Hello, we at Grace Covenant Church in Gunnison, Colorado are grateful and humbled that we get to be part of your sanctification today. We invite you to review our sermons online, but also stress the importance of being joined to a biblical local church, the life of the church, and the spiritual gifts God has given us to express in the church. Our website is www.gracegunnison.com. There you can find sermons and other resources as well as our location and service times. The members of Grace Covenant Church Gunnison pray that the following messages will be a blessing to you. And then he continued on to the pedicle already, right at the beginning of the prayer. Paul talked about our former state, what you once were. Glory to God, it was what we once were and not, I pray, what we are. And now Paul, as he addresses the reconciling ministry, he's now going to address the ministry of the gospel and what it is entailed, what is entailed in this. In fact, we need to ask the question, what should gospel ministry be like? Like, what is our example of gospel ministry? I hope today we don't come to it with an understanding of, well, this is my experience or this is what I've seen, therefore it must be this. Because that might be flawed. What we need to see is what the scripture says. What the scripture says about the ministry of the gospel and how he has established it according to his word. What does God say? Let's read together. Remember, as we stopped in verse 23, he was speaking of the gospel, and he said, of which I, Paul, was made a minister. And I think this is where he picks up his transition in this text. So read with me, along with me. He says this, which I, Paul, was made a minister. Verse 24, now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His Body, which is the Church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this Church I was made a minister, according to the stewardship from God, bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God, that is, the mystery which has but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man You've been blessed by hearing God's word read to you this morning. Here we see the gospel ministry and we see different aspects within what Paul is You know that I like to show us in breaking the text down and seeing in orderly how he has aligned the text. And so I want us to see that first, we see the ministry climate or the environment of ministry, if you will. And then we see, secondly, we'll see the ministry calling and the message. Ministry exertion would be the fourth part. And then fifthly, we'll come to the objective or the goal of ministry. So all of these are what's in the ministry. And he begins, well, at the end of verse 23, he says, of which I, Paul, was made a minister. And that's important to know what he says here. I was formerly made, meaning I was formerly placed into this service. It was not a self-appointment. Not like many pseudo-pastors will do, where there'll be a self-appointment. No, he said, I was placed here. It's not that it was some career choice that he chose. No, it was not even voluntary, really. It was not his own initiation. So it was considered a draft. It was drafted. And we might think, well, maybe that was against his will, and many times the draft is, must do this. What would it mean if I do not preach the gospel? He was called to be, to serve. The word minister means those in service. It's the word we get the word deacon from, the aconite. And he was made a minister. And we see where Paul Tell me about the environment of the field you're in. Well, the gospel minister can say, as Paul, well, it's much suffering. It's great affliction, friend. It's suffering beyond Maybe the person at that time would say, well, maybe I'll think about it a little more. But the gospel minister is called to suffering. But notice he also says rejoicing. I rejoice now in my sufferings for your sake. Speaking to the church, the called ones, it is for your sake that I am put to this task. And should it be any different? I mean, the question should be asked. The minister is called to serve that one true God who is the suffering servant. Should it be any different for those that are called under him? Jesus told us it would not. It would be the same for him as it was for all who come after him. The minister suffers for Christ's sake. these days in a certain culture. Privilege. Well, maybe we should re-coin it, Christian privilege. What does that look like? It looks like suffering. It looks like to suffer. To suffer for Christ's sake. To suffer for the sake of His body, which is the Church. Think of many portions of Scripture, but just a few came to mind when I thought of the Book of Acts. They were preaching Jesus, remember, and they were told, don't do that. And they arrested them, and they brought them in, and they finally couldn't find anything wrong, so they, well, let's beat them anyway. They beat them, and then as they were leaving, they were rejoicing. In Acts 5.41, the apostles rejoiced after being beaten. given this opportunity by God. Or Philippians 3, in Paul, remember he speaks about how all is lost, I cut it all off for the sake of Christ. He says it's all rubbish. It's all is dumb compared to my Savior. And he goes on speaking of the suffering that he would be under and he says, that