1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,000 And somebody wants in your teens. 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,120 When you're in your teens and your 20s, you have lots of time, 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:16,200 lots of energy, but no money. In your 30s and 40s, you have 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,800 money and energy, but no time. And then when you're in your 50s 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:27,120 and 60s, you have money and time, but no energy. 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,120 And I think for many of us, if we were to look at this from a 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:37,760 ministerial standpoint and serving the Lord, many of us 8 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,440 would kind of use those types of excuses. 9 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,840 Like, man, I want to serve the Lord, but I don't have time. 10 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,120 I have the energy. I have the want to, but I don't 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,680 know the how to. I want to serve Jesus, but I 12 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,440 don't know enough. I want to serve Jesus. 13 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,000 But I had a really rough week, so I don't know if I'm going to 14 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,000 be able to make it today. And many of us have these kind 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,600 of we, we, we have these compartments in our lives that 16 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,760 we tend to stick ministry into. And what I want to look at today 17 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,320 is Paul. Paul at the end of chapter one 18 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:18,000 in Colossians is going to kind of give us a small window into 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,800 his life, Like what makes Paul tick? 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,920 What makes what makes him do what he does? 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,320 How does he keep moving? How how does he get beat down, 22 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:32,000 get right back up and go back into the same city where they 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,920 whipped his tail to keep talking about Jesus? 24 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,120 How what is it about Paul? What makes him tick? 25 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,640 And what I want to challenge us is with that same question, what 26 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,640 motivates you? What is it inside that keeps you 27 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,600 going? Now for many of us that played 28 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,160 sports, we're we're used to that going beyond that pain point 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,320 like we, we've done that physically for many of us who 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,400 grew up, you know, always working, We're used to that 31 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,040 mentally, We know how what it is to grind. 32 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,639 But I think when it comes to ministry, there's got to be 33 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,920 something deeper where our want to comes out of and our 34 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:15,920 motivations come out of because ministry is hard. 35 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,800 Serving Jesus is not always going to be pleasant. 36 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,320 There's going to be attacks on our lives. 37 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,120 There's going to be push backs from the enemy. 38 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,320 So it's got to come from somewhere deeper, something 39 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,720 else. Paul's attitude when it comes to 40 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:40,080 ministry is one word, joy. He didn't see ministry as 41 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,040 unbearable. He didn't see it as annoying. 42 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:47,280 Yes, there might have been some seasons or circumstances where 43 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:52,680 he felt a little discouraged, but he always maintained his 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,680 joy. He's the guy that wrote this in 45 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,320 Second Corinthians 489. I'm just going to read it for us 46 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,560 if you want to look it up later. Paul says this. 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,320 He says I'm afflicted in every way but not crushed. 48 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,120 Perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not forsaken, 49 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,080 struck down but not destroyed. That's Paul. 50 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,560 And as I was looking at these last couple verses in 51 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,040 Colossians, one, I was like, man, this dude, he's like, he's 52 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,720 like the David Goggins of faith. Like it doesn't like nothing 53 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,720 bothers him. He just, he, he, he embraces the 54 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,040 suck. He loves it. 55 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,480 Like where does that come from? And Paul's going to say, no, It 56 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,600 it comes from this joy I have from the hope that's in me in my 57 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,440 prayer for us today in these next couple of moments is that 58 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,800 you leave here inspired and motivated, but also 59 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,000 understanding where your joy comes from. 60 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,320 And if the, the more you get that man, the more you're going 61 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,480 to see God do some amazing things in your lives. 62 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,520 But before I dive into the text, let's pray together. 63 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,880 So Jesus, thank you for today. Father, I pray that you are with 64 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,320 those who are unable to make it. Lord, we know that the storm 65 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,840 came through last night. It impacted a few folks, but 66 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:13,240 God, I pray that you be with them. 67 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,760 And Lord, those who are watching at home, Lord, continue to bless 68 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,920 them and speak to them as well. So Jesus, help us to see your 69 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,600 word. Lord, help me, God, to collect 70 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,360 my thoughts. Help me to remember everything 71 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,640 that was studied. And Lord, I pray that you used 72 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,400 me this morning. You name, we pray all these 73 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,280 things, Amen. All right, so let's just dive 74 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:34,960 into the text. Look at verse 24 in Colossians 75 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,480 1, Immediately we see a connector word. 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,080 So it says, this is now I rejoice in what I am suffering 77 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,080 for you. I fill up my flesh. 78 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,600 What is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the 79 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,840 sake of His body, which is the church. 80 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,040 All right, So what are we connecting what Paul is saying 81 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,840 here with that word now? Now remember last week in verse 82 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,680 23, the way he ends it, he says that this is the gospel that I 83 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,800 have become a servant to. So he shares the supremacy of 84 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,200 Christ. Then he talks about the fullness 85 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,280 of Christ, the fullness of God, which is found in Christ. 86 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,280 And because of the fullness of Christ, we're able to become 87 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,040 reconciled through his blood to all things back to God. 88 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,080 That is the gospel that I have been made a servant to. 89 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:31,800 This is what I do. Then in verse 24 he goes, now I 90 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:36,200 rejoice in what I am suffering for you man. 91 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,560 That is encouraging Paul. Now remember in Colossae, he 92 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,480 wrote the letter to the to the city of Colossae Colossae. 