Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Fleshly Failures That Damage a Ministry

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Fleshly Failures That Damage a Ministry · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: First, I want to speak to you from my heart,
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  Speaker 1: and then I want to open the Word and speak
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  Speaker 1: to you from Scriptures. I take this appointment seriously. I
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  Speaker 1: give a lot of thought to what I believe the
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  Speaker 1: Lord would have me say when I am with you. I...
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  Speaker 1: do my best to think through in a fresh way
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  Speaker 1: what I feel needs to be heard by students at
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  Speaker 1: the school. The faculty is here, and I'm happy to
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  Speaker 1: have them listen in. There are people from our administration
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  Speaker 1: who attend, and guests, friends of the school, and you
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  Speaker 1: who are visiting to take a look at the seminary.
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  Speaker 1: We welcome all of you, but I'm speaking especially, as always,
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  Speaker 1: to students. I'm talking to you about the years you're
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  Speaker 1: here and even more importantly about the years to come
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  Speaker 1: as you enter into a lifetime of ministry, however long
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  Speaker 1: your life may be and wherever it may be the
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  Speaker 1: Lord calls you. I also want you to know that
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  Speaker 1: I don't just go back and find a previous sermon
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  Speaker 1: in the barrel I have from the years of ministry
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  Speaker 1: and then warm it up for the students here. The
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  Speaker 1: notes I have were written this past couple of weeks
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  Speaker 1: with you in mind. Because I take this seriously. And
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  Speaker 1: I want you to do the same. I believe you will.
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  Speaker 1: My interest this year, this academic year, is to go
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  Speaker 1: in two different directions along the same vein of thinking
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  Speaker 1: about the ministry. First, I'm talking during this fall semester
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  Speaker 1: about What is it that makes the ministry so difficult,
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  Speaker 1: such a challenge? What has made it difficult for me?
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  Speaker 1: What will make it difficult for others? The things I
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  Speaker 1: share are not theoretical, and for the most part, they're
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  Speaker 1: not what I heard while I was a student. Back then,
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  Speaker 1: things of this nature weren't usually addressed. Honestly, I don't
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  Speaker 1: think I ever heard the word failure once during my
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  Speaker 1: four years at the school. It was sort of like
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  Speaker 1: the theological F word back then. And, you know, it
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  Speaker 1: never dawned on us that we'd go through that. And
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  Speaker 1: that's regrettable. I know the faculty didn't believe that, but
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure they wanted to encourage us with words that
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  Speaker 1: would be free of such thoughts. I want to encourage you,
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  Speaker 1: but I want them to include thoughts about the difficulties.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to cover three areas this semester. The last
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  Speaker 1: time I talked about difficult people you will encounter. Today,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about our own humanity. We bring
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  Speaker 1: that with us to whatever place we minister. in whatever
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  Speaker 1: place God calls us. You bring your own humanity. All
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  Speaker 1: of the things you wrestle with at school, you will
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  Speaker 1: wrestle with in ministry. And I'll focus on that. Next
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  Speaker 1: time I'm going to talk, as we address again for
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  Speaker 1: the third time, what makes ministry so challenging. Things that
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  Speaker 1: happen to us that we didn't see coming. Unexpected things
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  Speaker 1: that can cut our legs out from under us and
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  Speaker 1: discourage us. We'll talk about that when I'm back next month.
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  Speaker 1: In the spring semester, I'll turn to the other side
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  Speaker 1: of the coin and look at the things that make
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  Speaker 1: ministry so rewarding, so delightful, such a joy. And there
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  Speaker 1: are far more of those things than the things I'm
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  Speaker 1: addressing this fall. If I could speak to the rest
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  Speaker 1: of my life and talk about that, I would run
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  Speaker 1: out of time before I'd run out of subjects because
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  Speaker 1: of the blessings that accompany the ministry. It's easy to
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  Speaker 1: lose sight of that when you're in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: your studies. Now let me clarify again from my heart
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  Speaker 1: some things that I think would be helpful for you
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  Speaker 1: to remember as students. The ministry is not a job
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  Speaker 1: that you're hired to do. It's a calling that you're
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  Speaker 1: compelled to fulfill. Furthermore, the ministry is not about you.
