In Colossians chapter 4, our text will be verse 17. I'll read from verse 16. This is Paul's salutation as he closes this letter to the church at Colossae. And there's another take heed in this passage. I think this is number 6. I hadn't planned to do a series, but as we got started, we just keep going with it. Don't know when to quit, but this will be number 6. We'll title the message tonight, Take Heed to the Ministry. He says as we read from verse 16, he says, And when this epistle is read among you, cause it to be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea, and say unto Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. The salutation by the hand of me, Paul. Remember my bonds, that is His imprisonment. Grace be to you. Amen. Lord, again tonight we do ask Your blessings upon the reading of Your precious Word. We do ask, Lord, again this evening that Your will be done here in this assembly tonight. Every word, every song, every prayer that's lifted up, we pray, God, that it be received as worship. We pray, Lord, that it be edifying and it be for the furtherance of Thy kingdom, which in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. I've given you the meaning of the term taqid several times. It means to regard. It means to consider, to turn one's attention to. It means to take notice or give close attention to, as I've already said. In verse 17, this man's name, sometimes as I study the Scripture, you get things in your head And with me, as my wife tells me, it's very hard for me to get them out. I'll get something going a certain way. And I've heard this man's name pronounced three different ways. I actually have two Bible programs, two different ones, and they announce it differently. Archippus, I believe. But anyway, that's close enough. And he says in verse 17 of this passage, public challenge that the Apostle Paul is given. And the church is to tell this minister something. You say, how do you know he's a minister? I don't know positively, but I know he has a ministry and he very well could have been the pastor at Colossae. And he's mentioned only one other time, I believe, and that's in Philemon, verse 2, and he's called a fellow soldier, indicating that he was united with Paul in ministry and in spiritual warfare. And he says in verse 17, "...take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it." Very interesting statement. There are many take heeds in the Bible, and this is number 6. But we see here that the church is to tell him something. The church is to remind him of something. The church is to give him this message. He says, Taikid, in verse 17, say this, say this to this man, Taikid, to the ministry. And he said, which thou hast received in the Lord. Notice the ministry that this man has was received. in the Lord. It was given by the Lord. And then he says that thou fulfill it. That is, complete it or perform it. In other words, do the duty that God has called you to do. Now, I want you to hold on to Colossians and turn with me to Joshua just for a moment. And notice in Joshua chapter 1, And I'm going to be reading a few verses in the beginning of the chapter and then toward the end of the chapter. I want you to notice that the Lord tells Joshua to be strong in the faith, but at the end of the chapter, the people say the same thing to Joshua. So this man in Colossae may be the pastor. I have no idea why Paul did this. Some believed that maybe he was weak and maybe he wasn't faithful. The Bible doesn't say that, and I don't like to go places where the Bible doesn't say. But I do know this, that Paul wanted to encourage him in using the church to say, keep the faith, keep preaching, keep standing for the truth. And the church was to tell their minister that. Churches, they are telling their ministers today to lighten up and don't be so difficult. But notice in Joshua, and we'll read here and then we'll go back to our text. And he says here in Joshua chapter 1, and this is where the Lord says in verse 5, And there shall not any man be able to stand before thee, all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee, and I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." He said in verse 6, "...be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them." Notice he used to carry them across into the promised land. And he said again in verse 7, "...only be strong and be courageous, that thou may observe mayest observe to do according to all the law." And we know the wonderful verse in verse 9. He says, "...Have not I commanded thee, Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." And then in verse 16, and this is the people, as the Lord spoke to Joshua and Joshua spoke to the people, the people is answering Joshua and they said, Verse 16, And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us, we will do, and whitherso thou sendest us, we will go. And according as we hearken unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken of thee. Only the Lord thy God be with thee as he was with Moses, and whosoever he be that doeth rebel against thy commandments, and will not hearken unto the words thy words, brethren, all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death, only be strong and of a good courage." So, God encouraged Joshua. Joshua encouraged the people. And the people encouraged Joshua in saying, you be strong and we will follow and we will keep God's commandments. Now, as we turn back to Colossians chapter 4, the people are to encourage This minister, they're to stir him up. They are to stand with him. They're to say to him, preach the Word and fulfill your ministry. Now notice as we come back here in verse 17 one more time, and then we're going to get into a brief outline. And he says in verse 17, he said, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received. Now notice, this is received in the Lord. And then he says that thou fulfill it. Now, let's first of all consider the meaning of the word