I may know him, that is Christ. And the power of his resurrection think of this text is not just for Christ's under shepherds or those pastors it's all Christians are called to this but there is a certain When you think about Christ under shepherds, the ministers of his flock, John Noonan, who wrote Amazing Grace and many wonderful hymns, he said something and wrote something that I wanted to share. He said this, God appoints his ministers to be sorely exercised, means disciplined, both from within and without, that they may the infirmities of the flesh, and also the way that the Lord supports and bears all who trust in Him, that they may feel that, so that they may better be equipped to help those in the flock. You see, God's stewards suffer. They suffer for your sake. They suffer for the sake of the flock. They actually suffer for your benefit. So therefore we rejoice. We rejoice that they're willing to, we rejoice that they are able to share in the benefits of that with us. So there is much rejoicing with the one that is suffering and the one that is benefiting either or. Now there's a portion in this that might get our hair up a little bit, because we read it and we say, what does it mean? He says, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction. Paul just said that the preeminence of Christ and Christ is all we need and he's been there and he's done it all. Redemption is all in Christ, salvation is all in Christ. Well, he's not contradicting the scripture. No, he's not contradicting what the scripture says this type of suffering because God's Son did. And what he means by filling up what is lacking, there's nothing lacking in the atonement. It was all Christ's good reason. It's finished. The sufficiency of his sacrifice is totally Christ. So he's not saying that, but rather what he is saying is that persecution and tribulation is that Paul was before. He was persecuting the church thinking he was doing service to God. He was killing Christians, rounding them up, killing them, persecuting them severely. And we're always saying he's knocked off that horse. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my people? No. Why are you persecuting me? And so we see that the suffering and the persecution is the pattern for Christians. They're suffering now and glory to come. If you want glory now, then there will be suffering forevermore. I hope you will choose the former. Suffering now for the cause of Christ. And so he comes in, Paul comes in in verse 25 and he says, of this church, that is of the called out ones of Jesus Christ, of his saved ones, of his elect, he says, I was made. He's speaking here of the ministry calling. So we're on the second part, the second heading, the ministry calling. I was made this. He re-emphasized it again. I didn't volunteer. I was well told, if you will. I didn't decide that this is a big good thing to do. No. If you decide this is a big good thing to do, you will. We can't do it. You don't pick to do it. You don't decide to do it. God makes one this. In fact, when I was hearing the call to the ministry, and I remember one pastor saying this, he says, if you can do anything else, like if you have other opportunities, other things to do, do that. Don't come to the ministry unless that's all you can do, not all that you can do because you're just a doofus and can't do anything else, but that God won't let you do anything else. And woe is me if I preach not the gospel, Paul said in another text. And so it is a calling upon the man, and the calling upon the man is what keeps him in the fire. Because there's one walking with him in the fire. And he says, I was made a minister, that word again, Diakonos, servant, not some high-exalted, you know, figurehead, some sort of, I don't know, famous preacher guy, but I mean a servant, according to the stewardship. Now the word here for stewardship means, it means a household manager. Some of your translations might say, according to the economy of God. The word hoikonomos is where we get Here, it means like an administrator. So it means for someone, an owner, to have a, let's picture a large house, and he has a steward that is over that, over the ground, over everything with him. He has full control over everything. But he's not the owner. He has to answer to the owner. He is an overseer. In fact, a pastor is an overseer. The word we get the word bishop from means overseer. The overseer of a household that is not So it's more, it's a steward for someone else. And he says, from God, so it's to the stewardship from God, again, bestowed on me, he said you do this, and for your benefit. He says it again, your benefit? You're a beneficiary of this, of whom God has, he has given to the church, pastors and teachers, Jesus for, for your benefit. and everyone in the area, everyone in the region hates the owner of the house, the steward's gonna have a little hard time, is he not? They're gonna come against him. They're gonna come after him. They're gonna work him over if they can. Well, that's what happens in God's house. The minister is the direct object, if you will, because they can't get to God, or they can't get to Christ, And so he is the first line they see. He is the front line that they see, those who are serving in the pastoral role. I say this so you can