93 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,520 And he's sitting in a Roman prison right now. 94 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,960 So Paul is going through it. Also. 95 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,280 We see in Second Corinthians where he talks about all the 96 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:58,840 things that he's been through. He's taking the 40 negative 1, 97 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:00,680 which are like the lashings on his back. 98 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,240 He's done that three times. He was shipwrecked. 99 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,040 He was left for dead. He was beat down, he was 100 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,360 stranded. He's been hungry, naked, cold. 101 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,360 Well, name it, Paul's been through it. 102 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,320 And what Paul is saying is like, listen, in all of my suffering, 103 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:21,280 I rejoice. How many of us can say that in 104 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,400 all of the things that I'm going through in life, I rejoice. 105 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,000 And what Paul is saying is I rejoice. 106 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:34,440 The reason I rejoice is because the gospel is moving forward. 107 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,880 It's because it's building up the body of Christ. 108 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,640 So I want to show you guys just five quick things when we talk 109 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,720 about suffering, when Paul talks about suffering, so it'll be on 110 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:49,200 the screen. 5 things that I want to for us to remember that when 111 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,760 Paul talks about suffering in the New Testament, these are 112 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,760 some points that he makes. So as believers, this is what 113 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,000 he's talking to. As a believer, suffering brings 114 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,800 us closer to Christ. Paul even said that he's like, I 115 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,200 want to, I want to know your resurrection, but I also want to 116 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,760 be in your sufferings #2 suffering is sure is the 117 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:12,760 believer that he belongs to Christ. 118 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,120 If you are living for Jesus, if you are sharing the gospel, 119 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:23,000 there's going to be some pushback, but you know that you 120 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,160 belong to Him and in your suffering God presses down with 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,960 grace. Suffering brings future reward. 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,480 We know that our reward is not here on earth. 123 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,560 Our reward is in heaven. Our inheritance is in heaven. 124 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,520 But the things, the more that we suffer for the name of Jesus 125 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,600 here on this earth, the bigger our reward is going to be in 126 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,160 glory. Suffering can result in 127 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,520 salvation for others. Man, that's something that many 128 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,040 of us don't think about. Man, when you suffer for the 129 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,960 name of Jesus, when you go through some things, when things 130 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,080 are uncomfortable for you, you don't know what's on the other 131 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:00,480 side of that. You don't know who's being 132 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,160 impacted by your message, by your example, and by the gospel 133 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,320 that you took to them. It could bring people to Jesus. 134 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,800 And then last one, my favorite suffering frustrates the mess 135 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:17,760 out of Satan because as Satan tries to harm us and destroy us, 136 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,600 God brings good out of it. That's out of Romans, for God 137 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,160 makes good for all of those who love him. 138 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:30,400 So whatever suffering you're going through, if you are rooted 139 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,200 in the faith and you stay strong and you don't move from it, God 140 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,919 will use that. And he will use what Satan wants 141 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,320 to use to destroy you, but he will use that for his glory. 142 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:42,400 And you get to be a part of that. 143 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,720 So Paul sees suffering in a way different light than we do. 144 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,920 And he says, I rejoice. Now this next part of the verse 145 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,400 in verse 24 is, is a little funky. 146 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,280 It's hard to understand for some people. 147 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,560 Look what it says. And I fill up in my flesh what 148 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:05,040 is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions. 149 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,880 What does that even mean, Rick? Are you saying that Christ 150 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:11,480 didn't suffer enough? Like what? 151 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,560 What is what is Paul trying to say? 152 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:19,280 Now, some of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters actually 153 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,000 use this text to try to explain purgatory. 154 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,600 So there's a belief that if someone passes away and they 155 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,360 didn't do enough here on this earth, or they're not sure if 156 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,160 they're in eternity, they go to purgatory. 157 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:40,920 And in purgatory they continue to work out and suffer a little 158 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,880 bit more in order for God to look at them and say, OK, now 159 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,680 you could come to eternity. And even the, some of the church 160 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:53,000 down here, the Roman Catholic traditions are like, you know 161 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:54,800 what? And you want to help that person 162 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:56,960 out, just pay us a little bit more money. 163 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:04,880 That's great hustle, but you know, before we kind of like wag 164 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,120 our finger at that. How many times have you given up 165 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,280 something thinking that that's going to bring you closer to 166 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,360 God? Guys, it's the same mindset, 167 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,640 it's the same thing, it's for the same purpose. 168 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,560 Now my problem, my argument with that whole like purgatory thing, 169 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,840 number one, I don't see that in scripture anywhere. 170 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:27,720 I thought purgatory was just a club in deep element in the 171 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,760 early 2000s. Oh, y'all been there All right, 172 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:36,800 I wouldn't know. I'm that's what I heard. 173 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:43,120 I'm just saying. But really that my argument for 174 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,640 this and why it doesn't work is because what Paul says in 175 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:51,240 Colossians 120 through 23, because he says that because 176 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,120 Christ has the fullness of God all in him, he is all sufficient 177 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:00,280 and his blood covers everything. So Paul cannot contradict 178 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,080 himself and say that he must continue to suffer, so that way 179 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:09,240 Christ's work is completed. And that that makes no sense. 180 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:15,520 But what Paul is saying here is that even though Christ died, 181 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,120 even though like the Pharisees, everybody came after him because 182 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,320 he claimed to be the Messiah, even after Christ ascended, 183 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,480 those who proclaim the gospel are going to receive that same 184 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:34,400 suffering, that same push back, even that same way that they 185 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,400 wanted to kill Jesus, they might want to kill you as well because 186 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,480 of the message that you have. It's going to continue. 