ministry. We've talked about the word minister, an elder, a bishop. We've talked about these things, especially in studying the book of Titus. But what about the word ministry? Notice he said in verse 17, that which thou hast received in the Lord. It is the Lord who places people into the ministry. Turn with me, please, to 1 Timothy 1. And there's a number of places that we see in the Word of God. And if you're taking notes tonight in 1 Timothy 4.6, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to be a good minister. Then in verse 14, he elaborates on that. to be a good minister, to preaching the Word of God. Qualifications are given in 1 Timothy 3 about ministry. We looked at those in our Titus series. But notice, as we come here now to 1 Timothy chapter 1, ministry, the word ministry, is God's way of communicating His truth to His people. And so when we talk about ministry, I think we all understand that when we talk about a minister, a minister is to minister to individuals. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, we read that in verse 12, we have these words. This is Paul again writing to Timothy. He said, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for He counted me faithful. Notice, putting me into the ministry. Paul was put into the ministry by the Lord. God called him and placed him into the ministry. Notice in 2 Timothy chapter 4. If you take a note, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6 talks about the gift of ministry given by the Holy Spirit. A minister is one who serves. He is one who waits upon or attends to others, no matter whether it be Old Testament or New Testament. Let me give you an example of that. I wrote this down so I would not forget this. The word minister, the word is used of the Old Testament priest in Hebrews 10, 11. It is used of New Testament leaders in Acts 13, 2 and many other places. It is used of civil magistrates. in Romans 13, verses 4 and 6. It is used of angels in Hebrews chapter 1 and in verse 14. It is used of Christ Himself in Hebrews 8 and in verse 2. So that gives us an ideal. Ministers are servants, as in Matthew 20 and 26. And ministers are someone who performs or carries out a particular task. For instance, a minister of the gospel is one who carries the gospel of Christ unto others for the salvation of our soul. The ministers of the civil government, Romans 13, they are to carry out justice in the nation in which they live. So, this word is used a number of times in Holy Scripture. 2 Corinthians 5.18, it talks about ministry of reconciliation. And then 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 3 and 4, it talks about ministry and ministers. Again, this is used many times in the Word of God. Acts 20 and verse 24, the Apostle Paul says, "...the ministry I received from the Lord." I'm just giving you a definition of this word. 1 Corinthians 4.1, it says, "...the ministers of Christ." Talking about ministry and ministers, the meaning of this. The Bible tells us, and I think about John the Baptist in John 1, verse 6-8, it says that John was a man, but he says he was sent from God to bear witness of the light. I believe we read that this morning. He was not the light, but he was to bear witness of the light, and he was sent from God. So, we see here the ideal of this Word. Notice with me, and where did I tell you to turn? 2 Timothy chapter 4, reading in verse 5. We'll probably come back later to this chapter. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 5. He said, But watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. And then the Apostle Paul In the book of Ephesians, turn there with me to chapter 3. Notice what he says of himself. In Ephesians chapter 3, reading in verse 7, he says, I was made a minister. So a minister is one who serves, one who waits upon or attends others. To minister is to serve. There is the office of a minister as Romans 11.13. Now, notice in Ephesians, I'm going to be reading in chapter 3. I'm going to begin reading in verse 7. He says here in verse 7, he says, Wherefore, thou wast made a minister. So, when we read about the passage in Colossians 4, he said, Take heed unto the ministry that you received of the Lord to fulfill it. The minister is someone who has been placed into the ministry and he has been given this by the Lord and he is to fulfill this. And he said, I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of His power. And to me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." working definition of the word ministry. Turn to Ephesians 4 and notice the importance of ministry. If he says, take heed, take warning, beware that you fulfill the ministry, then we see the meaning of it and we see the importance of this. Notice here, obviously, it is for the perfecting of the saints. I heard one writer read somewhere, one writer said, it's not the pastor's job to fill the pew, but to fill the pulpit. And it's so true. Many pastors, and I'm not against filling the pews, but many think that that's what they're called to do, and they're called to fill the pulpit. In Ephesians 4, we find here that there are gifts that are given to the church in verse 8. in verse 9 and verse 10. The Bible said in verse 11, He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Now, what is the reason for this? What is the reason for ministry? What is the reason for ministers? Well, notice in verse 12, "...for the perfecting of the saints." Now that word, perfecting, has the ideal of instructing, but I want you to listen, and I'm not going to ask you to turn to any of these, but I want you to listen, and I don't remember whether I dealt with this in our Titus series or not, but I want you to listen to four different ways that this word, the Greek word, is translated, the word perfecting. In Matthew 4, where Jesus is coming along and calling his disciples, in this case, from the fishing industry. In Matthew 4.21 it says, And going on from thence he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedees, and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. This Greek word is translated mending, to perfect. Mending. Nets get rips and snares and tears in them. And they've got to be mended. When I first, my first six months to a year, here on the Gulf Coast, this brother here lived in a different place. And I used to go by his house. And he'd have these huge nets hanging everywhere. Working on them. Because fish cannot be caught in nets. And I borrowed a cast net. And I got out in the bay and I caught some mullet, but I realized over a short period of time there were too many holes in this old net, and I had him to find me one, and I bought me one that didn't have holes in it. Alright, listen to this. In Hebrews chapter 10, it's used to prepare something. The word prepare or prepared. The Lord prepared a body. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth that He might die for our sins. Hebrews 11, let me make sure I've got this word right. In Hebrews chapter 11, let me see here, in verse 3, it says, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. The word framed. You've got the word men, the word prepared, the word framed. Here, we know what it means. The word frame means to adjust or to conform. We know what it means to frame a house, you know, putting this together, connecting things together. And then one last time, this word is used in Galatians 6. And in verse 1, it said, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in the fall, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Here, the word restore. that is returned that which was lost to heal, to cure, like resetting a bone, to restore something. And so, he says in Ephesians chapter 4, let me go back and read the entire verse now. In verse 12, here's what ministers are for. Here's what ministry is all about. And he said that the evangelists, pastors, teachers, he said, therefore, the perfecting of the saints in verse 12, and for the work of the ministry, for the edifying, that is building up of the body of Christ, till we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure, the statue, the fullness of Christ. Now verse 14, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slate of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." So, here's the reason for ministries, the reason for ministers. They're given by God. It's ordained. And he tells every minister, he says, take heed, take heed unto the ministry that you have received of the Lord and fulfill it. I'm going to be reading in 1 Peter chapter 5 Turn to as many of these as you can. I'm going to go 1 Peter, Hebrews, 1 Timothy, and then Thessalonians. But I'm just going to read these quickly. In 1 Peter chapter 5, he tells them, and we covered some of these in the past, but in this passage, 1 Peter chapter 5, he says in verse 2, speaking to the elder of verse 1, he said, Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly." And I'm just going to stop reading there. Here in this passage, he said, "...feed the flock of God." jobs of the ministers. Let's go on to Hebrews 13, and notice here, he's to take the oversight. Hebrews 13, reading in verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over you. Submit yourselves here, he said, for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Here, a minister is watching over the souls that God has placed him over. Turn with me, please, to 1 Timothy chapter 5. Now, we did read a few of these in our study in Titus, but notice in 1 Timothy chapter 5, reading from verse 17. So, the minister is to feed the flock, taking the oversight. He is to watch over the souls. He is to labor now. He's to labor in the Word. First Timothy chapter 5 and verse 17. And if anybody doesn't believe it's labor and trying to study and dig, we're not talking about devotions. We're not talking about reading a chapter in Proverbs. We're talking about looking for truth and digging and comparing and those kind of things. It is labor. He said in verse 17, he said, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in word and doctrine. I'm not going to read any further, but he said here in this passage, those who labor in word and doctrine, laboring in the word, In Acts 6-4, the disciple said, look out among you seven men. And they would become what we would call deacons today, even though we're the deacons not used. And he said, we'll give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. They were ministering the Word. The ministers ministered the Word of God. That's ministry. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, notice here. And 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and we've read this in the past as well, but I'm just trying to establish the importance of ministry. And God tells the church at Colossae, He says, you tell the minister to fulfill his ministry. Again, many churches are saying, lighten up. Find us somebody who's not preaching. you know, so much. He says here in coming to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I'm going to be reading in verse 12. I told my wife this morning, I said, I hope the church don't get used to the last two Sunday morning sermons lasting about 35-40 minutes. I said, that's not going to be forever. Now, notice with me in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And I'm going to be reading verse 12 and in verse 13. Then we're going to go to the book of Ezekiel. He said in verse 12, And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you." Now, we said a moment ago in 1 Timothy that they're laboring in the Word. Now in 1 Thessalonians, here in chapter 5, we see them laboring in the church. He said, verse 12, "'We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you to esteem them very highly and love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves." So they're laboring not only in the Word, but they're laboring in the church. Now turn with me to Ezekiel, and we're