["Pomp and Circumstance"]
the two-sided version this week, but there's nothing wrong with that.
We've got, of course, our service times up there at the upper left-hand side, and we're
going to be back here tonight at 5 30 p.m., again at Thursday at 7.
We'll be back in Genesis, chapter number 15, this week.
We have some church-wide soul-winning times below that, as well as the regional
soul-winning time with Brother Gabriel.
Salvations and baptisms for both the month and year, and then we've got the
attendances below that, and I've kind of explained that frequency table probably to the point
where everyone's sick of hearing about it.
Below that, we have the record attendances, as well as the tithes and offerings and event
and operation expenses for both the month and year as well.
Like I said, not a lot in the way of announcements this week, but that could always change by
the time we get back here next Sunday.
Do pray for the families that are sick.
I know my family is still dealing with it, as when you have kids, it just kind of makes
its way through them, and then eventually it gets to you, and then sometimes it takes
another, and then decides to do another lap through everybody, so my family's not
backslidden.
They haven't quit the church or anything like that.
They might be bad at the preacher, I don't know, but hey, you just fit in that way.
I'm just kidding, but they're doing okay, but there's still some sickness there.
I know the Nunez's, I think, are dealing with it too, so if you just keep them
in prayer this week, I know we're kind of going through that season.
Everyone's kind of dealing with this right now, so we'll get through that, but that's
going to do it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and just sing one more song before we get into the preaching this
morning.
Psalm 230, Heavenly Son of God, Psalm 230.
Psalm 230, Heavenly Son of God, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Well, let me kind of make this a more specific point here is that if the ministry is not convenient, right?
And it's not. The ministry is not convenient. We try to make it as convenient as we can.
As far as our service times and things like that, our soul winning times and things of that nature.
But you know, life is not convenient. You can't schedule everything.
It's not going to be convenient and it's going to be work.
Right? Again, it's not convenient. It can be exhausting. It's demanding.
The more involved you are, the more demanding it is.
And it's going to bring you to a place where you are going to need to go into a desert place from time to time and have that time away.
And maybe you won't need it or excuse me, maybe you won't get it every time you need it.
And you say, well, why in the world would anyone have anything to do with the ministry in that case?
If all you're telling me is that, you know, being involved in local church,
getting involved in mystery is exhausting and inconvenient. You know, you're not.
It's not a very good sell, is it? You know, it's like sign up, you know, who's going to sign up for that?
You know, come minister, come be a part of a local church, you know,
and join us in our mission to reach the lost, to preach a gospel to this city,
to bring people in and to preach to them.
And by the way, it's going to be difficult and inconvenient.
You know, that's not exactly the best pitch, is it? But that's the truth.
That's the reality of it. You say, then why in the world would anyone do it?
You know, why would anyone do it? And for one reason, compassion. That's it.
And that's the one thing that will keep you in the ministry, I believe,
or one of the main things that will keep you in the ministry year in, year out,
for the rest of your life is when you have compassion, when you see people for what they truly are.
Sheep not having a shepherd who needs someone, who need to be guided and led and protected spiritually.
That's what keeps us in it, is to have compassion. Right?
Compassion is compelling. What would compel somebody to minister for Christ?
Compassion. Compassion. And that's something you see, again, Jesus many times,
even as we've been going through the book of Mark,
we've seen this Christ's compassion in the scripture, just in the book of Mark alone thus far.
When the leper in Mark 1 came to him, Jesus was moved with compassion
and put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will be thou clean.
In Mark chapter number 2, it says that he came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house,
many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples,
for there were many that followed and they followed him.
So he's sitting with what? He's sitting with publicans and with sinners.
He's sitting with people that were not held in high esteem in society.
The publicans were people that were, you know, despised in society.
They were the tax collectors. I know tomorrow's tax day, right?
I'm sure everyone's excited about that, right? You haven't done your taxes yet.
But we all love paying the federal government.
But maybe some of us look forward to getting a refund.
Anyway, that's the benefit of having children, or at least, you know, that's one of them.
I shouldn't say it's the only one. You know, my little tax returns.
I mean, my little darlings, right?