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  Speaker 1: It's about the one who calls you. It's not about
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  Speaker 1: what you can accomplish or the money you can make
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  Speaker 1: or the books you can write or the people you
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  Speaker 1: can influence. It's about him and what he wants to
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  Speaker 1: do through you. Since he has called you to do this,
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  Speaker 1: his ministry to be carried out through you. It's not
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  Speaker 1: about making you feel important. or impressive. Those are silly
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  Speaker 1: goals for anyone in ministry. It's about our Father bringing
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  Speaker 1: Him glory for He's the one who has placed us
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  Speaker 1: in His work and called us to do it. He
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  Speaker 1: wants to use you as His example warts and all,
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  Speaker 1: failures and all, gifts and all. You are the object
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  Speaker 1: of his attention and ultimately he wants to show others
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  Speaker 1: what he can do through an individual that's marked by humanity, weakness,
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  Speaker 1: and even the flesh. And that brings up the rub.
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  Speaker 1: Within us is an old sin nature. It'll never change.
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  Speaker 1: It'll never go away until we breathe our last. Thankfully,
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  Speaker 1: at that point, it's gone. It's like the old hymn
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  Speaker 1: we no longer sing, the last stanza. Sounds like a
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  Speaker 1: tongue twister. Then we shall be what we would be.
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  Speaker 1: Then we shall be what we should be. Things that
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  Speaker 1: are not now nor could be soon shall be our own.
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  Speaker 1: But not now. Not while we're on this earth. You
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  Speaker 1: will forever wrestle with this old sin nature and it
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  Speaker 1: will forever want to take control of what you're doing.
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  Speaker 1: It will want you to get the glory, the credit,
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  Speaker 1: It lurks and it lingers at every corner of your life,
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  Speaker 1: urging you to patronize and publicize and please yourself and
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  Speaker 1: gratify your desires, which are usually selfish. You've got that nature.
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  Speaker 1: So do I. We just sang about it. Prone to wander, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
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  Speaker 1: That's true of every one of us. Not just that songwriter.
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  Speaker 1: No amount of education, no degree you earn, no spiritual
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  Speaker 1: gift you possess will ever nullify your flesh. It's theirs.
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  Speaker 1: The secret is learning how to restrain it through the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Spirit, how to identify it, how to
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  Speaker 1: sense its inaction going on right now, and how to
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  Speaker 1: stop it from taking control. It's with you every hour
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  Speaker 1: of every day and wants to be involved in every
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  Speaker 1: ministry you undertake and every decision you wrestle with. You
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  Speaker 1: must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to
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  Speaker 1: guide you, to correct you, to use you, to shape you,
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  Speaker 1: to break you, to teach you. And the flesh wants
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  Speaker 1: none of that. Now, having said those things from my heart,
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  Speaker 1: and I mean every word, I want to speak to
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  Speaker 1: you from the first seven verses of of 2 Corinthians 4.
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  Speaker 1: If you brought your Bible, I'd love to have you turn.
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  Speaker 1: What I have to say about the passage is not important.
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  Speaker 1: What's important is what God says through his word to
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  Speaker 1: each one of us. And I don't say that to
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  Speaker 1: be pious. I really mean it. The word itself has power.
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  Speaker 1: And whoever teaches it or preaches it needs to stay
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  Speaker 1: out of the way so that the word can have
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  Speaker 1: full impact. You know that this passage is a continuation
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  Speaker 1: of other things that were said before because it begins
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  Speaker 1: with therefore. Therefore. Since we have this ministry, then he
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  Speaker 1: goes on to describe it. One of my cherished mentors
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  Speaker 1: was Ray Steadman from Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California.
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  Speaker 1: Had the privilege of knowing Ray and learning from him
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  Speaker 1: during the summer of 1961 when he asked me to
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  Speaker 1: be a part of his first internship team of young men.
