those they're ministering to, right? He says, listen, the greatest preacher, the greatest apostle, and he says, what? Hey, he said, I'm just a sinner saved by grace, amen. That's all I am. Here's what we gotta remember. We think about the great apostle Paul, we think of the other great man of God through the ages, but what we have to remember is God gets all his servants from the same source. Sinners that have been born again and saved by grace. That's where he finds, he says, man, I need a new servant, where I'm gonna go? Well, he says, I got a bunch of old sinners over here saved by grace. He said, I think I can find me a good preacher over there. I think I can find me a good missionary over there. I think I can find me a good deacon over there. I think I can find me a good Sunday school teacher. I think I can find me a faithful member over there. He says, man, I think I'm just gonna go over to this group of sinners saved by grace and pick out a few, amen, and do something mighty through their life. So quickly, I wanna say Paul was glad to say, hey, he always enjoyed giving his testimony. Every time you turn around, like I say, he'd give his testimony at the drop of a hat and he'd drop the hat if he had to, amen, just to have the opportunity to give his testimony. He was glad and amen. So you can look at that man and God say, man, look at that faithful servant. Remember, hey, how did he start out? He just started out the same place you did at the foot of Calvary, where he repented of his sins and put his trust in Jesus Christ, amen. We're all made of the same stuff and right? He gets all his servants from the same source. We're all just sinners saved by grace. But I like this, says he changed me that I put for this verse 13, and then he flooded me. That's the only thing I can think. It says he flooded me, he overflowed me. Look at verse 14, well, that's an exciting verse. It says, and the grace, amen, that's how we got saved. We've been talking a lot about grace, right? It's grace that saved me. It's grace that's bought me safe thus far, amen. And one day I'm gonna run into you at heaven. You're like, oh my goodness, he did make it. How'd you get here? I was like, grace, grace, amen, got me all the way. Got me all the way. But here's what it says about that grace. And the grace of our Lord, look at these words, exceeding abundant. I'd say that's a lot right there, amen. Exceeding abundant with what? With faith and love. God saved me, amen, and then he just poured a good size dose into my life. He said, man, boy, this guy, boy, this guy's messed up, man. I think he's gonna need an extra portion. He just overloaded me with grace. He overloaded me with faith, and he overloaded me with love. I like that, how else? How else can you explain, right? It's not natural, some of the sacrifices that people make in the ministry. The sacrifice, what Paul endured in the ministry. Boy, he couldn't have endured that if God wouldn't have poured that large amount of grace, that large amount of faith, and that large amount of love into his life. What a wonderful statement you find in this verse. Exceeding abundant, you know what that means? That means more than enough. I'm glad we have a God, he's the God of more than enough. I mean, Romans 5 20 says that. He says, but we're sinning about. Boy, you look back and he says, Paul says, hey, listen. God, why would you want me? I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I was injurious. He said, man, Lord, I was such a terrible sinner. He says, oh, don't worry, don't worry. More than you were that, amen. There's more grace than that. It's sort of like, you remember when you play games, I don't know why I was saying this when I read Romans 5 20, you play that game where you're trying to pick what team went first, you'd find the captains, and you throw one of them the baseball bat, and wherever he grabbed it, and the next guy would put his hand on top, and the other guy put his hand on top, and whoever's hand ended up on top, they got to go first, right? Or they got to choose. They got to choose, whoever's hand, who did it that way? Do you guys remember that throw that? That's how we did it up north, amen. That's how us Yankees did it. I don't know how y'all did it down south, amen. I probably used a corn cob or something, amen. We used the baseball bat up north. But whoever's hand was on top, they got to make the decision. And boy, you know what the Lord says? Boy, he throws salvation in your life, and you get a hold of it, amen. And boy, he just keeps going. Let me tell you, his hand, his hand is always got that hand of grace. No matter how bad you mess it up, that hand of grace is always gonna come out on top, amen. And so just go ahead and let him make the decision when it comes to that. He said, we're graced and abound, amen. We're send it about and graced it much more abound. So I thank God, amen. If you're in the ministry, you're in the ministry, one, amen, because he stepped into your life. Thank God, aren't you glad that one day, hey, he stepped into your life and he changed you. Whatever you wore is irrelevant. One day he stepped in and then he flooded you. He changed you, then he flooded you with grace. He flooded you with faith and he flooded you with love. And boy, there's sufficient of that to get you, amen. Like that song, hey, if you're in the valley, his grace is sufficient, amen. If you're on the mountain, his grace