187 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,520 And what Paul is saying is I fill my flesh up with that. 188 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,640 Here's another way in our culture, the way that you could 189 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,680 kind of describe it is Paul saying, listen, I want all the 190 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,840 smoke. He said, I want it all. 191 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:56,760 You guys want to come at me, Come on. 192 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:02,520 I fill my flesh with what's lacking in regards to Christ's 193 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,760 afflictions. So the same way that they came 194 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,680 after Jesus, the same way that the Pharisees pushed back, man, 195 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:12,960 listen, I want all that smoke from the culture because the 196 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,320 gospel is real. So bring it on. 197 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,680 If you're going to kill me, kill me. 198 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,960 Bring it. And that's what that's what Paul 199 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,880 is alluding to. And then he says, and it's for 200 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,400 the sake of the body. He goes, man, the reason I 201 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,080 rejoice and the reason why all this, the suffering, everything 202 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,920 that's coming at me is because of the body. 203 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,480 The body of who? The body of Christ, who is the 204 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,840 church. And remember last week we talked 205 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,320 about that Christ is the head of the body. 206 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,800 So Paul's like saying, man, listen, the church is growing, 207 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,800 the gospel is moving, people are coming to know the Lord, praise 208 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,200 God. So my suffering, I rejoice in it 209 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:00,240 for the sake of what's going on. See, Paul's motivation for 210 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,520 enduring suffering was because it benefited building Christ 211 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,320 Church. So that means that his 212 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,480 perception, his mindset was different. 213 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,760 Now I also asked myself, why would Paul mention that? 214 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,240 Because remember, one of the isms is asceticism where you're 215 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,560 supposed to suffer if God is going to be pleased with you. 216 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,960 So what Paul is saying, he's like, no, this has nothing to do 217 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,760 with the focus of their holiness and and their spiritual growth 218 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,000 and their perfection has nothing to do with me suffering for the 219 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,080 body of Christ. So God will look at me and say, 220 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:38,920 awesome, I'm so proud of you. No, He says, it is my joy to 221 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:44,640 serve Christ, and if suffering comes with it, so be it. 222 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,000 My joy is not going to go away. It's not about suffering. 223 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,120 So God looks at me and says, yes, he's better than all the 224 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,280 other Saints. That's the work that Jesus did 225 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,800 on the cross. My suffering comes because I'm 226 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,760 trying to bring out the name of Jesus to a world that doesn't 227 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,480 know him, and there's going to be conflict. 228 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,520 Now look at verse 25. Man, this gets great right here. 229 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,360 And I think that this is something that we could learn 230 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:16,320 from. 25 after that translates 25 says I have become its 231 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:20,840 servant by the Commission God gave me to present to you the 232 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:26,160 word of God in its fullness the mystery that has been kept 233 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:31,080 hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the 234 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,680 Lord's people. Now a better translation is Paul 235 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:40,000 says I have become, it's not it's servant, but it's a 236 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,240 minister. So we see servant because we 237 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,640 also just saw that in verse 23. The word servant here in the 238 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,560 Greek actually translates as a minister commissioned or a 239 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,720 ministered in God's stewardship. A lot of us see that term 240 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,000 minister and we're like, OK, that's got to be somebody that 241 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,240 just preaches and listen. To be a minister has nothing to 242 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,280 do with platforms, has nothing to do with popularity, has none 243 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,040 to do with sizes of churches, all that stuff. 244 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,200 That means that's not what it means to be a minister. 245 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,400 You know what minister means? I'll go and put the definition 246 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:16,480 up. It's going to blow your mind. 247 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,880 To be a minister means that you are a chosen servant for the 248 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,160 body of Christ. Keyword servant. 249 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,440 Remember, the church only has one head, that is Christ. 250 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:36,000 So as a minister you serve Christ as you serve others. 251 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,520 If you want a platform, go sell ice cream. 252 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,200 Go do something else. To be a minister of the gospel 253 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:51,960 means that you die to yourself every single day for the purpose 254 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:58,600 of God's will for His people. You feed the sheep, you love, 255 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,400 you serve others, you be with them. 256 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,440 That's what being a minister is. It's not about preaching. 257 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:11,040 It's not about all of this stuff that means nothing if it's not 258 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,680 for Jesus. So Paul says, listen, I became a 259 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,880 minister. And then he says, and and you 260 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,080 know what? I didn't choose this life. 261 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:26,200 This life chose me and and we saw that early on how we are. 262 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,840 God commissions us, we're qualified by God. 263 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,120 And then he says by the Commission, a better word is 264 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,920 stewardship. So I am a minister because God 265 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,160 chose me and he's given me the stewardship. 266 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,600 Now, why does Paul use stewardship here? 267 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:48,880 Because in those days a steward was a bond servant or a slave 268 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,360 who managed his master's household. 269 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:56,400 Like Joseph in the Old Testament, he was a steward for 270 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,520 Pharaoh. That means that Pharaoh gave 271 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,880 Joseph the go ahead and the name and the seal. 272 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,240 So Joseph could manage the position, the possessions of 273 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,599 Pharaoh, the wealth of Pharaoh. He could make the decisions in 274 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:13,040 Pharaoh's name. And what Paul is saying is that 275 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,119 yes, I am a minister of the gospel. 276 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,200 I'm a servant of Christ and to the church. 277 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,000 And then I've done this by Commission, by stewardship. 278 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,560 So that means that my role is I supervise everything that 279 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,600 belongs to Jesus. I dispense his resources, I 280 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,240 handle his business. Everything that belongs to God, 281 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,120 I steward that. That is my role. 282 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,360 So I serve others, I serve him. I die to myself daily. 