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  Speaker 1: Ray writes this about 2 Corinthians. I quote, the most
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  Speaker 1: succinct statement of a new covenant ministry... is 2 Corinthians 2.14
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  Speaker 1: through 6.10. You may want to write that down. 2
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians 2.14 to 6.10. This will help you sustain a
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  Speaker 1: ministry that remains effective, grace-oriented, And you must become familiar
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  Speaker 1: with these 71 verses. At the core of everything in
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  Speaker 1: this section, continuing with Ray's words, at the core of
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  Speaker 1: everything in this section are some of Paul's most candid
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  Speaker 1: comments about the nature of a truly meaningful ministry. When
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  Speaker 1: I heard that and I wrote it down while an
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  Speaker 1: intern and I've carried it with me, I even pasted
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  Speaker 1: it on a card in my Bible. When I get
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  Speaker 1: near this section, I remember those words. So, since it's
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  Speaker 1: so valuable, we're not surprised that these first seven verses
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  Speaker 1: within the nucleus of those 71 verses play a very
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  Speaker 1: important role. I want to unpack these verses for you
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  Speaker 1: and hopefully with you as we work our way through them.
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  Speaker 1: Look closely at what Paul has written. I want to
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  Speaker 1: make three general observations about these verses. First, with every ministry,
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  Speaker 1: special mercy is needed. Now, why would I say that?
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  Speaker 1: Look at the first verse. Since we have this ministry,
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  Speaker 1: as we received mercy, we do not lose heart. With
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  Speaker 1: every ministry, special mercy is needed. Or you'll lose heart.
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  Speaker 1: Paul loved this word, enkakeo. It's translated for us lose heart.
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  Speaker 1: He uses it in Galatians 6, 9, where he writes,
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  Speaker 1: let us not lose heart in doing good. Again, he
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  Speaker 1: uses it in Ephesians 3, 13. I ask you not
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  Speaker 1: to lose heart. And in 2 Thessalonians 3, 13, do
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  Speaker 1: not grow weary of doing good. growing weary, losing heart.
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  Speaker 1: One of the common reactions of the flesh is losing heart.
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  Speaker 1: The spirit never loses heart, but the flesh often does.
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  Speaker 1: Some students begin strong at the seminary. They get underway
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  Speaker 1: in their first year. It's all excitement. They get the syllabus.
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  Speaker 1: That's sort of a downer when they realize everything that's
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  Speaker 1: in front of them. They get the list of books
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  Speaker 1: that they're expected to read and they realize this isn't
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  Speaker 1: just a challenge. This is impossible. And the more they
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  Speaker 1: go through the list of things and realize what's in front,
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  Speaker 1: the more tendency there is to lose heart, to lose excitement,
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  Speaker 1: not to be as encouraged as just before the first
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  Speaker 1: day of class began. You need mercy, and there's plenty
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  Speaker 1: of it available. The song says there's a wideness in
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  Speaker 1: God's mercy like the wideness of the sea. You'll need
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  Speaker 1: to draw on it. You'll need to ask the Lord
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  Speaker 1: to provide you the reminder of it. With every ministry,
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  Speaker 1: special mercy is needed. If you go into youth work,
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  Speaker 1: there's special mercy needed to work with the youth. If
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  Speaker 1: you go into research work, as a good friend of
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  Speaker 1: mine has done since earning his PhD, and in the
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  Speaker 1: research work, special mercy is needed as you dig into
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  Speaker 1: those difficult parts of your work. If you're in evangelism,
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  Speaker 1: special mercy is needed in all the travel, all the
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  Speaker 1: involvement with people, all the responsibility of remaining financially accountable.
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  Speaker 1: And on and on we could go. With every ministry,
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  Speaker 1: special mercy is needed. You see why? So we do
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  Speaker 1: not lose heart. So you don't quit. Let me go
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  Speaker 1: back to our first year student. The tendency is to
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  Speaker 1: quit before you graduate. To get just enough to where
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  Speaker 1: you think you're ready and then to hit the road running.
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  Speaker 1: You get through your second year and you think, well,
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  Speaker 1: that should be enough. Maybe I'll take on part of
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  Speaker 1: the third year. Then I'm on my way. You're not ready.
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  Speaker 1: You're not finished. It's called a course of study, not
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  Speaker 1: half a course. Remember that when you come to this school.
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  Speaker 1: Brighter minds than ours planned it out very carefully. At
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  Speaker 1: the beginning, it's like a pile of puzzle pieces. And
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  Speaker 1: it isn't long before all that excitement turns to a
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  Speaker 1: sense of confusion. As you take this course and that course,
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  Speaker 1: and then you're led into this course, and then you've
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  Speaker 1: got the details of that course. And so much of
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  Speaker 1: it is brand new for you, and it's in nomenclature
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  Speaker 1: or language and terms you're not familiar with. You don't
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  Speaker 1: come from a background that has emphasized that. You're in
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  Speaker 1: a new world, and you can lose heart in it.
