11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God,
which was committed to my trust.
Paul was committed to the Gospel. He was entrusted by God to carry the
gospel to governors, kings, and the gentiles—remember that God revealed this to
Ananias before Paul became a Christian.
I have been reading a book in college, Dedication and Leadership by Douglas Hyde who was a communist
turned catholic who talks about communism’s Biblical practices of “discipleship.”
One of the core principles in that book is that Communists are dedicated. They
are so committed that they are daily involved in sharing their ideals. Whether
it be leaving a communist newspaper behind on their bus seat or moving around
to new groups of co-workers at lunch and skillfully working communisms agenda
into the discussion, they are actively seeking to spread their ideals. Their dedication
is convicting when we look at the Church (all Believers) in America’s efforts
of personal evangelism.
In the book of Acts, the Church was built because Christians were
actively involved in sharing Christ’s message of redemption everywhere. Paul
ministered in the marketplace primarily. In addition, he provided for his own
needs and his traveling buddies through his trade of tentmaking. He worked
long, hard hours and preached and taught and evangelized by sharing the Gospel
whenever he had a chance. Peter stood up and preached to those gathered outside
the upper room and 3,000 were added to the Church. Daily, Believers met in Jerusalem
studying the Scriptures and listening to the Apostles preaching—both in the
Temple courts and other public places. The Church was made of dedicated
followers who were committed to sharing Christ! We need to be dedicated to our
Faith!
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled
me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
Thank the Lord
Jesus Christ for what He has called you to do. Paul did. We are commanded by
Jesus to go into all the world and preach the Gospel AND TEACH everything that
Christ taught (the Great commission). Don’t be on the extreme and only preach
salvation—people must be taught (discipled) as well.
Who hath
enabled….CHRIST is the one who enables us! The Holy Spirit has come to give us
power—to empower us to be Christ’s witnesses and to serve others. It is not in
our strength, but in HIS. Christ is strong and our greatest strength is
weakness.
That he
counted me faithful….Faithfulness is something that is very rare in our
society. You may think of faithfulness best in terms of marriage—don’t commit
adultery, but remain true to your spouse. It is the same in our lives: we must
remain faithful to Christ, our Faith, and our Calling.
Putting me into
the ministry….God is the one that puts us into the ministry. We are not to “build
a name for ourselves” through selfish ambition. Sadly, that is happening in our
country. In times past, God called men to His service and they endured hardship
because of the call. Today, we have lights and technology and marketing
strategies that make it easy to get distracted from the Call of God. We must
remain faithful to the Lord.
You guys have
been put into ministry. Each week you are ministering to these boys. God has
put you in a position of authority. You need to set an example through the life
you live—both in front of these boys and in your personal lives at home
(because that is who you really are). Maintain a personal walk with Lord and remember
that it is His strength which will empower you to fulfill what he has called
you to do.
Remember:
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the Lord keep the city, the
watchman waketh but in vain. Psalms
127:1 (KJV)