283 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,320 I look at by God's Commission. He's the one that chose me. 284 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,520 I didn't sign up for this. I didn't go on LinkedIn to look 285 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,920 for this job. It came to me. 286 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,000 He's the one that picked me out. And I'll be real with y'all. 287 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,520 I read that and it hit me because if you ask most pastors, 288 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,440 hey, when, when you were 10 years old, did you want to grow 289 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,120 up and be a pastor? Absolutely not. 290 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,400 I want to be a wrestler. My parents said no. 291 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,520 There are so many other things in my mind that I wanted to be, 292 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,600 but God chose me. And when God calls you to 293 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,520 something, you say yes. It's not partial yes, it's a 294 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:31,200 yes. You jump all in and then it's 295 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,880 every single day. It's a daily surrender to his 296 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:40,000 will and his way and his truth. Now what is Paul a steward of 297 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,480 what? What's he supposed to be doing 298 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,880 in verse 25? I mean, this thing walks itself 299 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,120 out. He says it's a servant by the 300 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:52,440 Commission of God, which he gave to, to present to you the word, 301 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,520 the word of God in all its fullness. 302 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,040 The role that Paul is saying, I need to present to you every 303 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:02,840 single thing that God's word says. 304 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,880 The stuff that feels good and the stuff that don't feel good, 305 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,640 the stuff that's easy to understand and the stuff that's 306 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,400 not easy to understand. We teach God in the fullness of 307 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,720 the Scripture. That's why at our church we just 308 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,280 walk through the text. That's why we try to explain the 309 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,160 text as best as we can because it is my role. 310 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,160 So that way you guys eat God's great fullness. 311 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:31,280 And then in verse 26, the mystery, now that word mystery 312 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,000 is not secret. Like oh, it's a secret. 313 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:35,880 Oh, only a certain people can know this. 314 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,680 No, that's not what Paul is saying. 315 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,520 Because in the fullness of God's Word we find the mystery that 316 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,600 has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now 317 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,160 disclosed to the Lord's people. What is that mystery? 318 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,480 What is Paul talking about? It's found in verse 27. 319 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,960 To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the 320 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:06,760 glorious riches of this mystery, which is the 7 words, Christ in 321 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:12,240 you, the hope of glory. What's the mystery that Paul is 322 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:14,880 trying to tell everybody? Listen everything in the New 323 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,960 Testament. Everything that came when the 324 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,880 Messiah showed up and when the Messiah ascended, and now we 325 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,040 have the text and the Scriptures how everything all points to 326 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,160 Jesus. That's the mystery that people 327 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,080 weren't understanding. They heard about the Messiah. 328 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,360 They heard about this coming king. 329 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,480 They heard that he was going to save them of their sins, but the 330 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,240 one thing that they didn't understand or know was that this 331 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,080 Messiah was going to send his Spirit to live inside of us. 332 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,280 How does that work? It's the mystery, the incarnated 333 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,320 God, Emmanuel, Christ, God with us. 334 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,520 What else is the mystery? The lawlessness and the unbelief 335 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,360 of Israel. How in the world does that work 336 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:06,880 with the with Jesus coming? It all ties together the unity 337 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,840 of being Jew and Gentile made one in the church, the rapture 338 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,240 of the church. These are all things that are 339 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,800 now made present because of the word of God that we have. 340 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:21,200 That's the mystery. But the biggest mystery is 341 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,000 Christ in you, the hope of glory. 342 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:31,280 How in the world can a Sinner, someone with a rebellious 343 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,720 nature, someone that wanted nothing to do with God, how in 344 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:40,960 the world can God give his life so that way I could be 345 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:45,280 reconciled back to him and now be known as a son of God? 346 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,360 Absolutely makes no sense. That's the mystery. 347 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:55,560 And Paul is saying, man, like God, the chosen people, he's 348 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,400 made known to not just the Jews, but to the Gentiles, the 349 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:06,200 glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope 350 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,800 of glory. Now he's going to walk us out a 351 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,240 little bit more, right? He's going to talk a little bit 352 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:18,920 about like what he finds joy in. This is why I suffer for the 353 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:20,200 church. And now he's going to talk about 354 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,080 this is how we build the church, right? 355 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,520 He says, so I got to teach the fullness of God's word. 356 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,080 And then in verse 28, he shows us how to do it. 357 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,320 Look at verse 28. He is the 1. 358 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,600 He is being Jesus. He is the one we proclaim, 359 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,680 admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that 360 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,800 we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 361 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,320 All right, so we got to walk this thing out because if you 362 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,120 are a believer of Jesus, this applies to you. 363 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,640 This doesn't just apply to Paul being a minister. 364 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,320 This applies to all those who are found in Christ. 365 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,200 So we so the first thing he says is we have to do what proclaim. 366 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,720 The word proclaim means to declare in completed truth. 367 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,880 That means that you verbally declare something in its 368 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,480 fullness and it's true in all of its truth. 369 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:17,880 So that means you don't give half truths. 370 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,680 That means you don't suppress the truth. 371 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,240 I know some people like I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you 372 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,480 everything. That's called intent. 