going to chapter 3. I got a message a few years back. We preached titled, The Watchman. And I want to go back and read a passage we used in that particular text. When we talk about ministry today, and I was talking to a preacher here recently, and actually not just one, but one in particular this past week, but in the last several weeks, in the last month, a number of preachers, and it seems like they're just feeding and swapping sheep, and they're just making the rounds. We know of one family right now. We haven't seen them in several years. But one family, we probably haven't seen them in seven, eight years. But I guarantee you they've been in 20 churches since they left here probably 10, 11, 12, 13 years ago. And fellows just tell me that they're in his church now. And I can't believe just some of the things that I see. And people are here for a year or two, there for a year or two. And I told this man, I said, are you stealing sheep? Are you just swapping sheep? And him and this other church is going back and forth. He lost some sheep to this one church. Now he's getting some. couple of families from that church. And I said, what is going on? It's basically just about bragging about getting some folks back, you know, from this other church. And I told my wife, I said, this stuff is just not right. This is not good. I said, not really winning anybody by the Lord, they're just stealing each other's sheep. Now, notice as we come here to Verse 17. And I believe they get some goats along the way, too, by the way. Amen? Now, a watchman, the word is used here for a preacher and his duty that he has to God's people. And he plays an important role in ancient Israel, the watchman, the lifter watchman that got up on the wall. And he uses this analogy to portray a preacher. And the watchman was the first line of defense of a fortified city. And he stood on a wall or a watchtower, and he was the one that was to give warning whenever the city was under attack or in danger. He became a target, but he had a tremendous responsibility. Now notice, as we come to this passage, reading from verse 17. He says in verse 17, and I'll challenge you to read chapter two and chapter 33, and when we read this, it doesn't sound. As a serious, but when you put together the people that that Ezekiel was ministering to, he said, they're not going to listen to you. And so, he had a tremendous responsibility, sort of like Jeremiah, because they were ministering to people that were going to be carried into captivity. And God's judgment was upon these people. But notice what he says in verse 17. He says here in verse 17, he says, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, therefore here the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me." Now notice what he says. Verse 18, "'And when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die. Thou give him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way. To save his life, and the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood shall I require at that hand.'" That's some serious charges. He said, "'Yet if thou warn the wicked, And he turned not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way. He shall die in his iniquity, but thou shalt deliver thy soul." That is the watchman, the preacher, the prophet. Verse 20, now he turns to the saints and he said, again, when a righteous man turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I will lay a stumbling block before him and he shall die. Because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered but his blood, while I require thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man that the righteous rather sin not, and he doeth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned also thou hast delivered thy soul." Now, let's go back to the New Testament and notice what it means, 2 Timothy chapter 2. Now, the third and last thing I'm going to bring before you is we've looked at the definition of the word ministry briefly. We've looked at the importance of it. A minister is a watchman on the wall. And again, in ancient Israel, you know, he had walls around the city. And you didn't have the defense that we have today in America. You didn't have Scud missiles and all these kind of things and nuclear weapons and all of this and Apache helicopters and airplanes and all of this. And so it was somebody that stood on the wall and gave warning when the enemy was coming. And that is exactly what a minister is to do. So we've looked at the importance of that. Now let's consider the difficulty of ministry. He says here in 2 Timothy, and I'm coming to chapter 2 this time, I want you to notice, you say, what do you mean by the difficulties? Well, just simply, there are many difficulties. There are many afflictions and ridicules and oppositions when you consider ministry. And that doesn't mean there's not pleasant things that come along with it, but there's just big responsibility. He said to the man there at Colossae, he said, the church tell him that the thing that the ministries receive from the Lord, that he will fulfill that, that he will stay true to the ministry. Biblical confrontations, it is a vital part of ministry. I mean, we hate that, but it just is. Many times ministers are misunderstood, misrepresented, but he's still considered as a soldier in the Word of God. You know the ministry? And of course, some of you are in business and you know what it's like to deal with people. The only difference is ministry, you can't hire and fire. You're dealing with souls and you're dealing with eternal things and you're trying to help them for the kingdom's sake and those kind of things so you don't hire and fire and things like that. But when you consider this, ministry requires dealing with things that we don't really want to deal with. rather just put them aside and just forgive them and hope and pray that they go away. But most things never go away. I'm nearly 60 years of