understand the ministry a little better. One can't fully understand it until, I found out how little I understood it until I was in it, in the day in and day out. But it is a, don't get me wrong, it's a privilege. And it's a rejoicing, and the honor is bestowed upon me by God, or by those who are called to this. Notice that gets us from the calling to what is the message as well, or what is the role. He's not necessarily the guy that runs the business for the church, or the administrator, or the one that comes up with all the greatest ideas of church growth and programs. He says, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God. This is paramount. Preaching is paramount from those who will lead within the church. There is a ministry of the Word, which is highlighted in the preaching, laboring for your benefit and for your soul untold hours. But here he says, so I may fully carry out the preaching of the word. That is biblical preaching. That is expositional preaching. Expositional biblical preaching is the means by which sinners are saved and also the means by which It is preaching the word of Christ. It is apostolic preaching, if you will. What is the ministry? What is the message, excuse me, what is the message of this ministry? Well, it's not our own, at least it better not be. It's not our own message. It's rather a message from the king that ministers are to proclaim. Think of the olden days of Renaissance I hear you, I have a message from the sovereign. Listen up, they would gather around, he would proclaim what the king had for the people. This is what a preacher, a pastor should do. If he is faithful to what he's been tasked to do, this is what he will do. In fact, I have nothing to tell you of my own, nothing. What is this message? What is this message? This message that God has given is through consequential preaching of the Word of God. What He has said. God has said this. God has spoken. And we relay this message. And first He tells us the message itself is the mystery Mystery being something that was veiled for a time. That was presented but not in the clarity that it is now in the New Testament, speaking of Christ. Christ is seen in the Old Testament. But it was born and veiled in its shadows and now we see Christ is fully shown to us in the Word of God. He says that it has been manifested now to his saints. What does that mean? To those who have been called out. to those who have believed upon him, to those who have been chosen before the foundation of the world. And he says, to whom God willed to make known. Do you know that you wouldn't even know about Christ or the gospel unless he willed to make it known to you? To sin people, to sin messengers, to sin his word, to sin his son. And the Gentiles were the preachers to say, let me tell you about this. Yes, there was a people before. Yes, out of Abraham's line. And there was the people of Israel. And those are the ones he had called out. But his plan all along was to have a people of all nations and tongues and tribes worshiping the one true God. image bearers, recreated through the Son of God to worshippers, to these people who would dwell with Him, who would tabernacle with Him. This is the plan all along and now it is going abroad through the coming of Christ and the sending out of the Word of God by the Apostles first and now His preachers and pastors now telling people that this is the good Christ in you. He's speaking of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in believers. That when you come to faith in Christ, there is an indwelling that happens, where the Spirit of God now takes residence within your own soul and heart, and there is this communion, if you will, between God and man. It's a mysterious thing. in man. The true, true gospel ministers, those that are not in name only, but true gospel ministers preach and proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not storytelling. It's not psychology and self-help. It's not about ourselves. We don't preach ourselves. I pray you don't hear the word I and me from this pulpit very often, if at all. It's not five steps to this and six steps to a better relationship. No! It's God's Word. We preach Christ. We preach the Word of the living God. And from this pulpit, I pray, glory, and not a mere man who is just a steward, who is just the servant that is giving the message and the key. It is God's message. It is Christ speaking by His Spirit through a man. Hear Him. Listen to Him, God said. He said to my son, this is my son, hear Him, listen to Him. Hope of glory. What is the hope of glory? What is this hope of glory that he talks about? It is Christ the Lord. He is the hope of glory. He is the inheritance. He is the mystery that has now been made known to us. Clearly revealed. Come in the flesh. So we preach the whole counsel of God. Not picking and choosing, the whole counsel of God, It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we see this from, as we view it in different ways through all of the scriptures, and the clarity that's there, that we become full-orbed in our understanding. If the whole council of God is preached, and when that gospel is preached, and when that gospel is received by the hearers, by faith, then Christ is in you. The Bible says He's in us, and I sense the presence of the