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  Speaker 1: Same as in a ministry. everybody's all excited when they candidate.
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  Speaker 1: And if you're not careful, you'll preach your best sermon.
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  Speaker 1: And they'll expect that from then on. And you've given
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  Speaker 1: them your best. Hold back a little. Wait, wait, before
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  Speaker 1: you dump the full truck on them. Just preach a
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  Speaker 1: reasonably good sermon. If they'll call you with that, they'll
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  Speaker 1: probably put up with you later on when you're spending
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  Speaker 1: time there and stay. Stay. Because it'll be tough and
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  Speaker 1: you'll be tempted to leave. You'll lose heart. See how
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  Speaker 1: practical the simple first verse is? We have mercy so
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  Speaker 1: that we won't lose heart. When you read your Bible,
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  Speaker 1: don't get in a hurry. Marinate these words. Turn them
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  Speaker 1: over in your mind. Meditate on them. Don't lose heart
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  Speaker 1: in doing good. Just because the ministry gets tough doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean you're on your way to another ministry. One man
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  Speaker 1: writes it very well. The grass on the other side
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  Speaker 1: of the fence is not only not greener, it's not
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  Speaker 1: even edible. And you often think... if I go to
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  Speaker 1: another place, it'll be a lot better than here. Don't
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  Speaker 1: count on it. You'll have stuff there that'll cause you
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  Speaker 1: to lose heart there as well. You need mercy to
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  Speaker 1: stay at it. It'll keep you from growing weary. Special
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  Speaker 1: mercy is needed So you don't jump ship. You don't
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  Speaker 1: leave too soon. There will be a time when you
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  Speaker 1: should leave. You'll know when that is. Hopefully you'll know
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  Speaker 1: it before everybody else knows it. And you'll sense it.
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  Speaker 1: You'll become restless. Opportunities will open. You'll be directed. And
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  Speaker 1: then you won't be moving in the energy of the flesh.
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit of God has used you here for that
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  Speaker 1: period of time. In some places in my life, it
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  Speaker 1: was four years. In another place, it was 23 years.
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  Speaker 1: Another place, it was two years. Oh, I was glad
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  Speaker 1: that was over. Man, that was a tough spot. And
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  Speaker 1: I realized in the middle of it, and I'll get
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  Speaker 1: back to this later, I didn't fit that place. And
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  Speaker 1: I said yes too quickly. Easy to do. So we
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  Speaker 1: start where we just began, and now we go to
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  Speaker 1: the second observation. In every ministry, the same things must
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  Speaker 1: be rejected. That's in verse 2. Look at the second verse.
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  Speaker 1: But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame.
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  Speaker 1: Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God.
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  Speaker 1: We'll pause there in the middle of the verse. He
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  Speaker 1: names three things to be renounced. Look at that word.
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  Speaker 1: The Greek term means forbidden. Rejected. The same three things
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  Speaker 1: must be rejected in whatever ministry you're a part of.
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  Speaker 1: What are they? They're right here in front of us. First,
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  Speaker 1: things hidden because of shame. I call it hiding shameful things.
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  Speaker 1: The term means disgraceful. pretty hard to beat the word
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  Speaker 1: shameful that's what it is the flesh loves the shameful
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  Speaker 1: things but it will also help you hide it hide
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  Speaker 1: them things that are base things that have no business
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  Speaker 1: going on that's why you hide them do nothing in
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  Speaker 1: ministry you have to hide because they are wrong or shameful.
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  Speaker 1: That's the first thing we have to reject in whatever ministry. Second,
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  Speaker 1: please notice, doing deceitful things. Not walking in craftiness. We
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  Speaker 1: don't use that word much. Paturgia. It's a little hard
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  Speaker 1: to translate it. It's the outworking of insincerity. Or the
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  Speaker 1: absence of integrity. The flesh urges you to develop deception.
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  Speaker 1: Not to come up front. Not to be wholly truthful.