373 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:33,760 So what we're saying is we proclaim the full truth of who 374 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,840 Jesus is. How do we proclaim it? 375 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,640 Well, So what Paul does is that he's like, listen, proclamation 376 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,760 is not just preaching, proclamation is declaration 377 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,440 anywhere you go. So I could be at work, I could 378 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,560 be at school, I could be at home, I could be hanging out 379 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,200 with people on the street. We can have an event here. 380 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,120 Whoever you're talking to, you're supposed to proclaim the 381 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:01,760 fullness, the full truth of Jesus to that person. 382 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,360 And then he gives 2 aspects to, to proclaiming. 383 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,680 How do I proclaim? There's two things. 384 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,520 And then Paul connects a negative aspect and a +1. 385 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,880 And this is, you see this all through Paul's letters. 386 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,720 What's the negative aspect? Admonishing. 387 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,520 Now if you guys like me, I was like, what does admonishing even 388 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,000 mean? I don't know. 389 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,320 So admonishing speaks to encouraging counsel in view of 390 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,080 sin. So admonishing is I, because I 391 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,200 love you, I'm going to call you out on your sin. 392 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,880 I'm going to say, hey, man, I, I see what you're doing and it's 393 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,160 hurting you. I don't think it's a good idea. 394 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,640 And there's a difference between admonishing and judging. 395 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,920 Judgment is you in your assumptions, calling somebody 396 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:00,840 out thinking that you're correct. 397 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:07,200 Admonishing is you in the wisdom of God and biblical knowledge, 398 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,960 calling somebody sin out because you love them and you want to 399 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,560 see them do well. Admonishing is hard, but The 400 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,560 thing is, when somebody's in their sin, they usually can't 401 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,800 see that they're in their sin. They've been blinded by their 402 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,440 sinful nature, so they don't think anything is wrong. 403 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,840 So it's going to take you as a brother and sister in Christ to 404 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:41,240 approach that individual and encourage them to seek counsel 405 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,360 for their sin. And you do it with love and you 406 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:48,200 do it with care, and you do it with biblical guidance, which 407 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,160 we're going to see here in a second, which is wisdom. 408 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,720 You don't do it with hey man, I did that last time and it didn't 409 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,560 work good for me. No, it doesn't matter your 410 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,240 experience because your experience could be subjective. 411 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,280 It might have impacted you, but it ain't going to impact me the 412 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,400 same way. So what are you talking about? 413 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,720 No, it's about what the scripts, the Scriptures say. 414 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,000 Second Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 14 and 15. 415 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,840 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take 416 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,440 special note of that man and do not associate with him so that 417 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,160 he may be put to shame, and yet do not regard him as an enemy, 418 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:34,880 but admonish him as a brother. And I think what we've done as 419 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:40,560 believers is we have, we have kind of blurred the lines with 420 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:46,880 admonishing A believer and kind of like correcting them and 421 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,360 admonishing you are helping them out of that sin and correcting 422 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,120 them, you're trying to do it for them. 423 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:59,920 So you have to point to why, why the sin is there and listen, and 424 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:02,320 I love what Paul says here in Second Thessalonians. 425 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,920 He goes and don't regard them as an enemy. 426 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:09,960 If someone is living in their sin, you don't look at them as a 427 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,240 plague. You don't look at them as like, 428 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,760 Nope, I'm done with. Listen, I don't have to allow 429 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,720 you to speak into my life. I don't have to go hang out with 430 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,160 you, and I can still be your friend and I can still love you, 431 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,240 but I don't have to allow you to pull me away from what I'm 432 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,520 struggling with. So what do you do? 433 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,440 So they're not our enemies. People are not your enemy. 434 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:35,400 They're actually your mission field. 435 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,280 And if we start looking at people who are in their sin, who 436 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,960 want nothing to do with God, and we start looking at them as a 437 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:49,520 brother instead of as an enemy, so we start to admonish them, 438 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,600 let them know about their sinful ways, their sinful nature, and 439 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,200 you bring it to them by the proclamation of the fullness of 440 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,640 Christ. So it means it all comes from 441 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:06,040 the Scriptures. And then we teach, and I love 442 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,600 that word, teach. So you admonish and teach. 443 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,320 They go hand in hand together. What teaching means is teaching 444 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:17,760 is imparting positive truth. That means that you are making 445 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,080 the word of God applicable for everyday life. 446 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,240 That's that's all teaching is. And you know who's supposed to 447 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,600 be teaching? Everybody in here. 448 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,200 You're like what? Because Jesus says this Matthew 449 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,560 2819. Therefore, go and make disciples 450 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,720 of all nations, baptizing them, them in the name of the Father, 451 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,720 Son, Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything that I've showed 452 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,360 you. Who's supposed to be teaching 453 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,000 all of us? What do we teach people? 454 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:52,360 Everything that Christ showed us. 455 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,960 So I'm proclaiming the fullness of God's truth. 456 00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,520 I'm just telling people what the Bible says. 457 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,000 I'm just showing them and I'm admonishing, yet I'm also 458 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,160 teaching at the same time. So that means like, hey, I'm 459 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,480 helping people with their sin, the things that are ripping them 460 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,520 away from Christ with love. But I do it with all wisdom. 461 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,000 That word wisdom means biblical wisdom. 462 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,280 That means that you ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. 463 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,600 You don't do things on your own. So you could ask the Spirit, 464 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:30,640 like Spirit, help me to help my brother Spirit, help me to 465 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,280 understand your word. And someone's like man Ricky, 466 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,120 but I don't know what to do. I don't know what to teach. 