But, you know, the publicans here are not exactly the most popular people.
The sinners aren't either, but yet that's who Jesus sat with.
You know, he went to the people that had a need. He went to the people that others had rejected,
others had written off, others that nobody else wanted to have anything to do with,
that had a poor reputation, and some of them deservedly so.
That's who Jesus went and sat with.
And why did he sit with them? Because he was moved with compassion.
That's why he said unto them in verse 17,
They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick.
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
You know, that's Jesus having compassion on other people.
What's going to compel you to stay in the ministry?
What's going to compel you to put up with the inconvenience?
What's going to compel you to put up with, you know, the work and the exhaustion
and the difficulty and the trying, the straining, the endeavoring that goes into ministering for Christ for a lifetime?
What's going to make you be willing to put up with, you know, the inconvenience of it all?
Compassion. Compassion.
And when our hearts begin to grow cold and we begin to come hard-hearted
towards the unsaved of this world, look out, because you're on your way out the door.
You're on your way to stepping out of the Christian life and being of no use to God,
because compassion is what's going to continue to compel us to live for God and to see others saved.
We see Christ's compassion.
So really, you know, if we find ourselves in a place where, you know,
we can't be inconvenienced for the unsaved, where we feel like it is too much to ask
or we are burnt out or we really have grown cold-hearted, where there is that lack of compassion,
you know, maybe it's time to start putting the passion back in compassion, right?
I love that that word is in compassion.
You know, you have to be passionate about other people getting saved.
You know, you have to have a desire for that.
You have to have a zeal. You have to have a love for the gospel, love for the unsaved.
Put the passion back in compassion, right, if you're losing it.
You say, well, how do you do that?
How would somebody, you know, if we've grown cold towards the things of God,
if we've grown cold towards the unsaved, how would we put the passion back in compassion?
How would we light that fire once again in our lives?
Well, you know, one good way to put the fire back in it is to consider the fire of hell, right?
You want to reignite the embers of passion and compassion in your life.
You know, maybe you should use the flames of hell to rekindle that, right, to get that flame going again.
You know, there's nothing more compelling to go see the lost saved than considering hell, okay?
And if you would, go back to 1 Peter where we were.
I'm just going to quote a few verses here.
You know, these are two verses that, whenever I read them, I always jump out to,
but they're also verses that I, you know, often think about.
You know, especially when I think about caring about the lost.
Why are we doing what we're doing?
Why are we, you know, what is it that's supposed to compel us to go out and get people saved?
Why should we have compassion on them?
Where is this passion going to come from?
Here's a verse.
Psalm 90, it says in verse 3, thou turnest man to destruction, right?
And this is him speaking about God.
The psalmist is saying, thou, right, to God, turnest man to destruction.
That's God sets man on a path towards destruction, right?
Because that's where man's headed.
Without Christ, that's where every one of us would be going, right?
Even with Christ, even having been saved, you and I still deserve to go to hell.
It's just we're not going there.
Praise God.
We still deserve to go there, and so does everybody else.
Because, you know, sin is the transgression of the law, and the wages of sin is death.
And death, you know, part of that death is hell.
You know, man, God sets man, turns man toward destruction.
And God puts destruction before the eyes of man.
And that's, I mean, really, when you think about that's what we're doing when we preach the gospel.
That's one of the first things we do.
Hey, you're a sinner, you deserve to go to hell.
That's you turning man to destruction, saying, this is your fate.
This is where you're headed.
And you have to do that. You have to give them the bad news.
Otherwise, what do they need Christ for?
They would see no reason to be saved.
We're not out there just preaching the ethical principles of Christ.
We're out there preaching that Christ is the Son of God, the Savior,
and without Him, destruction is your end.
That's the gospel. Part of it, anyway.
Obviously, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
But what do you need that if you're going to go to heaven because you're a good person, right?
Thou turnest man to destruction and sayeth, return, ye children of men.
God turns man to destruction and says, this is where you're headed, now return unto me.
Repent, right?
Get right with God. Get saved. Return unto me.
The Bible says in Proverbs 15, and this is one that I thought about often.