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  Speaker 1: The flesh urges you to do this. Even with people
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  Speaker 1: who trust you. This passage says, it has no business
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  Speaker 1: being a part of your ministry. As you look back
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  Speaker 1: on wherever God used you, may you never have to think,
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  Speaker 1: I hid that shameful thing. Or, I did a number
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  Speaker 1: of deceitful things. Here's the third, right here in the verse.
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  Speaker 1: I call it corrupting sacred things. It's rendered in the
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  Speaker 1: new American standard, walking in craftiness or adulterating the word
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  Speaker 1: of God. That's the sacred part. This is his sacred word.
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  Speaker 1: When you attend the seminary here, you will learn all
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  Speaker 1: about it. Old and New Testament, you will learn. Those
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  Speaker 1: who wrote it, you will learn. Words they used, you
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  Speaker 1: will even learn in certain courses. The original language from
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  Speaker 1: that era and in that time, you may become proficient
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  Speaker 1: in Greek and or Hebrew or both. You will dig
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  Speaker 1: into the word of God. May it never become just
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  Speaker 1: a textbook. It's sacred. It's holy. Heaven and earth will
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  Speaker 1: pass away. My word will never pass away. I never
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  Speaker 1: open his word on a Sunday morning without realizing the
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  Speaker 1: sacredness of it. I say to myself, Swindoll, handle this carefully.
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  Speaker 1: Be careful here. You corrupt sacred things when you use
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  Speaker 1: fallacious arguments or misrepresentations and you falsify what God has
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  Speaker 1: written in his word. We are to allow the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: to say what they say and not twist them to
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  Speaker 1: say what we wish they would say. It takes discipline.
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  Speaker 1: It takes study. Through the years, I've embraced three gates
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  Speaker 1: that I pass my teaching through. On a regular basis. Accuracy. Clarity. Practicality.
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  Speaker 1: I ask myself. Following the preparation. Of every message. That
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  Speaker 1: I prepared. Is it accurate. To the text. Is what
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  Speaker 1: I am saying. True to the scriptures. I don't want
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  Speaker 1: to adulterate. The word of God. I don't want to
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  Speaker 1: tell people. What I wanted to say. If it's convicting
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  Speaker 1: to me, I still preach it because it's the truth
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  Speaker 1: and I must be accurate with the truth, accuracy. Second,
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  Speaker 1: is it clear? Can anyone understand what I'm saying regardless
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  Speaker 1: of their background or their age or their level of maturity?
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  Speaker 1: Or am I talking in secret code language known only
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  Speaker 1: to seminary graduates? or the upper crust of those who
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  Speaker 1: have been educated. Most you will minister to will not
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  Speaker 1: even have a college degree. So you break it down
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  Speaker 1: so that it's clear they get it. It doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: they're not intelligent. It just means they haven't learned things
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  Speaker 1: you've learned. So you don't parade that. You use that
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  Speaker 1: to break it down so that it's clearly presented. I
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  Speaker 1: would say everything I've said thus far is pretty clear.
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  Speaker 1: You haven't missed anything because it's gobbledygook or it's over
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  Speaker 1: anybody's head. I couldn't do that if I tried. And
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  Speaker 1: so I simply say it like it seems to be
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  Speaker 1: saying in his word. Is it clear? And finally, is
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  Speaker 1: it practical? Can a person take what I'm teaching and
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  Speaker 1: and go home with it and use it? Will it
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  Speaker 1: be remembered in such a way that it makes him
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  Speaker 1: a better husband or wife or dad or mom or
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  Speaker 1: citizen or workman? Can the person take this truth and
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  Speaker 1: apply it in a way that makes sense, holds water,
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  Speaker 1: gives them an opportunity to live a little better than
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  Speaker 1: they lived the previous week. Is it practical? Okay, a
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  Speaker 1: quick review. Number one, with every ministry, special mercy is
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  Speaker 1: needed so we don't quit. Second, in every ministry, we
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  Speaker 1: keep rejecting the same things. hiding shameful things, doing deceitful things,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: corrupting sacred things. And then right in the middle of
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: the verse, there is an emphatic negative. But instead, it's