467 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,640 And then my response to you is read the Bible, spend more time 468 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:46,400 in God's Word, know it more, and the Holy Spirit is going to use 469 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,200 that. So you don't have to be a 470 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:53,320 professor, you don't have to be this amazing teacher in order 471 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,680 for you to teach people about God's Word. 472 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,320 Open the book, read what it says. 473 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:04,080 You're helping people understand biblical principles for holy 474 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,960 conduct. So you are teaching for 475 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,560 transformation, not just for knowledge, because the Word of 476 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,760 God is alive. So I'm admonishing my brother 477 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,200 and sister. I'm teaching them God's Word. 478 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,640 I'm doing it in the full wisdom of God. 479 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,360 So that way that word begins to transform their hearts and 480 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,680 begins to transform their lives, and we see true transformation. 481 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,200 What does true transformation look like? 482 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,080 It's at the end of the verse. So that way we may present 483 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:37,720 everyone fully mature in Christ. That's what transformation looks 484 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:42,120 like. Our role as we disciple people 485 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,800 and grow people. And your role of people in this 486 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,800 church is to help lead them into full spiritual maturity. 487 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,880 It's called sanctification. Now when will we ever be fully 488 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,800 mature in Christ, whom we are with Him in glory? 489 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,360 We will never achieve perfection until we are with Him, but in 490 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,520 the meantime, while we're here, we are to present people mature. 491 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:12,200 Paul says we present them perfect, which kind of means the 492 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,360 same thing. And in the last verse is this. 493 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:23,600 To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy 494 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,840 Christ so powerfully works in me. 495 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,960 Man, that verse, when I read this first, I wrote that thing 496 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:32,480 down and put it at my desk at work. 497 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,160 I wrote man, this verse like his minister to my life. 498 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:42,760 What does it mean to this end? So I'm going to do this. 499 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,640 What I all I just talked about, I'm going to continue to do 500 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,240 this. And then he goes and I 501 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,760 strenuously contend. All right. 502 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,280 So there's a there's a couple of Greek words here that are really 503 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,960 important. The word striving is Agonazi 504 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:03,840 Mai. Agonizei Mai means to compete in 505 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,680 an I'm sorry, to compete in a athletic event. 506 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,280 That means that I'm going to play like I'm trying to win the 507 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,880 championship game. I'm going to, I'm going to leave 508 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,240 it all out on the field. That's what Paul is saying. 509 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,240 He goes like, man, to this end, I'm going to play. 510 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:28,120 I'm going to serve the Lord like I am trying to beat the team 511 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,960 across from me. I'm going all out. 512 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:35,600 And then he uses another word here called capayo. 513 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,400 Capayo means to labor, but not just to labor. 514 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,880 It also means to labor to the point of exhaustion. 515 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,240 So what is Paul saying? He's like, did this end? 516 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,920 I am going to go all out. I'm going to go all hard. 517 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:56,840 I'm going to compete to the point of exhaustion till I can't 518 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,200 go no more. Some other people might say I'm 519 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:05,200 going to Rep it out. I can't say bro, you got 30 520 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:11,600 fives. I did 50 reps That means that I 521 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,040 repped out to the point it's it's to burn out. 522 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,680 I can't do it anymore. Now some of you are like, man, 523 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:22,800 Ricky, that sounds crazy. How in the world like Paul is 524 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,560 saying this? So you think you're doing a lot. 525 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,600 You think like you're busy. Look at his brother. 526 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,240 He's saying I'm not busy enough. Did missionary journey three 527 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,960 times. How does Paul do it? 528 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,800 Look what he says. Look at the text with all the 529 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,880 energy. Christ so powerfully works in 530 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,000 me. Did you all catch that? 531 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:49,720 You know how you go all out for the gospel? 532 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,200 You know how you go hard in ministry? 533 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:53,400 You don't do it on your own strength. 534 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:59,640 The reason why people burn out is because we do it on our own 535 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,240 strength. The reason why we get to a place 536 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,040 in ministry and in life. Some of your like men, we can't 537 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,320 call to that. Yes, you are. 538 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,239 We're all called to ministry because we're all sons and 539 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:16,199 daughters of Christ. And the reason why sometimes we 540 00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:20,320 get burned out is because we're doing it on our own power, own 541 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,600 energy. So it is Christ energy and in 542 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,080 love, he says so powerfully works in me. 543 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:33,280 That means that the power of God is so potent, is so strong, that 544 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:38,199 there's no other way that this could work except Christ in you, 545 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:42,440 the hope of glory. You know, sometimes people ask 546 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,080 me like, man, Ricky, like, how do you do it? 547 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:45,760 Like don't you ever get tired? Don't you ever? 548 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:50,040 I'm like, yes, I do. So what do you do when I'm 549 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:50,800 tired? I sleep. 550 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:54,280 If I need to get away, I'll get away. 551 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,080 I have rhythms. If I need to shut everything 552 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,240 down, I shut everything down. Like I know my soul, I know my 553 00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,040 body. I know that there's times in 554 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,880 ministry where I'm just like, man, I'm so sick of this right 555 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,840 now. But then I have to take a step 556 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,240 back and say no Lord, like I need, I need you to feel me. 557 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,280 Shut that thing all down. Let's, let's get together with 558 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,880 God and let him power me back up. 559 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:23,120 So 5 quick things and we'll be out. 560 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:24,760 I got 5 minutes to share 5 things. 