There are amazing moments in this ministry that make us so excited with what the Lord is doing. Before getting to the details of what happened this morning, I will point you to how Paul felt about being like-minded in the gospel of grace. Remember, this letter was written from prison. “So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:1–3). We met three pastors this morning who serve the Lord in Spanish communities up and down the Americas. Their desire is to help pastors and churches return to the Scriptures as the foundation of spreading the gospel; repentance and conversion. They want to make disciples of everyone who comes to faith in Jesus Christ so they are established in the faith and become strong witnesses. Like we have found in many places around the world, they are concerned that the ‘prosperity gospel’ and money has deceived hearts, causing many to turn away from the pure gospel. Joining a church where emotions are stirred has weakened the Church and diverted her from being a powerful witness in this world. They are concerned with us that believers be taught to follow Jesus as a faithful disciple who can disciple others. As Paul did, we appeal to every believer to have the “same mind… being in full accord and of one mind.” If we are to finish the task of proclaiming the gospel to all nations, we must have unity by the Holy Spirit, not man-made schemes.
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“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26–28). “From these words we may properly conclude that there is nothing wrong with the desire to be great, provided (1) we seek the right kind of greatness; (2) we allow God to decide what is greatness; (3) we are willing to pay the full price that greatness demands; and (4) we are content to wait for the judgment of God to settle the whole matter of who is great and last.” From God’s perspective, greatness is not apart from being a servant and slave in serving others. This was the attitude or mind of Christ. In coming into manhood, “He took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:7-8). In verse 5, Paul says, “Have this mind among yourselves.” In other words, we must be intentional about the attitudes of our minds in serving. There will be a greater impact on others through our lives and ministry if our greatness is the humility of Christ clearly expressed. You will be thankful that Jesus is exalted and not yourself. Pride must not be among the servants of Christ. A. W. Tozer, Born After Midnight, Moody Publishers, 1987, page 57. In some of my conversations in the last few days with persons thousands of miles apart, the same subject has come up – how do we carry burdens that seem too heavy for us? We all know the answer; “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). Or, “casting all your anxieties on Him [God], because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Many of us use these verses to comfort ourselves and others in difficult times. While these verses do bring comfort and spiritual strength, Paul encourages us to look beyond our troubles to what God is doing through trials and difficulties. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). We often feel the crushing weight of things we go through, so much so that it obscures our spiritual vision so we fail to ask God what He is doing. But that is NOT God’s plan. Let us not forget that “afflictions” are “momentary.” They will end. Eternal glory will not end. In any difficulty we go through, God is preparing us for something transcendent and wonderful, a “weight of glory.” What is this? It is something of tremendous value, it is the highest point on God’s scale of work, and therefore it has the highest importance. Not only that, it is eternal. Would you trade your suffering and momentary experience for this? If your answer is YES, then let God prepare you for this “weight of glory beyond all comparison.” It may be hard for some to understand that Jesus did not accept every invitation or request. Early in His ministry as Jesus preached in Galilee, there was a morning when He was missing “and Simon and those who were with him searched for him” (Mark 1:36). Jesus had gone “very early in the morning, while it was still dark…to a desolate place, and there He prayed” (1:35). Simon and the others felt compelled to find Jesus because “everyone” was looking for Him (1:37). To start with, the statement was an exaggeration, though in some places, the Gospel accounts say that “great crowds followed Him” (Matthew 20:29; Mark 5:24; John 6:2). Most followed Him, not because of who He was, but because they were fed with bread and fish or received the benefit of Jesus miracles and signs. Even the disciples lacked discernment in their motive for seeking Him. Jesus did not even respond to the statement that “everyone” was looking for Him. Instead, “He said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38). Those villages He had been to already heard the message and saw His miracles, but there were more that had not heard or seen. Does Jesus not care about their desire to see Him again? Yes, but He cares more about what we do with what we have already been given. NFI receives many requests from many parts of the world, but we seek to discern which ones are those where God wants us to work. Often these requests are motivated by the desire for money rather than being renewed in passion for the Word of God. We will do anything possible to help God’s people return to the authority of Scripture and obey its truth in the power of the Spirit. I had a phone call today with one of my Timothy’s, and he mentioned the struggles that come from conversations with those who approach God’s word from an intellectual perspective. It seems that they never get to the point of how Scripture applies to their lives and brings about transformation.