age, and I've watched over the years. Most things never really go away. But notice as we read here in this passage. He says here in 2 Timothy 2, I'm just going to begin reading in verse 3, talking to Timothy. Timothy's a preacher. He said, verse 3, "...thou therefore can endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." So to begin with, he said, it refers to him as a soldier. He said, "...no man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." He said in verse 9, "...wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer." You'll see this over and over in Paul's writings. He said, I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even in the bonds that the Word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." He's saying to Timothy, follow my example. He says, verse 7, consider what I say. And he's simply saying that you must be a good soldier, endure hardness. He's saying you will suffer troubles and afflictions and as an evildoer in verse 9. But notice in chapter 4 again, we were there a few moments ago. Notice with me in chapter 4. So he says here in chapter 4, and I'll challenge you also to write down chapter 3 and from about verse 10 through the end of the chapter. And he speaks of persecution. He speaks of all the things that they went through. But notice in chapter 4, he begins off in this chapter by telling Timothy to preach the Word and all those kind of things. He said that for many will not want to hear it. But here in chapter 4, and I'm going to read again a verse I read a moment ago, verse 5, But watch thou in all things, and do reflections, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, And then he talks about his ministry. He says in verse 7, I've fought a good fight. Again, showing you that there's a battle. He said, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. But notice as we come to verse 14, we see that Paul many times had to stand alone. He's writing this from a prison cell there. And he said in verse 14, he said, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord rewarded him according to his works. Be thou aware also, for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer, no man stood with me." And by the way, he says in chapter 1 and in verse 15, he says that all they which are in Asia be turned from me. But he said here, verse 16, at my first answer, no man stood with me. But all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me into His heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever. Amen. I want you to back up with me in 1 Corinthians. We see Paul many times standing alone. We see Paul many times talking about the difficulties that were involved in ministry. And let me take you to 1 and 2 Corinthians and just read a few of those things that he went through emotionally, physically in the ministry. In the book of Acts, chapter 20 and verse 24, he says, none of these things move me, neither count my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and listen, and the ministry I have received of the Lord. Now when he says, none of these things move me, if you go back to verse 23, you'll find that these things, he said, that do not move me, you'll find that they're bonds and afflictions." He said, none of these things move me because I want to finish the course and I want to fulfill the ministry that I've received of the Lord. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, I had one preacher tell me, and I can understand why he said it. He told me this probably ten years ago. And he'd been in the ministry a lot longer than I had. And he said, I don't even get excited anymore when new people walk through the door because he said, I know they'll be gone before long. I thought that was so sad then. And as years have went by, I understand a little bit more of what he's saying. Had another man tell me about five years ago, he said, I'm not going to tell you where he pastored, but he said, some of you I think know him, he said to me, he said, I think it was about twenty, twenty-four, twenty-five years of church, he said, the people have just gotten too used to me. And by the time he said it was six months, he had moved to another state. The wear and tear in trying to be a blessing and be in the help and preaching and teaching the Word of God, many don't realize the toll that it really takes. And then feel unsuccessful in the ministry. You know, many preachers feel that way. And I think about the Levitical priesthood, the Levitical ministry. And I preached a message here in this church probably four or five years ago, I think it's titled Levitical Ministry. And I've just done a lot of research on how they not only taught the Word of God, but they guarded the tabernacle, the temple. They guarded the truth that God had given them. They guarded the sacrifices and oversaw all of these things. And I don't know about other ministers. Ministers, I personally know they feel the same way. The church is always on the minister's mind and in their conversation. My wife and I sat down the other day, actually yesterday, for two hours. and just talked about the church. And when I say the church, I'm not talking about the physical building. I'm talking about the people. And yes, the physical building comes into play because we've got to take care of it and those kind of things. But just studying and praying and teaching and preaching and all these kind of things, all these play into this when we talk about the ministry. And the Apostle Paul here says in chapter 4, I'm just going to read a couple of different chapters, and we're not going to belabor this. We'll go to Galatians and maybe close there. But he says here in chapter 4, verse 9, let me read just a few verses here. He says in verse 9, he said, I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death. But we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake. But ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. We are honorable, but we