is sufficient. His faith is sufficient, did much more abound. So Paul says, he changed me and boy, then he flooded me with all these good things, but you know what? He didn't stop there. He didn't stop there. I'm glad I can say God saved me one day. I'm glad I can say he flooded me with all those good things one day, but I'm glad to say he didn't stop there. Aren't you glad he didn't stop there, but he still has more good things for your life. And this is what he says in verse 12. We'll focus on that for just a minute. It says, he called me, thank God he called me. And he says, verse 12, and I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord. Boy, I tell you what, are you thankful this morning? Paul says, he says, you know what? I'm still thankful. Are you still thankful for the day he changed you? Are you still thankful for the day he poured grace, faith abundantly and love into your life? Well, if you're not still thankful, well, I tell you what, you need to come back, says in Revelation, to your first love, amen. I'm glad I can say what? May's coming up, May's coming up, May 19th. That'll be 36 years, and I'm glad. And what, you know what's gonna happen? I'm gonna call Brother Alverson, right? In a couple of weeks, every year since I've been saved, you know, and I talk about it every year, right? You know me, ask Zach. Zach knows all my stories by heart. He said, well, you said this one. The other day, Zach was talking about, he was messing with me, he's like, yeah, you said this one about 200-something times, and then you said this one about 200-something times. He told me all my own story. I said, well, next time, Zach, when I got something to say, I'll say, hey, Zach, can you go ahead and tell that for me? My throat's sore. Amen, Zach's got it memorized, right? But you know what, I'm gonna call him May 19th, and you know what I'm gonna say, Preacher Alverson? 36 years, and I'm still thankful. I'm still thankful that he changed me. I'm still thankful that he, amen, flooded me. I'm still thankful that he called me, amen. I guarantee you, if Brother Adam stood up and gave a testimony right now, he'd say, I'm still thankful. Brother Burgess would stand up and say, I'm still thankful. And then each one of you would say the same thing. But it says, I'm thankful what? Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me for that he called me faithful, putting me into the ministry. That putting me means to appoint, appoint, right? When the president appoints somebody, he chooses somebody specific, right? He chooses a specific person for a specific office. And that's what God does when he calls a man into the ministry. I like the way it says it here in Acts 13, 47 says this. For so the Lord hath commanded us, saying, I have set thee, that same word. That word set in that verse is the same word as the word putting me in 1 Timothy. He says, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the word. He says, that is what? I've appointed you. He said, I'm putting you in the ministry. Paul, I've appointed you to be a light to the Gentiles to get the gospel out. Jeff, I've appointed you. James, I've appointed you. Adam, I've appointed you, amen. I've called you, I've put you, I've pulled you out and I've put you in, amen, into the ministry. What a wonderful thought that is. I like what Hebrews 5, 4 says. No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Well, that's a serious thing. You know, in the military, right, we'd see people and they would impersonate. I remember when I was in Germany, there was a guy, he was an E6, but he faked being an E9, which is a Sergeant Major. You know, he put all these things on and boy, he got busted. And I thought, what a terrible thing. It's a terrible thing, amen, to act like something you're not. And boy, I tell you what, if you say that you're a preacher, this or that, you better make sure you're called. And it says, no man taketh this honor. So you know what it means? It's an honor to be in the ministry. It's an honor to serve the Lord. The calling is a position of honor, but it's an honor also to fulfill. The fact that God would call you. Brother James, God called you, he gave you a position of honor. Brother Adam, the Lord called you, he gave you a position of honor. But you know what? You know what means more to me than having a position of honor? Is the honor, amen, of serving in that position. Can I just say, it's an honor to serve the Lord. And you know what? It's an honor to serve you. You see, why is it an honor? We know it's a position of honor, but what makes it an honor is one, you get to serve the Lord and you get to serve others. That's a wonderful thing. I'm glad I can say, man, I get to serve the Lord and I get to serve these people. Man, what an honor. What an honor to be able to serve the Lord. What an honor to be able to serve the people of God. As long as we're alive, as we're gonna see that in a moment, boy, may it always, may we always consider, he says, I'm thankful that God gave me this honor, but I'm thankful that God has given me the honor of serving him. And Paul says, I'm thankful, I'm still thankful that God has given me the honor to serve his people. What a blessing that is. And it says, he enabled me. That word enabled, I love that word. It means to equip with power, to equip with what is necessary to get the job done. I like that. He says, hey, listen, not only did he call me, but not only