Relationships and the Gospel Ministry
Over the past few weeks, I have spent a fair amount of time considering the nature of the ministry at Heritage Baptist Church. As an intern, I have had many great opportunities to work alongside of a wonderful group of brothers and sisters in Christ. As the work has continued, I have seen those relationships grow in both depth and love. These relationships have been a great source of joy and encouragement. Yet, even these are not without their discouragement.
As I consider some of the relationships, I realize that many of these dear brothers and sisters will not be alongside of me for all of my ministry. Some will move back home after their military time is served, some will move away to school, and others will leave with their spouses and move on to bigger and brighter things. They will not always be at Heritage with me and my family. When I consider these things, I can often get discouraged and depressed at the prospect of constant relationship turnover in the Gospel ministry. Yet I am not without hope or an example....
The Apostle Paul was well acquainted with desertion in his ministry, yet the Lord never deserted him. 2 Timothy 4:17 says, "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished." Granted the context of this verse is a particular persecution and sinful desertion, the steadfastness of Christ is unchanging in all circumstances of Gospel ministry. As a minister of the Gospel, I am called to love my neighbors as myself, but not to love them more than Christ.
So what must one do when faced with the trial of relationship turnover and apparent desertion? We must trust the Christ who stands beside us to fulfill the ministry that he has placed before us! The glory of Christ is ultimate, not the companionship of ministry. Will it be hard? Yes! Will Christ stand beside us and empower us with his spirit? Absolutely, Just as He has promised!
May we fulfill our ministry to the glory of God by nurturing our relationships and abiding in the ministry that we have been entrusted with!
CBH
2 Timothy 4:16-18
"16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
Militant Prayer
The following post is a manuscript is from a recent Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting at Heritage Baptist Church:
Ephesians 6:18-20
“18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
This evening we will seek to answer three questions from our passage:
1) How must we pray?
2) For whom must we pray?
3) For what must we pray?
How Must We Pray
We must pray continually in the Spirit.
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit…”
The first thing that we must see is that: WE MUST PRAY. In the vss. 10-17, Paul has given an extensive listed of armor for the Christian’s battle against the ruler of darkness. Though the list is wonderfully crafted and important, it is all vain without prayer. The grammatical structure of this paragraph suggests that while putting on the “whole armor of God” is certainly important, it cannot be done apart from pray.
The second thing that we must see is that: We must pray CONTINUALLY. Just as the armor must be worn at all time, so should pray be continually offered to God. It is continuous prayer or as Paul would put it elsewhere, “Pray without ceasing.”
The third thing that we must see is that: We must pray continually IN THE SPIRIT. This idea of praying in the Spirit is not intended to be mystical or to refer to “speaking in tongues”, but rather it is used to refer to the Spirit’s prompting and directing of our prayers according to God’s will. And how is that we know God’s will? We know it and understand it from God’s Word. When we plead the promises of God’s word, God is pleased to answer us because it is His will to do what we ask of Him.
For example, Scriptures teaches us that “God desires all peoples to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Upon reading this, we ought to see that we now have Biblical warrant to plead with God to save all peoples, from every kindred, tongue, tribe and nation.
Do not let a misunderstanding of the doctrines of grace stifle your prayers for the lost. Instead, allow the doctrines of grace to be a wonderful encouragement for you to boldly ask God to save all types of people. Whether someone is elect or not is not your concern when praying for their salvation. God will never be
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