There are several passages that came to mind as we were talking, that speak directly to this issue. The first is Romans 12:2; “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul also says that “no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God…[who] we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). In short, spiritual things are not understood merely by intellectual discussion. They are taught by the Spirit (2:13; John 14:26). The Corinthians were very intellectual people which caused Paul to write; “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Every conversation is either an opportunity for the Spirit to teach those in the group, or we resort to human reasoning which is cunning and deceptive. Paul was very thankful for God’s work in the Roman believers. “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). True obedience is from the heart with a transformed mind led by the Holy Spirit, not by the flesh (Galatians 5:18). One of the most important lessons in both NFI training books is “How to Study the Bible.” We are learning from many we train that no one has ever helped them in a simple method that gives the reader ability to gain far more than just reading a few verses of Scripture. I will share this practical method tomorrow, but for this blog, I want to direct your attention to a man who set his heart to study the Word of God and then teach others its truth. “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). We are told that Ezra came up from Babylon as “a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord God of Israel had given…for the hand of the Lord his God was on him” (7:6; also verse 9). We immediately notice that there is nothing lazy about this man. He “set his heart” is a purposeful and determined objective of the mind and will. There was nothing casual about the way Ezra conducted his life. In addition to a focused attitude toward the Law of the Lord, Ezra determined to put into practice what he learned from God’s Word. James has the same decisiveness when he writes; “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). By putting into practice what we learn from Scripture, we become examples for others to follow. One more point from Ezra; “teach” others what we know to be true. God has placed us where we are to teach others the principles of God’s Word so they will also follow as obedient disciples. Is this the attitude of your heart? Yesterday we looked at the example of Priscilla and Aquila who took Apollos “aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” (Acts 18:26). What was the result of their instinctive passion to disciple others, even a well taught Christian? Was this really necessary and would it make any difference in the ministry of this devoted man? “And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus” (Acts 18:27–28). We are not sure why Apollos needed to be encouraged to cross over into Achaia, but it was evident to others that he had gained a greater understanding of the Scriptures through Priscilla and Aquila. He became intentional about taking what he learned and used it to “greatly help those who… believed.” This was in the environment of false teaching, which is no different today. We desperately need this type of discipling today. Bible Colleges and Seminaries may have their place, but many do not have this degree of one-on-one mentoring in the ministry. To “powerfully refute” false teaching, persons must have a solid understanding and belief in the authority of Scripture. In the same letter that Paul tells Timothy to take what he had learned from Paul and “entrust [it] to faithful me who will be able to teach others also,” he also said “all Scripture is breathed out by God;” it has authority over life and ministry (2 Timothy 2:2; 3:16). If you would be powerful in ministry, you must be willing to be discipled and accept the absolute authority of Scripture. I began thinking about an email received from a student in Myanmar in which she said that her church had chosen “The Year of Restoration” as the motto for 2019. Let’s think about this. In both of our training books, we start with the invitation to “RETURN to the Authority and Sufficiency of SCRIPTURES.” This is absolutely key in order that new disciples and existing disciples become established and strong in faith and practice. By using this principle in our churches, they are able to stand on their own in a world of false doctrine and worldly pursuits. Why should we disciple believers who have been on the Christian road for a long time? We may fully agree that new believers need discipling, but why seasoned saints? Remember Apollos? “He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John…but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:24-25). Restoring us back to the authority of Scripture promotes growth in the grace of Christ and more effective and fruitful disciples. Let each of us consider 2019 “The Year of Restoration” personally and in our churches. There are times when we wonder what will be the fruit of our labors. As training take place, something is happening in places and with people we did not expect. One of the tests we have put to our work for persons who go through God’s Plan for His Disciples training, and God’s Plan for His Church, is whether God has created in them a hunger for His Word more than money or anything else. If money is their motive, they will look to us for more of the same. If God’s Word is what they want, they will ask for more training to understand it better without money as part of it. Last Fall, we did an introduction in a church in Yangon, Myanmar. Just a week ago, they started the Burmese GPHD study in the evening. Tim spoke in this church the last time he was in Yangon. This is a note and picture a young lady sent via messenger, “Pastor, today we started an adult Bible Study and around 30 people showed up. Praise the Lord!” They have requested more books. This is happening in the USA as well. One church in North Carolina requested 40 GPHD books for a study they started Sunday evening. After their first meeting, others wanted to join the study and they requested 20 more books. If this is any indication of what God is doing, it is wonderful to see Him work. Paul felt the same way about the Corinthian believers. Though he addressed some very difficult issues, he said, “You show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3). I trust you and your church are developing this same hunger. As I ponder the last 24 hours, and even the last week, I am amazed at how much God is doing in this ministry. As Tim concluded the SEANET Conference in Thailand, news of contacts, invitations and opportunities streamed into my computer faster than I could read or answer them. Some are direct answers to our prayers, others are not. Could God be bringing together persons and resources that would allow us to have a “training center” in S. E. Asia that is accessible to ‘closed nations’ and yet be cost effective? Is God bringing the right people together who share our vision and passion and through them setting us free from worry about how such a small staff can handle the rising demands? What about the new doors of opportunity; Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the Philippines? Each one must be prayed for carefully with genuine interest in knowing how God is going to direct our steps. Paul was careful in his prayer life and in the way he taught others to pray. “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). The phrase “continue steadfastly” means there should be an “intense devotion” in the way we pray, not a causal attitude. To be “watchful” means there is “a continuous readiness and alertness to learn” as we pray. This never allows us to pray as if we know answers to our requests before waiting on God. It means we pray expecting God to teach us something about what we are praying for. That is how we have learned to pray for events, plans and opportunities in this ministry. When God answers, it becomes clear that His way is perfect and the results are far greater and better than our feeble expectations. Are you watching in your prayers? |
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