561 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,920 So just some observations. And listen, my prayer is that 562 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,680 this encourages you as it encourages me based off what 563 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,880 Paul was saying. So #1 any day I get to serve 564 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:41,440 Jesus is a good day. Come on man. 565 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,560 Like how many of us can act like we need to start this mantra? 566 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,280 Like, any day that I get to serve Jesus is going to be a 567 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,320 good day. And I didn't RIP that from Ice 568 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:56,280 cube. Any day that I serve Jesus is a 569 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,360 good day. So when do I serve Jesus? 570 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,760 Every day, Not just every day, every minute, every hour, every 571 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,080 day, every week, every month, every year I serve Christ. 572 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:09,880 Why? How does that make sense? 573 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:14,200 Because in first in Colossians one verse 15, it says that 574 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:18,200 everything is made for Christ through him and to him, and he's 575 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:19,960 the one that sustains everything together. 576 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:24,040 So if that's true, the supremacy of Christ is true, that means 577 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,160 that everything belongs to Jesus. 578 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,600 And if everything belongs to Jesus, that means everything 579 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,640 that I do in life as a follower of Christ belongs to him as 580 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,520 well. I serve Jesus every day with 581 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,960 everything I do. Listen, whether you clean in 582 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:45,520 toilets, setting up chairs, sending emails, whatever it is 583 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,960 that you're doing and like studying, you do it for Christ. 584 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,720 And we're going to see that Paul's going to tell us that in 585 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:54,320 Colossians 3. It's all for him. 586 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,600 It's all for the Lord. So if I get to serve Jesus, if I 587 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,880 get if I have breath in my lungs and I wake up, that means that 588 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,800 every day is a good day. Why is that so important? 589 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,920 Imagine if we truly understood this, how much less mental 590 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,720 health issues we would have in our country. 591 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:16,760 How when we operate in the spirit and say, man, you know 592 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,440 what, it's all that belongs to the Lord has nothing to do with 593 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:23,600 me. How much lighter our burdens 594 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,560 would feel. How much less stress and anxiety 595 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,880 would leave our bodies. Knowing that what I do is for 596 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,360 the Lord and not for man, and definitely not for myself 597 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,360 because I can't handle it. We're broken people, which 598 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,360 leaves me to #2 There's joy in suffering for Christ. 599 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:48,400 There is joy. When things are hard and I'm 600 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:53,000 serving the Lord, there are joy. It's a joy to suffer for Christ. 601 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:58,400 You know, a few years ago, man, I had the opportunity to go to 602 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,040 India as a board me, You know, we wanted to check on the 603 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,120 basketball court. They wanted me to go some some 604 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,280 board members and and I know I shared the story with some of 605 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:10,120 you guys already, but the night before I ate some bad Wingstop. 606 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,760 Now having quit Wingstop, right? Isn't that how church hurt works 607 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,520 anyway? All right, so Wingstop never 608 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:20,280 again. No. 609 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:26,360 So I had some bad Wingstop and I was up and I mean, it was like 610 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,560 Montezuma's Revenge. It was like both sides. 611 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,320 It was rough. And I had to get on a 14 1/2 612 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,000 hour flight the next day. And in my mind, I'm like, how am 613 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,680 I going to do this? And I'm at the airport early 614 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:43,160 drinking some Powerade, eating some crackers. 615 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:47,520 And but, but hear me out. There wasn't one thought in my 616 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,800 mind that said I'm not doing this. 617 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,600 It's going to be, it's going to be rough, Rick, but you could do 618 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:58,480 this because we have to go and listen on that 14 1/2 hour 619 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,600 flight, I sat next to the biggest dude. 620 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:03,880 I sat next to him and behind him. 621 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,720 You know what I mean? I mean, it was like, bro, I had 622 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,360 a pillow on the shoulder right there. 623 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:16,480 Just he's a big dude. So I had that and then I was 624 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:20,680 getting up every two hours to use the bathroom that whole 625 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:25,000 entire flight. And we got to India and it was 626 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,280 amazing. And I remember in Mizaram, they 627 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:32,240 took me to a hospital, to the ICU because one of the kids had 628 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,000 meningitis. They didn't know she was going 629 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,360 to make it. That's like going there with 630 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,080 Lucy and prayed for all these kids that were dying. 631 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,880 And this little girl, we saw her last year at Miserable, Healthy, 632 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:51,400 kind of stuff like that. There's stuff like that, that if 633 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,520 we give into our suffering, we miss out. 634 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:59,920 And there wasn't one time, and I'll be honest with you, let's 635 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:05,280 just be real, it sucked. The flight was hard, but there 636 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,320 wasn't one time where I was at Miserable or where I was here in 637 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,000 Texas where I said I'm never doing that again. 638 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:15,320 I'm never going back to misrom again. 639 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,360 That was way too hard for me. Never. 640 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:23,080 There wasn't 1 inclination in my body instead it was opposite. 641 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:28,400 Instead it gassed me up to go back in June and I was like guys 642 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,880 this flight was difficult but it's so worth it. 643 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:35,400 And listen, when you suffer for Christ, man, there is a joy that 644 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,240 is birthed out of that, that if you could just get over yourself 645 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:43,040 and you get over your little like comforts, you're going to 646 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:45,400 find it and you're going to see it. 647 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,760 And you're going to be like, man, I get to experience this 648 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,160 joy even in my suffering. Why? 649 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,560 Because when I get to serve Jesus, that day is going to be a 650 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,280 good day. So where does that hope come 651 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:01,360 from #3 my motivation, my hope? What do I do? 652 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,080 Christ in you, the hope of glory. 653 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,560 Why am I able to get through suffering? 