Maybe we should put that one up on the next remodel.
Proverbs 15, 11.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
How much more than the hearts of the children of men.
And I'm not going to turn to all the verses where it says that God sees hell every day.
That the coals or the embers of hell are ignited by His own mouth.
Out of His mouth flows the hell itself. He's the one who made hell.
He prepared hell for the devil and his angels.
Those that go to hell shall be tormented in the presence of the angels and of the lamb.
It's not separation from God. God is very present in hell. He created hell.
It says that hell and destruction are before the Lord.
God sees what's coming to the sinner.
God sees what's coming to the sheep that have gone astray.
God sees humanity like lost sheep headlong over eternity.
Over that cliff into a fiery hell and destruction.
A literal hell.
That's what the Bible teaches. That's what we believe.
That's what God sees.
They're before the Lord.
God sees it every day. He doesn't turn His face from it.
It's a reality that He faces every single moment.
Hell and people just cascading by the millions into it over all of history.
And I love that verse. It says hell and destruction are before the Lord.
And it doesn't say that God just turns an indifferent, a cold shoulder to Him.
He's not indifferent.
He doesn't throw His head back and laugh and say He serves you right.
He doesn't look back down on them indignantly and just say,
Well, you know, you had it coming.
Although, that's true.
It says if hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men.
He's saying God sees hell and it's before His eyes.
What He beholds also is the hearts of the children of men.
That's compassion, my friend.
That's what it's talking about there.
And that's what's going to keep you passionate about saving others.
That's what's going to put the passion back and compassion for you if it's going out, if that's a flame that's dying.
Or maybe it's one that's never really been lit.
Is to consider hell. Consider the fact that people are going to die and go there.
That there's people that you could get saved if you were to be bold enough to preach the gospel.
You.
There's people that would have gone to heaven if you, specifically you, had the zeal,
the boldness, and the obedience to preach the gospel like you should.
I mean, think about that.
That's compelling. At least it ought to be.
You know, we don't want to get this Calvinistic idea that people who are supposed to get saved just somehow will.
Right?
We are ambassadors for Christ.
We are to go and beseech them as though Christ is beseeching them through us.
We beseech you in Christ's stead.
Instead of him doing it, we're doing it on his behalf.
That's a huge responsibility.
And the one thing that's going to keep us going over the years is if we remember to have compassion.
We don't ever want to lose that.
And when we consider hell, we consider destruction, we consider there's people that are going to go there that didn't have to.
That's what's going to make us want to go out and get people saved.
1 Peter 2 alluded to this, but look at verse 21.
For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps.
What's the Christian life? Suffering.
I mean, is that what he's saying?
That's pretty much what he's saying.
Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example.
And it's not an example of, hey, don't do this.
Sometimes that's an example.
We don't want our life's purpose to serve as an example of what not to do.
He's saying he left us an example that you should follow in his steps.
You should follow his steps. We should also be willing to suffer.
And obviously we're not going to suffer to the degree that Christ suffered.
And in all likelihood, in the time and place in which we're living,
we're probably not going to have to suffer much at all for the cause of Christ.
Really, when you think about it, in the scheme of things,
at most, for us today, in our circumstances,
really the most suffering you're going to have to do for Christ is a little bit of inconvenience.
Maybe someone being a little rude out there soul-witting.
Maybe you're having to get over your nervousness.
It's like, man, I go on and preach the gospel to these people, and I'm nervous.
That's not in the Fox's Book of Martyrs.
There's no crown of glory for that.
I'm going to be closer to Christ's throne because I was nervous preaching.
It's like, well, we all go through that.
We all have to go through that. We all have to get over ourselves
and stutter and stammer and just start somewhere.
I'm not saying it's going to be the case for everybody.
Maybe some people are naturally more well-spoken or confident.
I know when I'm starting out soul-witting,
there was a couple of times where people at the door were kind of like, what?
I get that a lot even now when I get up here.
You're really going off when people are going, huh?
They're flipping around like, what's he talking about here?
You've got to just kind of get over that and accept it.
That's just the way it is sometimes.
But is that really suffering for Christ's sake?
I mean, it's not.