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the most emphatic Greek term to represent a contrast. Allah,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of the verse. Look for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: We renounce the things hidden because of shame, not walking
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: in craftiness, adulterating the word of God, but by the
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to everyone's conscience in
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: the sight of God. Here's the third observation. Through every ministry,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: an authentic example must be modeled. say it again, through
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: every ministry, an authentic example must be modeled. Instead of
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: losing heart, instead of hiding shameful things, doing deceitful things,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: and corrupting sacred things, instead of allowing those things to
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: go on, we are to demonstrate represented by the word
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: manifestation of the truth. We are to demonstrate truth. We
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: demonstrate truth when we have a lifestyle that isn't a fake.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: We lift up Christ as Lord, he goes on to say.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: We preach Christ as Lord and not ourselves, verse 5.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: We give ourselves to others as authentic servants. What a pleasure,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: what a privilege it is to do that. But in
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: order to do it, we must be real. People spot
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: phony right away. They observe it when you work hard
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: at being pious or looking like something you're not. In fact,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: he goes on to say in verse 7, one of
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: my favorite, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: and not from ourselves. Look at that, earthen vessels. We
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: are clay pots. The NIV renders it that way. We
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: are clay pots. The New Living translation, we are like
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: fragile clay jars. Howie Hendricks, one of the prophets I
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: had while here, loved him dearly, used to render it
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: this way. We have this treasure in peanut butter jars.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Is that a good way to put it? The tasty
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: parts on the inside. The rest is just jar. All
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: we are is just the pot. We're just molded by God.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Each one molded differently. Stedman used to say just some
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: are moldier than others. We are. We're all molded in
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: a different way. But the treasure is what's on the inside.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: So here's my advice to all of us. Draw on
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: God's mercy. Determine to be authentic and devote yourself to
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: serving others as you demonstrate grace regularly. In his book
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Between Two Worlds, John Stott writes in his chapter Sincerity
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: and Earnestness, nothing is more nauseating to contemporary youth that hypocrisy,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: and nothing more attractive than sincerity. In this, moreover, they
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: reflect the mind of Christ, who reserved his most scathing
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: denunciations for hypocrites. Young people hate our adult shams and subterfuges.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: They have a very sensitive nose with which they can
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: smell the faintest odor of religious humbug from a considerable distance.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: They are especially suspicious of us preachers and of our long,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: loud pretensions. They sniff around us to see what inconsistencies
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: they can discover like dogs after a rat. They are
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: right to expect high standards of integrity in us. You
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: notice when you rear your family, everything rocks along pretty
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: well until they become teenagers. And then they smarten up.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: They start to spot the phony part of us or others.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: I remember one Sunday I was sick. And unusual for
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: me to be sick on a Sunday, but that particular
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: Sunday I was. And as a result, I stayed home
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: from church, and we had a substitute step in for me, thankfully.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: And my youngest son stayed home with me. Well, around
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: 11 o'clock, I said to him, hey, why don't we
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: turn in to another church service and listen to another preacher?
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: knowing he had listened to one all his life, and
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: he might want to have a chance to hear a
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: terrific one, and so we found the station where there
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: was a fairly well-known ministry and a quite well-known preacher,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: and he was getting at it, and I was sitting
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: there with my arms folded watching in my pajamas, and
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: Chuck was sitting right next to me. He's about 12
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: years old, 13 maybe, and And the man was talking
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: about God. Except every time he said God, he said, God! God!
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: So finally Chuck, with a sigh, said, hey, Dad. I said, what?