Holy Spirit with me. He leads me, guides me, walking this way. There's the indwelling of Christ in the believer. This is the Holy Spirit's Word in the believer. And so, because of what God has said, we preach the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is all in all. There is no gospel that does not elevate the Lord Jesus Christ. It is saving work as well. So we think about this, this sure hope, this sure hope of glory, this saving hope is for this life and it's for the life to come. It's bringing people But every man is in desperate need of Jesus Christ, who is the recreator, the redeemer of that fallen man. He came to save sinners. And so Him we proclaim. There was a wonderful book that Dennis Johnson wrote called Him We Proclaim. I love that book. I've got it underlined in dog hair and all that. Because there's so much good It was very beneficial to me in thinking of the ministry. Him we proclaim. What is the content of our message? It is Christ. It is Him. In fact, verse 27, we proclaim Him. That is the Who. He is the Who of what we proclaim. It is Christ Jesus in all His glory. And He tells us what that means in proclamation or preaching. First He says admonishing. every man. That means warning. Warning. That is possibly even rebuking. There is sternness to be careful of. There is sin to be careful of. There is the expectation to flee from the wrath of God. There is warning to every man. There is teaching. Before I even go to teaching, the warning the warning. Because you can warn all the time. I can put the fire alarm in your house, and you can put enough stuff in your ears that you can somehow ground that out. But you must heed the warning. The warning of the Word of God. There's teaching within the frame of teaching every man with all the wisdom that is the wisdom of God. That implies that there's instruction, but what is implied on the other instruction? We need to become willing and ready to learn from what God's Word has said. There should be a desire to do so. I mean, you can teach all day to a group of people, but if they don't want to learn, they're, you know. So there's a two-way street there within the ministry. And before I get to the so that of the next part, I want us to look at the ministry exertion The exertion of ministry. This is the how, if you will. The energy in ministry. He says, for this purpose, more than one has, and therefore, we can probably say, well, I guess we can't do it. Yeah, that's a good place to be. In fact, the only thing that I bring to the table in my own ministry is my own weakness. But my own failures and my own desperate dependence Sunday, after Sunday, and through the week, it's constant. And the laborer is, he says he's striving to, he's striving so that in the battle. This is the word Paul is using. He's striving, but notice he says what it's according to. It's not according to his own, well, I'll just do it my own way and do it my own strength. No, he says according to his power, that is to Christ's power, which mightily works in me. Whom God calls and whom he truly calls, God equips and works through, thank God. He provides. He has the stamina. He gets you through. It doesn't mean it's easy, but he gets you through. The hard, toiling work which wears us out, he sustains us. Like I said before, the amount of wearing out in pastoral ministry is unexplainable, really, to one who has not participated in it. I say this so that you will, not for my sake, but for those that are in, wherever you may go, wherever you might be, in a particular local church, to realize what this calling is, and what Paul is helping us to better understand, that it is toiling work, but the power is not in the servant. It's not in me. Who is sufficient for these things? Definitely not me. We come as weak servants, we come as vessels for God's use, instruments in the hands of the Redeemer. As I said before, to be in gospel ministry, the only thing I bring is my weakness. And I need to constantly, I say I need to constantly be reminded, but God constantly reminds me that I have no trouble remembering that weakness. before His Word every week, all through the week. My desperate dependence upon Him. But what makes one go on? What makes one in ministry stay in the fight? Well, it's the one He serves. But I want you to see what the goal of ministry is. Sow that. I've talked about sow that a lot. Whenever you see a sow that, that means there's a purpose there. and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. There's, when he says so that we, who is the we? True gospel ministers. Whether it be Paul or Epaphras or anyone else who's following the same apostolic tradition, we, that we may present, there's a presentation He says, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. This is the Godhead, the presentation of Christ to the Father. responsibility that pastors and elders will have to give an account for the flock entrusted to them. That's individual accounts. These are those who have been given responsibility to steward, to help in their growth, to walk alongside, to be an example, to shepherd, to feed, to lead to water, to protect, to scare off the wolves. Remember, it's God's household. God's household. But we are accountable. There's a presentation in order to present every man. So what is the goal as