| THE PRIVILEGE OF MINISTRY If it were right to say that Paul was proud, there was one privilege he was proud of - that Christ had allowed Paul to serve Him. But actually he was humbled by this fact and saw the responsibility of it besides the privilege. 'Ministry' was a favourite word of the apostle. He used it dozens of times in his epistles. He spoke as if it covered his whole life, not just an hour or so in some pulpit. It is very easy for us to say that God had special plans for Paul and we therefore tend to excuse ourselves by saying, "We're not Paul. We can't do much." We need to read that first verse again: We have this ministry. That includes every one of us. We could call it a "Possessed Ministry". It is ours. It is yours. It is mine. Paul reminds us that not only are we saved, but we are servants also. We have a work to do - representing Jesus Christ. In several epistles Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit. A gift is a capacity given to each of us by the Holy Spirit, to be used in the service of Christ. Every believer has a gift. They may vary as to their nature, but having a gift, we have some kind of a ministry we can fulfil for Christ. Then Paul reminds us how much this ministry is needed. In verse 3 he states that outside of Jesus Christ, men and women are lost. They are lost from God and lost from His fellowship. They are separated from Him, and will be forever, unless they hear and accept the gospel we possess. Satan wants to keep them from hearing it. Our responsibility is to tell them .the Good News in Christ. OUR MINISTRY - POSSESSED BY US - NEEDED BY THEM. | 
粵語
沒有留言:
張貼留言