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: He said, why didn't he just say God? How come
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: he has to go, God! And then he said, I've
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: had enough. He got up. Before he walked out, he said,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: by the way, Dad, Don't ever start talking weird like that.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: You know what he wants? He wants real. So do you.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: We don't say God when we're talking to people about
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: the Father who is God. We say God. Just say
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: it and get on with it. Unless you want to
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: try to impress and then you look stupid. You look
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: like a jerk. And a pulpit doesn't make you look better.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: That's what this is about. We have this priceless treasure
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: that we don't take advantage of. We make sure we
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: deliver it like it was written, as best we can.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: We don't turn people off by our super piety. Just
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: something comes to me I want to tell you about.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: When I ministered in California those years, I always had
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: a rub on Super Bowl Sunday because we did Sunday
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: night services. And so I always missed the Super Bowl.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: And I've never learned how to tape it, so don't
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: try to tell me because I'll never get it. And
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: So I finally groused about it enough. And one Sunday
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: morning I said, today's Super Bowl Sunday, but I'll see
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: you in church tonight. And I didn't do that, but
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I was thinking that. And I told him every Sunday
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: night when there's a or every Super Bowl Sunday, when
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Sunday night service comes, I always miss watching Super Bowl. Well,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: I had a couple of smart ushers who decided to
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: play a trick on me. Our church service that evening
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: began with a baptismal service at 6 o'clock, which is
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: about the middle of the football game. Happened to be
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the cowboy game. They were going to play, as I recall,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills and beat the snot out of them.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: And I knew they would, but I wanted to watch
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: it and cheer them on. And without my knowing it,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: these ushers put a television set in the bottom of
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: the pulpit. So I walk out for the baptism. You
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: couldn't see it from the audience. Everybody knew it because
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: they paraded it in to show everybody. They put it
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: under and they turned it on. There it is, mute.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: And I walk into the baptistry in my white robe.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: And I turned around and there was a game on.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: And I go, before I pray, let me check the score.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: As I recall, when I preached that sermon, I prayed
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: about 40 times. Who am I kidding? So when I
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: started our new church here in Frisco, we don't have
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: a Sunday night service. Well, let me tell you a
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: few things you cannot do.
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: Okay?
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: I usually don't make lists like this, but this will
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: help you. I'll click them off one after the other
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: and I'm through. These are things you cannot do in ministry.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Eight of them. Number one, you cannot control everything. That's
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: God's job. Stop trying to stay in control. You cannot
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: control everything. Second, you cannot change anybody or fix them.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: You cannot fix their problem. You can hear them. You
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: can enter into that with compassion, but you can't fix them. Third,
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: you cannot meet everyone's expectations. Fourth, you cannot dodge the
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: hard questions or the tough assignments. Fifth, you cannot let
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: all the criticism get to you. Sixth, you cannot believe
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: all the stuff they tell you at the door. When
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: everybody's leaving, They dump all this great stuff on you.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Hendricks used to call that the glorification of the worm.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: I think that's a good way to put it. Seven,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: you cannot teach a pig to sing. Now that needs
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: to be explained. Here's why I say it. Nobody will
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: enjoy it and it annoys the pig. So don't try
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: to teach a pig to sing. Here's what I mean.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Guard against pushing someone into a responsibility that the person
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: isn't qualified to fill. You'll notice in a good choir
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: there are auditions. The reason is the people that are
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: monotones always want to sing in the choir. So a
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: good choir director doesn't ever let them in. He has
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: a way of screening them out. If a person isn't
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: qualified To serve in a particular capacity. You're not doing
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: them a favor or the church by pushing them into it.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: Don't try to teach a pig to sing. Number eight.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: You cannot make it all on your own. You can't
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: do it. Nothing in ministry can be carried out all
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: on your own. You need others. And you need to
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: say so. Took me a long time to learn that
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: last one. because I'm so blame independent. But I finally
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: learned to use that wonderful four-letter word, help. Could you
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: help me with this? And I found filling the church
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: were people loving to help. But they were waiting for
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: me to ask them. You're called into a ministry. Remember,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Your flesh works against you, but the Spirit wants to
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: use you. Let him use you. Just don't try to
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: be Wonder Woman or Superman because you're not. You really
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: are not. One of my most embarrassing moments in New
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: England was when I served communion with my fly unzipped.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: And I didn't know it was, of course. And one
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: of the elders walked up to pick up one of
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: the trays, and he said to me, your fly is open.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: I go, you're kidding. He says, no, look. So I
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: used my favorite line and said, let us pray. So
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: always check your fly and your tie before you go out.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: Or wear a robe. That's the safest thing. Now you've
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: heard enough. You've heard more than you'll ever be able
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: to pull off. And most of which I'm not able to.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: So I'm working on all of it personally. Thank you, Lord,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: for putting up with us. Thank you that when you
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: called us, you never had in mind calling perfect people.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: But you're willing to use us as we are to
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: carry out the work as you want it carried out.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: Peanut butter jars carrying the priceless treasure. Thank you in
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: advance for each person here Who dreams of the day
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: they'll be used for you and by you. Guard them
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: from themselves. As they serve you faithfully. In Jesus name.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Everybody said. Amen.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. Fleshly failures that damage a ministry. Was
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2021 and 2023. and the sound recording was
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2023 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.