pastors are shepherding the flock? The goal is to present you how? Just kind of barely in the kingdom and just a little soiled and dirty? No. No. Present you complete. That's what the word means. Perfected. perfected like a chaste bride before Christ, to be mature in the faith. It's not enough to say, well, I'm in Christ, I'm going to heaven, but I don't need any of the other stuff. You need to be matured in Christ, you need to be sanctified, and this is the role of the shepherd, the stewards. The word complete is to be, another word is finished. So, in the horse training world, when we take a young horse, a two-year-old, and we work they're getting to a completion point. And when we say one has gotten to that level, we call it a finished riding horse. It would be a horse that's finely tuned. The slightest move of the rider adjusts the horse. And they're completely in tune. And they have been learned all of the ways of the master. And they're walking in it. And it comes from the word, you've probably heard me say this before, is telos. Telos means the completion, the finish. God is working in this world to reach a telos, a completion. Like there's an end coming when Christ returns. There's a consummation, a telos of closing the book on something where eternity now is brought in, in the new heavens and new earth. And so God's servants are to help you, to assist in getting you to be complete in Christ. That's the key word, in Christ. To present every man in Christ complete in Him. And bringing you to faith, yes. There's nothing more sad than someone who's been brought No, they need to be maturing and growing in grace and faith. When we think about the difficulties in ministry, the suffering that Paul talks about, it's also a weight of responsibility. Can you imagine the weight of having to answer to God, who's the master of the house, for how you've stewarded? Remember how Joseph was a steward in Potiphar's house? Get control of everything. Except for the wife. Control of everything. Well, the pastor has a high calling. And not only that, but to know the weightiness of it that souls are in the balance. That means never dying souls are in the balance of either perishing or being everlasting saints. I'll tell you, and Paul helps us with that. What keeps a minister going? A true gospel minister like Paul, or like one of the other apostles like Peter, or maybe Stephen, the deacon, or a true preacher now. Many numerous other preachers of righteousness, there's many. Now there's hordes and masses that are not true preachers, but there's many faithful preachers. Don't hear me say that there's not. But here's what keeps him going. It is a sure belief in the message proclaimed. That this is life or death. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be able to keep going. It wouldn't hold me. No, it's a sure belief in the message proclaimed. It is a sure calling to preach it. And it's a sure hope. I believe 2 Corinthians 5, it says, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were making an appeal through us. He's making an appeal through his servants. And he says this, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Like you must, you need to come to Christ. Or else you will perish. The message, The gospel of Christ is the only power to save sinners. It is the only one to bring one from darkness to light. It is also the means that God has ordained and appointed to sanctify Christians, to make us complete, to bring us to this completion point, to make us ready for heaven. Not only does it bring us to faith through the gospel, fast. So therefore, based on what I've tried to relay of the gospel ministry, the church, every local church, must have robust preaching ministers. A robust, robust preaching ministers, a robust full-orb pulpit makes for a robust, strong, stable makes for weak, unstable believers. Fluffing the pulpit makes for nominal Christians. Or worse than that, false professors. Those who think they're on the way in the kingdom and may be deceived. It's a watered-down gospel. A watered-down gospel amounts to nothing. to not be there to entertain, definitely not there to make you laugh. No, to preach. To preach, to proclaim the very truth of the word of God. That's it. And I'm blessed that I have this to preach. Because I don't know anything else. But there's plenty here. We won't get to the end. We won't get to the complete, but we'll try. No, the truly called preacher of righteousness is not what is most prevalent in churches today. What I'm explaining to you is not what's prevalent in churches today. No, in the majority of modern churches today, it is a picking for personality. It is a seeing if someone is like me and being comfortable that way. And that's not what God is telling us. God picks the man for the office and gives him the message. It has nothing to do with personality. that man is not preaching the word, then you just need to leave him. But it's not about what the person looks like, how he talks or doesn't talk. It's not about that. The gospel minister proclaims Christ the Savior, relays the word of God to others. He's not there to preach us, to tell you about a system of belief, a system of religion. He's not there to tell you about philosophy or He's not there for an argument or a dissertation or a lecture. He's