did he give me abundant grace, did he give me abundant love, did he give me, amen, abundant faith, amen. But as I look back over these years, he has equipped me with everything I've needed. Amen, he is the equipper. The equipper means both spiritual and morally. Necessary to carry out the office. So that word enabled means to be equipped with power, to be equipped with strength. You know, if you read about when Paul got saved in Acts 9, I like what it says, right after he got saved, right? And everybody was shocked that he got saved. And it says this about Paul in Acts 9, the same chapter here where he got saved, it says this, but Saul increased the more in strength. And I don't know if it was just that God kept giving him more strength, or he just kept, amen, yielding more, and so that strength could take over. That's really what it is. God puts this in us. And so it's not that God has to give us more. You know, when John said, he must increase and I must decrease. Well, we've said that before. It's not that God increases, he don't get no bigger, right? It's just that we gotta get smaller. You see, how does God increase in our life? Not by him getting bigger in our life, but by us decreasing our life and just let him be fully himself through us. So Saul increased the more and more in strength and confounded the Jews, which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. You see, being a faithful servant of the Lord is not about some ability that one naturally has. I talk about this really. Hey, everybody has a different natural abilities. And it's good that you can use those for the Lord, but that's not what makes you successful, if you will, in the service of the Lord. What makes you successful in the service of the Lord is not your natural ability, but your ability, amen, to get out of the way and take what he has put in you, amen, and let him use that through you. That's what enables you. It's what he, you see, being a faithful servant of the Lord, again, is not about some natural ability you have. It's about what the Lord puts in that man and how he yields to it. Hey, listen, whatever he, here's the thing. We say, oh man, Paul was a great man of God, but what do you say? It's not that I got more, it's that I labored more. That's why he got more. Whatever he poured into Paul, right, he has poured into every servant that he's called. So it's really about not if he got more from God, it's about whether he, the degree to which you yield to God and enable that to flow through you. You see, it's what the Lord put in me that has kept me in the ministry. It's what the Lord, why does Brother Burgess sit here almost 40 years later? Because of what the Lord put in him all those years ago, and he has yielded to it. Why does Adam sit here after being in Cambodia 12, 14 years, why is he still here today? Because of what God put in him. You listen, you better know that you've been calling this of God. You see, he counted me, that word means to hold or esteem in some particular light. You see, but what did he do? It says he put me in the ministry. That is the office of ministry in divine things. You see, ministry, it's a calling upon one's life. Here's what it is. It's a calling upon one's life that becomes one's life. You see, it's my life. It's my life, it's kind of funny. People say, oh, with all this going on now, people say you're getting out of the ministry, that doesn't even make sense. You can't, if you're a true servant of God, you can't get out of the ministry because it's your life. And that's what Paul says. It's a calling upon one's life that becomes one's life. That's why Paul said this in 2 Timothy 4, six through eight at the end of his life, he said, remember, this is what he said. He said, for I'm now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I fought a good fight. Here's what he says, I finished my course. You see, when God called me, remember he says I was not disobedient to his vision. When God saved me and called me, he set a course for my life. That's what he did. He set a course for my life. And my goal and that course for my life became my life. Like I said before, that heavenly vision became his earthly mission. That's what happens when you get called into the ministry. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. You see that word chorus means this, one's life, one's ministry. That's what the word means. Let me show you a couple other places where that verse is used. He says this about when talking about John the Baptist in Acts 13, 25, and as John fulfilled his course, as John fulfilled his course, the course that God had for him, talking about his life. He said, whom think ye that I am, but I am not he. And then Acts 20, 24, Paul talks about his course again. He said, but none of these things move me. He's talking about all the stuff that happened. He said, oh, don't you know what's waiting for you at Jerusalem? He's like, huh, think I'm worried about that? All that stuff that's gonna happen in Jerusalem. He said, none of those things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, what? So that I might finish my course with joy. See, God put me in the ministry. He set a course for my life. And you know what? He said, listen, I'm not worried. Whatever God allows in to come to my life, that's his business. All I know is he said, the course, of course, is my life and the ministry is my life, but whatever he has set for