Is that a suffering for the gospel?
If it is, it's very mild.
It's at best an inconvenience, some awkwardness.
The occasional rude person at the door, whatever.
Christ has called us to be willing to suffer to a much greater degree
than we probably ever will have to.
That's the example that he left us.
Look at verse 23.
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, but he suffered,
he threatened not, but he committed to himself,
to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes we are healed.
Look at verse 25.
For ye, as sheep, were a sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls.
You know, praise God that there was somebody that had compassion on you,
that there was somebody that had compassion on us,
somebody that saw us for what we were,
just like these people in Mark 6,
desperate that we had gone astray,
that without a shepherd we would have been destroyed.
We were turned to destruction
and thank the Lord that somebody, you know,
caused us to return unto Christ and to be saved
and to have that shepherd in our lives.
So, you know, that's kind of what we see in these,
at least that's what I get out of these verses.
You know, the disciples are coming back from doing this work
and Jesus says, hey, you know what, you need a break.
You've been doing a lot of work.
And that's the Christian life.
You know, I'm not saying that we should never have a moment to ourselves.
We need that.
If we're going to make it for the long haul,
if we're going to be as effective as we can,
you know, we have to pace ourselves.
We have to think in terms of a lifetime.
We have to think in terms of years and decades.
We can't get it all done at once.
And we see him going to the other side
and when they get there, the people are waiting for them.
They're catching up with them.
And rather than getting cold hearted or annoyed
or treating people like a nuisance,
Jesus sees these people for what they are,
as sheep not having a shepherd.
He has compassion on them.
That's what we have to have in our lives.
It's not enough for you to say, you know,
I'm just going to wipe knuckle it through the Christian life.
I'm never going to quit.
I'm just going to, you know, just put my nose to the grindstone
and just make it through to the bitter end.
You're not going to.
You also have to have compassion.
That's your motive.
You know, you have to have a motive to continue to stay in
and put up with the inconvenience,
to put up with the labor,
and yay, maybe even put up with some suffering
and to follow in those steps.
Those are, you know, that's a hard example to follow sometimes.
It could be.
It could cost a lot.
It could ask a lot of us potentially.
What's going to compel us to do that?
Compassion.
Compassion is what's going to compel us.
Let's go back to our story.
I do want to get through to verse 46 here,
where it's kind of a break here in the passage.
It says there in verse 39,
and he commanded them, meaning the people, right?
So again, he's telling, hey, you feed them,
and they're like, well, we only have these five of those
and two fishes.
What are we going to do with that?
And he says there in verse 29,
and he commanded them to make all sit down by companies
upon the green grass.
So he's commanding the disciples
to make all the people to sit down
upon the green grass.
Now, green grass, let me explain this to someone.
I'm just kidding.
This is why I know it's not a desert
like where we are
because there's green grass there.
And they sat down in ranks
by hundreds and by fifties,
and when they had taken five loaves and two fishes,
he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the loaves
and gave to the disciples and set before them,
and the two fishes divided he among them all.
Now, this is an amazing miracle, right?
This is one of the most well-known miracles, right?
It's a miracle that he repeats.
He feeds a multitude on more than one occasion.
We'll see it again.
But in this first instance,
he's feeding thousands of people
with just a few loaves, right?
And it's not that he's, it's not rationing, right?
It's not like, well, here's a minuscule little piece of bread
and a minuscule little piece of fish.
It's these things are miraculously being replenished.
And you try to kind of think
exactly how did that play out, right?
How exactly did that happen?
Is it just, he kept reaching the basket?
It was like, you know, you see those musicians who like,
or magicians who pull out like the ribbon
that just keeps going and going and going.
Was it something like that?
Like, who knows?
But it was amazing.
Every time the disciples came back to get more bread,
it was just there.
And that's another aspect of the ministry we have to consider,
that Christ, you know, we might be limited,
but Christ is inexhaustible.
It's like sometimes I, you know, as a preacher,
I go, it's like, I've preached everything I know.
Like, I've preached everything I'm confident of
enough to get up and preach.
Like, what else am I supposed to preach?