there to preach. To preach the person of the God man, Jesus Christ. To preach him from all the scriptures. And some have said this, in today's climate, well that's just too authoritative. We don't like that. Can we have a discussion about it? Maybe let's see everybody's point of view. You misunderstand. Now you can choose to not receive that truth. You can choose to receive it by faith or you can walk away from it, close your ears and say, no, no, no, I'm not listening. But the truth still remains regardless whether you or I accept it or not. The greatness of God. We heard that in Isaiah 40 when we opened up and called And so, when the preaching of the word is given faithfully, it's not to be, we don't, we can't like somehow, well let me see if that fits with my understanding. It is what it is. We need to conform to it, not to the other. And also know this, that you and I will be accountable for how There's an accountability on both sides of this equation. I pray that through what Paul is helping us here, that we would understand better the gospel ministry, that there are serious issues at stake. If, for number one, it's God's glory. Because of that, I don't come here to speculate or life coach you. I'm not about that. I don't care about that. It shouldn't matter what I think about something. I'm not here to spin stories or win you with charisma, which I have none. No. And so, I'm not here to work miracles or tell you about We want to hear from God. The man who stands here and preaches with an open Bible and preached this Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. So we warn, we admonish, we teach, we proclaim the mystery. The mystery is Christ and His glory. Jesus Christ Himself is the Gospel mystery revealed. And it all revolves around His Word. And that's why we're so focused upon His Word. that grace coming to church here, that the Word may flesh, the Word of ministry, everything that we do revolves around His Word. And so my prayer for you, my hope for you, is that you would cry out, wherever you may be worshiping, wherever you may be a part of a local church, that you would cry out to tell me about my Savior. Tell me about Him. Tell me about His Word to me. That's what I want to hear. I don't want to hear about the basketball game or your stories. I want to hear about the Savior. I want to hear about Christ. Show me Jesus in all His splendor. Show me my Savior high and lifted up. Proclaim Him to me. Oh, let me hear of Christ Jesus. Show me Him and tell me rightly by His words. Oh, may this be your cry. your desire to hear, not to have your ears tickled or to stroke your feelings, but to know Christ. And my desire and my part in there, I pray, is to show you Christ by His word, to point you to Jesus only, to laboring and striving with all His power to shepherd you, to one day present you to Him, mature. I never want to see you on the other side and say, why didn't you warn me? Why weren't you faithful with God's word to me? Oh, may it never be. May it never be. I want you to be complete and mature and perfected. Listen, there is no other Savior. There is no other name under heaven with which we may be saved. It is only Jesus, the Messiah. And therefore, Him we proclaim. We proclaim Christ. Father, I thank you that you have given to your church your word, your son, that you've given the gospel and you've given gospel ministry and ministers to serve you, to steward your household. Oh, I pray that they would be faithful, that they would understand the responsibility, Lord, and myself too, as I think about the weightiness of it I can only do it for you. It is through your power and your might, so Lord, strengthen your servants all across the globe who are faithfully proclaiming and admonishing and teaching, Lord, that they would be a single-minded focus in Him we proclaim from all the scriptures, Lord, that you would purify Somehow, by your power, expose the weakness of many churches and their entertainment and their going away from the way that you have organized and regulated your church. That you desire free worshipers to worship you in the way that you have established and that you have set forth within your words. So Lord, help us, Lord. be reforming in our own lives. Lord, help me to shepherd your flock. Help your flock to be shepherded. It goes both ways. There's a shepherding, but there's also a desire to be led. May we work in each other's lives, sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron, and building one another up, and helping each other to walk this this walk of suffering that is the Christian life in this life, and there's glory to come. Thank you for reminding us of this again. Thank you for showing us our Savior, and Lord, I pray that you show yourself to those outside of you today. Those who are yet to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Lord, that you would reveal yourself and the effectual calling that you would call them to save in faith and save their souls from perishing. Lord, we will give you all glory for this. We praise you and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. The members of Grace Covenant Church Gunnison hope you were edified by this message. For additional information and more sermons, please visit us online at gracegunnison.com. That's gracegunnison.com.