me, I'm not worried about. I just wanna finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I have received, there it is. The ministry which I have received the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of grace. So Paul said, I finished my course. He didn't say I've resigned my position. Oh, you might have different positions in the ministry. You might have different things you do within that course, amen. But you see, that ministry is your life. It becomes part of who you are and what you are for Lord. I'm sure Brother James would say the same thing. I'm sure Brother Adam would say the same thing. What do you mean? This is, oh, it's not about some position. This is my life. This is just, I mean, I can't think any other way but to serve the Lord. I can't imagine anything else but to serve the Lord because you see that day he changed me. He flooded me, amen. And then he called me. And boy, he has been enabling every step of the way. How, man, Brother James, how have you made it this far? How are you still sat there? He's enabled me. Brother Adam, man, you were over in Cambodia and this happened and that happened and your wife got sick and this going and that going. I mean, how are you still sat here today? He'd say he's enabled me because he's flooded me with grace. He's flooded me with love and faith. I can ask some of you the same thing. How are you still sat here? Oh, well, after all you've been through, how are you still sat in here? Because he flooded me with grace and love and all those good things. Paul said, I finished my course. You see, we have surrendered our life to the end of our life. No turning back, no turning. You see, I have decided. I consciously, I willingly have made the decision I'm following Jesus. No turning back, no turning back, right? We cross the bridge and we burn it, amen? No turning back. We have surrendered our life to the end of our life. Any position we may hold may come and go, but we continue to go. That's how it is. Oh, missionary in Las Vegas, missionary in Canada, this position, that position, right? Come and go, but we continue to go. That's what matters. We continue to go. 2 Timothy 4, eight, I'll finish with this, right? 2 Timothy 4, eight, look at that, verse says this. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. What we saying about that? Which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Well, that's exciting, amen? He changed me, he flooded me, he called me, amen? And he keeps me going, and what? I got something to look forward to. A crown of righteousness. But you know what's exciting to me about this verse? Let me show you what's exciting to me about this verse. Let's read it together. Second thing we're gonna, henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, comma, which the Lord, comma, the righteous judge, comma, shall give me at that day. You know one reason I'm excited about this verse? It's because after the word day, there's not a period. He doesn't stop with, oh, you guys need to know what I'm getting at the end of this thing, huh? You know, at the end of this day, I'm getting a crown. No, aren't you glad there's not a period there? And what else did he say? And not me only. But unto all of them that love his appearing. I love you. Well, I'm glad, Sister Karen, I'm glad that one day he changed me. Glory! Sister Pam, I'm glad one day he flooded me. Yeah! Brother Thomas, I'm glad he has enabled me. I'm glad, Ben, that boy, when I get to heaven, hopefully I don't blow up before then. I'm always messing stuff up. A crown of righteousness. But you know what else, though? I'm glad. Not me only. I'm glad. We get to serve him together, we're gonna get reward together. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Jeff, we got a crown over here for you, but stop being selfish, okay? I'm not, go up there, where's mine, where's mine, where's mine? That's probably how I'll do it. I'm selfish, right? Jeff, stop. Before you pick up yours, take this over to Sister Karen. Before you get yours, take this over to Lisa Lynn. Now, remember, I know you never made it to New Zealand, I'll let you go during the millennium, but go ahead and take this over to her. Amen, before you pick yours up, take this one over to that faithful deacon, Brother Thomas, Brother Mugslow, amen, Brother McClain. Hey, Jeff, stop, man, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna let you serve them one more time by taking them their crown. Oh, what a wonderful thing. I'm glad I've got something to look forward to, but I'm also glad I'm not the only one, amen. Well, we got to serve him together down here and there, amen, we'll get to get rewarded together up there, amen. Hey, Brother David, straighten your crown up there, it's a little crooked, looks good, but it must be that nice hair you got there, amen. I know Joshua's is gonna be crooked, look at that hair. There's no way that crown is gonna sit on that head of hair straight, amen. But I'm glad he's gonna be there to get one. So what a wonderful thing, it's a wonderful thing to be in the ministry. It's a wonderful thing that man, God gives you a life, that life is serving him. And so whether it's a specific office or whether it's just being a Christian, amen, let us still be thankful. He changed us, he flooded us, and he's enabled us, and we still, amen, until he comes or we go some other way, amen, we get to continue to serve him together, let's pray.