are despised. Even in this present hour, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and buffeted, have no certain dwelling place in labor, working with our own hands, being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer it, being defamed, we entreat, And he goes on through this chapter describing this. You'll notice with me in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And notice here in this chapter. I'm going to begin reading in verse 8. In verse 8. And notice as we come to this passage. He said, We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, we are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death, For Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then, death worketh in us, but life in you." You can read the rest later. Notice in chapter 6. In chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians. Now, I'm going to be reading in chapter 6. I'm going to begin reading from verse 3. And I was trying to find a passage, too. Maybe it's here in our text. But Paul talks about all the things that happened. And then he said, and the care for all the churches on top of that. He's talking about all the physical and emotional things. And he said the care for all the churches. But in chapter 6, he says in verse 3, giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed. But in all things, approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, afflictions, and necessities, and distresses, stripes, imprisonments, and torments, labors, and watchings, and fastings, and by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right and on the left, right hand and left by honor and dishonor, and I'll leave this, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying, and behold, we live as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor and yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things." I mean, you put all these words together. These are only a few. But you put all these words together and you have to come to the conclusion that Paul rejoiced in his ministry, and that he had received it of the Lord, and he fulfilled it. But you have to come to the conclusion there was difficulties in the ministry that God had given to him. Notice with me in chapter 7. Notice he had to write this letter, and he hated to write it. Or write 1 Corinthians. He hated to even write it, and he said this. He said in chapter 7 verse 8, he said, For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent. He hated to even write this letter. And he knew he had to write it. God told him to write it. And he said, I made you sorry. I didn't really want to make you sorry, but I had to make you sorry. Because there had to be repentance in the church. And he said in verse 8, in the middle of that verse, he said, For I perceived that the same letter hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season, now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance, for you were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us only. For godly sorrow worketh repentance, the salvation not to be repented of." He's saying, hey, did he even have to write this letter? But he said, you did repent and things that were good did come out of it. Turn with me to chapter 11. In chapter 11. I read these passages and I hear people like Joel Osteen and different ones, you know, make statements about, you know, ministry and those kind of things and God doesn't want anybody poor and He's wanting all these kind of things. That's a bunch of garbage. I mean, God's men went through some tremendous things. He says here in chapter 11, you'll notice when we're reading in verse 23, He said, are they ministers? Now he's going to compare himself a little bit. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. He's actually going to brag a little bit. And he said, I am more. Now look, he said, in labors more abundant. Now here's his resume. Here's his resume. I'm in chapter 11, verse 23. He said, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, I wonder what a church would do if they got a resume like that. He said, of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I was in the deep. That is floating in the water, by the way. And journeyings often, and perils of water. That is dangers and perils of robbers. Perils by my own countrymen and perils by the heathen. He goes on. Listen to all these things, false brethren and everything else. Verse 27, "...weariness and painfulness and watchings often, and hunger and thirst and fastings often, and cold and nakedness. And besides those things," here it is, "...that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Then he said, who is weak? Am I not weak who is offended and I burn not? He said, I must needs glory, I will glory, if I must needs, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmity. These were just things that he went through. Chapter 12, you'll notice what we hear. I mean, think about this is just 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, and I've even skipped some of the things, but he's talking about the difficulties that were in ministry. A minister becomes a target, he becomes a point man, especially if he is preaching the truth. He'll have many sleepless nights, and I hate to use the word worry, I can't think of another. He will worry. over people's souls, and has he done the right thing, and feel like a failure, feel helpless sometimes, all ill, have many tears. These are just facts that will be in any minister's life that loves the Lord. Notice in chapter 12 and in verse 15, he said, And I will verily gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Notice he's saying, I'll pour myself out as an offering. Instead in verse 16, But be it so, I did not burden you, nevertheless being crafty I caught you with guile. Did I make gain of you by any of them whom I sent? He's talking about the other preachers he sent. He said in verse 18, "...I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother." And he said, "...Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps?" And he goes on dealing with this and dealing with the letter that he wrote. And as you get into chapter 13, he continues this. Now turn with me to Galatians 4. In Galatians chapter 4, and notice here. Paul is admitting he was misunderstood, misrepresented, and there was biblical confrontation in his life. He said it had to be as an under-shepherd, as a minister. He said there were things he didn't want to do. He's basically saying in 2 Corinthians 7, I don't even want to write this letter, but I've got to write this letter. These are things that I have to do. So there's much difficulty in ministry. In Galatians chapter 4, We read here, now notice with me, I'm going to read verse 19, and I'm going to back up and read a few other verses in this chapter. And I want you to keep in mind that Paul had established these churches in Galatia. I'm saying churches, plural. There was at least four churches. in Galatia, and in the very first chapter, in verse 6, he said, I marvel that you're so soon removed from Him that called you in the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Here's what he said in chapter 4. He says this, and you know, one of the reasons that this verse came to my mind is because a brother He quoted this to me on the phone the other day. He called me and we were talking about the ministry. And he quoted this verse and I said, that's in Galatians 4, right? And he said, yes. But notice he said this. This is how Paul felt about the churches and the people. And he said in verse 19, he said, My little children of whom I travail in birth Again, until Christ be formed in you. You know what he's saying? He's comparing himself with a mother bringing forth a child into the world in labor pains. And you know when a woman's having a baby, there's labor, there's pain, there's sorrow, there's agony until that baby is born. Apostle Paul is saying here, he said in this, he said, "...of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." But notice the people he's talking to. As we back up in verse 13, he said, "...you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first, and my temptation," that is, is thorn in the flesh, I guess, "...and my temptation which was in my flesh, you despise not." There was some visible temptation that was in his flesh, and he said, you despise not nor reject it, but receive me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness you speak of? Or I bear you record that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me." There's indications that from Paul's beatings and whippings and his infirmities was in his eyes as well as maybe other parts of his body. And there's indications later in this letter as well that his eyesight was very bad. But he said, at one time you would have plucked out your own eyes and gave them to me. You received me as an angel or as the Lord Himself. Then verse 16, look at that before I read it. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? And he said in verse 19 again, my little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. He was as an angel. He was as Christ Himself until their folks turned against him. And he said, I'm now your enemy because I tell you the truth. I want to close on a positive passage. Turn with me to 2 John. and 2 John, because even though we see the difficulties in ministry, there is always the blessedness of those who love God and those who follow and those who stay true to His Word and respect the ministry and the minister. Notice with me as we come to this passage. I was standing, I'll just say a business the other day. I was telling my wife this. And there were other people around. I'm waiting in line. And a man turned around and he said, Don't I know you? And I said, Well, I don't know. And I said, Your face looks familiar. And so we talked a little bit. I didn't know his name, but I had met him before. I actually heard him preach. One of the first things he said, where's your church at? And I told him. He said, I want to tell you something. He said, I don't like this Calvinism and I'm just about to become an Armenian. And I'm just people standing there looking and he's wanting to start up an argument. And he said, what do you think about that? And I said, well, I'm neither one. What do you mean? I ain't never heard of that. You've got to be one or the other. I said, no. I don't use men's names to follow. I said I'm neither one. That kind of helped the argument because there was nowhere to go after that. But he is fixing a light in. Notice with me as we come to 2 John. Let me read in 2 John 1 verse and 3 John 1 verse and we'll close tonight. Again, we thank God. for those who listen, those who follow, who believe the truth and love the truth and stay with it. Those who are growing in the Lord and love the Lord and love His Word and love the man of God. He says here in verse 4 of 2 John, notice he said, I rejoiced greatly that I found with thy children, look at that, walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. Notice that he said, I rejoice that a family without children is walking in truth. Notice in chapter 3 John, rather, and reading in verse 3, he said, For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. They are those that walk in the truth and love the truth. But I'm going to tell you something, we live in a time where there's many that are not walking in the truth, not loving the truth. I was talking to somebody the other day, and of course, they don't profess to be saved, but all their life is about is casinos and video games and movies. Got to see this latest movie is out about superheroes. I'm thinking, I've got some material on this if you'd listen. And you know, their whole life is just centered around those kind of things. We're going to stop right here and we'll probably preach another, at least a few more Take Hees in the month of May.