And yet every time I go back to the scripture,
there's something there.
Every time I just go to the word of God and say,
well, let's just see what the Bible says,
there's more to preach and there's more to preach.
And yeah, obviously sometimes that bread
is the same bread, right?
It's the same loaf or whatever.
It's got the same flavor as the sermon
a couple weeks ago or whatever.
But it's still fresh.
It's still there.
It's still, you know, nourishing to the soul.
It still helps us.
Oh, I've read my Bible so many times.
Like, you know, what else can I get out of it?
Keep reading it and find out.
It's an inexhaustible source of spiritual nutrition.
It's an inexhaustible source of sustenance spiritually
that's just waiting to be taken and consumed.
Every time they're coming back, more bread.
It's still there.
More fish.
It's still there.
It's an amazing miracle.
The other thing I want to point out here
is that in the ministry,
you have to have organization, right?
Jesus commands the disciples.
So he's got these guys,
they're kind of in charge.
He says, make them to sit down in ranks, right?
They sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties.
You know, they sat them down, rank and file.
Everybody find a spot
so that we can distribute this bread evenly
and efficiently, right?
You can imagine, like, maybe they had it set up like this
where they're just from one side to the other
passing the basket back and forth
and the other disciples are running back and getting more.
They fed five people.
I mean, I've put on potlucks here.
I've tried to feed a hundred people.
And, you know, even with all the food we need,
a big part of it is just the logistics, right?
Where do you put the table?
How are you going to move people around?
Like, how are you going to keep it warm?
All that stuff has to be taken into consideration.
You know, there's still the practical
amongst the miraculous in this story.
You know, we want to sit down
You know, that's something I've been thinking about lately, too,
is that, you know, what can we do to be more organized?
You know, maybe we need to try some things
that are maybe a little differently,
that are, you know, where people are, you know,
more involved or whatever.
You know, the ministry has to have organization.
It's not a free-for-all.
You know, there has to be the practical elements
among the miraculous.
You know, it's not a free-for-all.
You know, there has to be the practical elements
among the miraculous.
These things have to be taken into consideration.
And it says in verse 42,
Now, here's what I want to point out here,
is that if you took up 12,
they're taking up 12 baskets at the end of this, right?
So it wasn't like, you know, Jesus just was like at the very end,
like, oh, you know, barely, just barely made it, you know.
But it's interesting that there's these fragments that are left.
There's more than the people even needed.
I mean, they're eating.
You know, they weren't like us today.
We're like, we just keep eating until it's gone, right?
Like, they ate.
They're like, I'm full.
That's enough.
And they pushed the plate away.
You know, they stepped back from the table
and said, you know, let's not overdo it, right?
And they left fragments left over.
And it's interesting to me that there's 12 baskets,
because, again, how many disciples are there?
There's 12, right?
So here's the thing.
You know, if you are involved in the ministry,
you know, if you have compassion,
if you'll minister on behalf of Christ,
you know, there's going to be a sustenance for you.
Like, there's going to be stuff left over for you.
You're going to get something out of it, right?
Because obviously, you know, I'm starting out in the sermon saying,
hey, it's about compassion for others.
You know, we have to be more concerned
about other people than our own selves.
But God's not going to leave us, you know, hungry either.
You know, God is going to sustain us too
as we minister on his behalf.
You know, you'll get more out of your Bible reading,
the preaching when you're involved in the ministry.
It'll have more significance to you.
You know, the things that I'm saying about soul winning,
you know, it's landing closer to home
for those that go soul winning than others.
You know, people who are not soul winning,
have no intention of ever doing it,
you know, it's probably really not speaking to them
as much this morning.
But those of us that are involved that do do the work,
you know, maybe that's, you know,
we're getting more out of the sermon this morning, right?
That's the way it is in the ministry.
The more involved you are,
you know, there's going to be more in it for you too.
You're going to get something out of it, okay?
They got 12 baskets.
They have these fragments left over.
And they were filled.
They were probably going to be eating that themselves.
Nothing was left to waste.
They had the fishes.
They had some loaves.
And, you know, they did this great work.
But, you know, God took care of them, ultimately.