654 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:10,200 Why are you able to get through suffering and serving the Lord? 655 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:14,800 Because you have Christ in you. That's the hope that we have. 656 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:20,360 That's the hope of glory. Man, I just wish sometimes, like 657 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,280 there's, there's, there's people that want everything so easy. 658 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:29,240 And it's not easy and there's times that knowing that Christ 659 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:32,840 is with me, knowing that I get to serve the Lord is all I need. 660 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:36,920 Even made me think back. Like I have some pictures here. 661 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:41,040 Even thinking back, man, like preaching at a school. 662 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,200 So there's some schools, man. It didn't matter where it was, 7 663 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:50,760 people or 10 people, I prepared the same way. 664 00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:56,080 And that's Eric's back. It's not the screen to say I 665 00:41:56,080 --> 00:42:00,560 know y'all thinking that. Joking joking. 666 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:09,600 Some broad shoulders bro. But even when it was in a gym at 667 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,360 a school, I still prepared the same. 668 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:14,920 I still found joy in preparing the same way. 669 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:18,280 Even when I was preaching in front of a camera during COVID 670 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:23,640 where I had no idea who was on the other side of that, I still 671 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,000 prepared the same way. I found joy in just getting in 672 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,080 God's Word and getting ready to deliver God's Word. 673 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:32,640 I didn't know if there was one person. 674 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:34,400 I didn't know if there were 50 people. 675 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,320 It didn't matter. You still do it. 676 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,400 And even preaching at a church that is brand new have no idea 677 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,360 what's going on. You still prepare the same way. 678 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,000 Ricky, how do you do that? How do you do that and not get 679 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,800 discouraged or give up the the secret sauce is right there. 680 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,760 Christ in you, the hope of glory. 681 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,240 Just remember that when you're called and doesn't go the way 682 00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:03,680 you wanted to, Christ in me, the hope of glory. 683 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:07,240 When nobody shows up, when nobody reacts, whenever it's not 684 00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:10,040 what you expect, Christ in you, the hope of glory. 685 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,240 I'm serving Christ, He called me to this. 686 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:15,560 I'm excited, I'm happy, and there's joy that gets to come 687 00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:19,280 out of my life because of it. The last two and we'll be done. 688 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,480 We need to start shifting our mindset here. 689 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:26,440 We need to go from work life balance to work hope balance. 690 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:33,080 And many of us have this idea of ministry being a job that I 691 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,360 don't like. Now listen, I've worked at jobs 692 00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,160 that I don't like and it's terrible. 693 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,560 Time goes super slow. You're like, I have to be here. 694 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:48,760 It's not fun. We see ministry is different, 695 00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:54,040 but wait a second. If every day I serve Jesus is a 696 00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:59,280 good day, If Jesus is supreme over all things, that means 697 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,640 everything belongs to him, even the position that he put me in. 698 00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:09,320 Maybe the way I think about things should not be work life 699 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,080 balance. Maybe the things I should think 700 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,800 about work hope balance, focusing on the hope that's in 701 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,680 me first. That way I could prioritize 702 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,680 everything and not worry so much about things that don't matter 703 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,960 and serve Christ and it all. And then last thing and then 704 00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:31,080 we'll pray. Christ is the source of energy 705 00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,600 for all ministry. Christ is the source of energy. 706 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:39,400 The reason why you do ministry is because you get the power of 707 00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:43,200 Christ in you and that's how it works. 708 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:47,840 Listen, if you do not have the right source of power, that 709 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:51,400 means that you are going to struggle hard. 710 00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:57,520 And last thing I'll say, man, when I when I turned 40, we went 711 00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:02,280 to Mexico and for you guys that don't know is I love the water. 712 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:05,160 Just give me a beach, a pool, whatever, I don't care. 713 00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:06,560 Anything else, the food could be terrible. 714 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:08,360 It don't matter to me. We'll make it work. 715 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:10,120 I live off sandwiches, so whatever. 716 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:14,400 But I remember like one of the things I love to do is go 717 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:16,840 snorkeling. Take me to the ocean, drop me 718 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:17,880 off. Let me just look at all the 719 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:18,840 fish. It's great. 720 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:20,800 Maybe I might say I had a shark or something. 721 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:22,200 We went. To Playa de mujeres or. 722 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:26,280 Isla de Mujeres on this boat and it was super choppy. 723 00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:28,960 And as we're on this boat, like I'm looking out and there's 724 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,240 other boats as well, like like there's fishing boats and 725 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:33,960 there's like canoes and all that stuff. 726 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,760 And in my mind I'm just thinking like bro, like that. 727 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,280 That would be really. Hard. 728 00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:45,160 To use paddles in this water, I'm like, we're like on a 729 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,800 speedboat. They're on like a paddle boat. 730 00:45:50,240 --> 00:45:54,920 What's the difference? They both float, they both have 731 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:57,760 people on it. They're both going to get you to 732 00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:02,840 the destination that you want. The difference is 1 has a source 733 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,040 of power that's different than the other one. 734 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:10,720 One it's with human power, the other one has a motor on it 735 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:14,560 that. Humans use. 736 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:17,440 That power in order to get to where they need to go. 737 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:21,640 Guys, the difference in ministry. 738 00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:26,720 Is your power source. What source of power are you 739 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:31,760 taking from? It's the same thing we're all 740 00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:34,760 going to get. To the same destination, but if 741 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:38,600 your power source is off, you're going to be tired. 742 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,120 Exhausted. And you know what? 743 00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:44,240 You're not going to want to get back in that boat and go back 744 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:46,680 again. You're going to be like, I'm 745 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:51,840 out, but no, because our power. Source pushes. 746 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,880 Us more than what we can do on our own power. 747 00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,600 It's going to be an enjoyable. You can't wait to do it again, 748 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:02,520 and we pray for us and we'll worship.