And again, remember, their intent was not to go do this.
When they left the other side of that sea,
when they set sail to go to the other side,
their intention was to go away to a desert part,
a desert place and take a break
because they had no leisure so much as to eat.
And when they get over there, right,
it's like these people show up.
It's like, well, we came to eat.
Now you're telling us to feed them.
You know, and this can be, you know,
an attitude that we might get in the ministry.
It's like, well, you know, what about me?
Who's going to take care of my needs?
When do I get to, you know, sit down and have a break?
When do I get to take a rest?
After you've had compassion.
After you've done that, which is your duty to do that.
After, you know, you have put yourself out there
and said, well, you know what?
I'm going to continue to have compassion.
I'm going to do those things which are commanded of me
in spite of the fact that I'm tired,
that it's not convenient, that it's not easy,
that, you know, maybe I just really need a break.
Well, you know, it'll come,
but it's not going to be always be when you want it.
It's not always going to be convenient,
but nonetheless, you will be filled at some point.
And so you would think that after all this,
in verse 44, they feed five people,
five people, five people,
And so you would think that after all this, in verse 44,
they feed 5,000 men, right?
They feed all this great multitude of people miraculously
that he's like, okay, Jesus, you know, you fed them.
Now let's take a break.
Okay, now we've fed everybody.
There's these 12 baskets.
Let's just take a break now.
Like you said, we were going to.
We're here and everyone's, you know,
going to have a carb crash.
You know, they're going to go into their food coma.
Maybe they'll leave us alone long enough.
Like, can we finally get away now for us to go
you know, take our break?
You know what the answer is?
Nope.
Because in verse 45, it's straight away.
He constrained his disciples to get in the ship
and go to the other side.
Oh, well, we're all here.
I'm glad you guys are done.
I'm glad you got him to sit down and rank
by 50 and hundreds.
I'm glad that, you know, you went out and you fed them.
I mean, they're the ones doing it.
Imagine, you know, feeding 5,000 people.
That's a lot of back and forth, right?
And I know we said we were going to take a break for a while,
but you know what?
It's just now's not the time.
We got to get back in the ship.
We just got here.
We just rode over here.
He's like, well, now we got to go again, right?
And he constrained them, right?
And I use that word constrained
because if you ever constrain somebody to do something,
you're kind of, it's like you're making them do it.
It's kind of like you're commanding them, right?
Maybe if you were constrained or you were restrained,
it's probably, you know, you're being prevented from doing what you want to do, right?
You're kind of being made to do it against your will a little bit.
That's kind of how I read that, the sense that I get out of that.
He says when he's constraining his disciples,
no, no, no time for a break.
We got to go, right?
And go to the other side before Bethsaida
while he sent away the people.
Now, what's interesting about this,
and I'll probably cover the rest of this chapter tonight,
is that he sends them away
and then he departs into a mountain to pray.
He's like, you guys start sailing the other side,
go to Bethsaida in the ship.
I'll stay here and send everyone away
and then he goes up into a mountain to pray.
But, you know,
I'll get more into where that leads
perhaps this evening, but
what I want to end on is the idea
that, you know, the work of the ministry
will never cease.
It's never going to end.
It's never going to stop.
You know, if there's,
Well, you know, Lord, that was the last Sunday.
I mean, I know one day I'm going to be
either too old to do it or I'm going to die or whatever.
But until that day, it's not like,
okay, well, you know, it's been five years
and, you know, that's it.
You know, we're done, right?
You know, we saved this many souls while we were here
in this amount of time, and now it's time to just
put a bow on it. We're all set.
That's never going to happen.
You know, people sometimes
say, well, what are we going to do
when we shade in the whole map?
Oh, we're going to get a new map
and shade that one in.
I mean, it's probably going to take a lifetime
to shade the one in that we have
because it's not even all Tucson that's on that map.
You know, people ask that about the one in Phoenix
all the time, like, what are we going to do when we shade this map in?
And they're close to shading that entire map in up there.
We're going to get a new map
and do it all again.
Right? You're just a
gerbil on a wheel.
It's never going to stop.
Right? It's never going to end.
But that's kind of the story here, right?
And look, it's not that
Christ or God
is some kind of a slave driver
and the ministry is just some kind of
relentless, unending, you know,
labor that we just never get a break from.
It's just that, you know, that break isn't always
going to come when we want it.
The ministry isn't always going to be
convenient. In fact, more times than not,
it's going to be inconvenient.
There's going to be probably plenty of times,
maybe even seasons in your life
where you just don't feel like doing it,
but you know what, you're going to have to just do it anyway.
You're going to have to go out and preach the gospel
anyway. You're going to have to write that sermon
anyway. You're going to have to go and greet that visitor anyway.
You're going to have to go out and labor for God in some
way, shape, or form. Anyway,
despite it not being convenient, despite it not
feeling like doing it, the work's not going to stop.
And what's
going to keep you in it for the long run and not getting
burnt out and get an attitude is if you
learn to have compassion on other people,
to see people for what they are
spiritually. Sheep not having a shepherd.
That'll help us get over our own
attitudes.
The work will never cease.
Jesus in John
9 said, I must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day. The
night cometh when no man can work. I guess they
shouldn't say the work will never cease.
It will cease at some point when there's no more work
to be done. When we
either die or when
Christ returns, that's it.
We have to labor
in the meantime. We have this one life
to earn eternal
reward in heaven.
And that's not just some
carrot on a stick. That's not just
some Baptist
fairy tale. That's
Bible, folks.
That he's bringing his reward with
him, that he's going to reward
every man according to
his works.
And once you're in heaven,
that's it. That's your rest
ultimately. That's when we get
that big, long break
is in heaven.
Actually, we're going to work there, too.
I don't want to ruin everything for you.
Work and then
more work, right?
I think this is a great picture of the
ministry and a great picture of
how we need to
approach the ministry.
We need to be organized.
If we're disorganized, it's just going to make it
harder.
If I just said,
well, we'll go soul winning
whenever. Everybody just contact.
You guys figure all that out.
We didn't have soul winning times.
You guys make your own invites.
Someone has to say, hey, this is where we're going.
Here's the invites. Here's the maps.
Here's how we're doing things. There has to be organization
because the work itself
is work enough.
There has to be some practical elements
in it.
To the ministry, it has to be
organized, but
we don't want to become
robotic in that. We want to also understand that we
are doing something miraculous.
We're doing something
that is supernatural.
We're involved in something spiritual
that has a deep
impact on eternity.
Those people
that we get saved, they might never darken
the door here at church,
but we'll see them in heaven.
What will be really
amazing about seeing people like you lead to the
Lord in heaven is that you'll know where they're
not. Think about that.
Oh, it's so amazing that
you're here. What's really amazing about it is they're not
in hell.
Maybe when we're in heaven, we fully
understand how terrifying
and horrible hell is. Maybe that'll have
more of an impact on us.
In the meantime,
let's not forget that
that's a reality we have to set before us.
That will put the compassion back
or the passion back in your compassion.
When we consider hell,
then that'll cause us to
continue to serve God
through the highs and lows of the Christian life.
When we're feeling good about things
and when we're not. When it's convenient and when it's
inconvenient, it's
compassion upon others that's going to compel us.
Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer. Dear Lord, again,
thank you for the great
love that you had for us. Thank you for the compassion
that you've shown to every one of us. Thank you, Lord, that
when we were a sheep going astray,
that you caused us to return unto you.
That we have a shepherd and bishop of our
souls. That we're saved.
That we have your word and your Holy Spirit
to guide us and lead us through this life.
That we have a church. We have
fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ. We have
leaders that are guiding us and preaching to us
and teaching and instructing us. Thank you for all the
good things that you give us
in this life, Lord. I pray you help us to
do the same for others, Lord. That we would see
the great need that is out there.
And Lord, the possibilities
of doing a great work for God
in the years to come, Lord.
So long as we do our
part and endeavor to never
lose the love
that we are supposed to have for the lost.
Lord, help us to see others
as you see them. Help us to see the
people as we once were, as sheep not
having that shepherd. We ask these things
in Christ's name. Amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go.
Amen.