Three Things to Know Before Serving in Ministry

Introduction

If you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that when everything is said and done you will be accepted by God, how would that change the way you live?

There is a lot of work to be done here on the earth. Sometimes we feel like we’re standing on the mountain top, other times we feel like we’re at rock bottom…but this is the life that God has called us to.

If you are a faithful servant of God, you know all too well the ups and downs of this thing that we call ministry.

What exactly is it that makes a ministry?

Well there are three qualifications:

A. Is God Changing Hearts?

Is He producing fruit through your work? That is, is he moving people closer to Himself and is He using you to do it? Is your ministry bearing fruit.

B. Is God Getting the Glory?

Is your faith in your ability to get things done or is your faith in God? Is your focus on the amount of faith you have or is it on the object of your faith? Because even a little faith placed in the correct object can accomplish great things.

C. Is God’s Truth Being Revealed?

In your ministerial life, if the truth of God being revealed? How well do you know the Scripture? And how often do you share Scripture with non-believers? The Bible says that God’s word is like a hammer against the heart the of a sinner. Is God’s truth being revealed by your life?

This Message is for you!

You might be thinking, now hold on preacher…I’m not in the ministry…I work…

Well, I want to tell you that every Christian that exists is in the ministry. We are all a part of the ministry of working to win lost souls to Jesus Christ.

But the life of ministry and service to the local can be a tiring endeavor.

So, what I want to show you tonight in 2 Corinthians 4 are three things that you should know before serving in ministry.

I. Know the Job

You need to know the job and what it requires!

A. It Requires Mercy

The ministry that we have is a ministry of mercy. By God’s mercy He gave it to us and by God’s mercy we operate it. And it’s because of God’s mercy that we stay in it.

What happens too often is people get the wrong idea about serving God. What can happen if we’re not careful is we can start thinking that our service to God is a chore and that it’s not a blessing!

Well, when does it become a chore?

Ministry becomes a chore when we do it from our own power, and we stop working according to God’s mercy.

It’s only by His mercy that He called us to serve, and it’s only by His mercy that we have the ability to serve…so to run off and start serving in a ministry or to start leading a ministry without the mercy of His calling becomes a burden instead of a blessing.

In chapter 3, Paul told us what makes a ministry, and now in this opening verse, we get the ticket to maintaining our service to that ministry.

2 Corinthians 4:1 NKJV

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

Right there where it says, “we do not lose heart” is means that we don’t cower down and we don’t back down…and it’s not because we are strong, but his point is that we don’t back down because we are weak…but God in His mercy has strengthened us.

We have the tendency to begin things and not follow through with them, not because we aren’t capable, but because there is no conviction behind it. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but God’s mercy was not applied, God’s blessing was not applied, and we still tried to apply our own strength. Well, we don’t have any strength, and we aren’t the source of our calling, and we aren’t the source of encouragement. All of those things come from God.

So, this job, the job that we call ministry in the local church, is a job that requires the mercy of God if we don’t want to lose heart.

B. It Requires Fidelity

Obviously, to serve in ministry you have to maintain fidelity in your marriage…but fidelity goes beyond that.

This is a job that requires fidelity to God. This means that we cannot violate the calling that we have by making everything about us and taking advantage of the message that God gave us.

Think about the nature of infidelity. Do you know what infidelity boils down to? Infidelity boils down to an unholy desire for selfish gain. Otherwise known as lust.

There’s a reason why Jesus says that if you lust after a woman that you’ve committed adultery in your heart. It’s because out of the heart proceed the issues of life.

So, the reason why ministry requires fidelity to God is because we can use ministry and the work of God to fulfill our lusts.

2 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

What’s Paul referencing?

He is referencing those men in the Corinthian church who are using the message of the gospel for their own selfish ambition.

To do ministry for ourself and not for God is a dry well that no one can drink from.

Instead, Paul says that this job requires fidelity to God in a way that discloses the truth of God to every man.

And what is the way we can be sure that we are operating in truth?

By making God’s word our authority.

Look there in v. 2 again…Paul writes, “we renounce the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness or handling God’s word deceitfully.”

That means we must take God’s word as it was given by Him and we cannot act outside of the bounds of Scripture.

We cannot teach or promote opinion, and we cannot invoke our own authority…but everything must run through a correct understanding of God’s word.

2 Timothy 3:13–15 NKJV

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

The requirements of the job are mercy and fidelity to Scripture.

C. It Requires Fighting

You might think, “I thought we weren’t supposed to fight!”

Well, not with each other. Because when we fight with each other then we have the wrong opponent. When we have the right opponent we will be fighting who the Bible calls the god of this age.

Every time we pray, every time we read the Bible, every time that we witness or invite someone to hear the truth, war breaks out!

Don’t ever forget what the Bible says about this war that we fight.

Ephesians 6:11 NKJV

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Every single day that we live as men and women called and commissioned by God’s mercy, we need to get dressed with armor of God. We need this because we are constantly being shot at by the devil.

What is our great defense against the attacks of the devil?

Ephesians 6:16 NKJV

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

God has called you, and He has enlisted you in his army, and that means when you sign up you need to know that this job requires fighting.

What exactly is it that we’re fighting for?

We are fighting satan and his powers over lost souls.

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 NKJV

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

When we wake up in the morning we ought to be a reflection of Jesus.

When we go out into the work force we ought to be shining Jesus onto them.

It’s their only hope. Their minds are blinded by the devil, and we are the light bearers that have the word of God that pierces the armor of the enemy, the armor of a hard heart.

Not only does it require mercy, fidelity, and fighting…

D. It Requires Humility

You cannot win any battles and you cannot accomplish anything for God without sincere humilty.

I saw a short clip the other day from when Art Linkletter would ask kid’s questions and see what kind of response he could get out of them…

There was a little boy on there and Art asks, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The little boy said, “I want to be a pilot!”

Art said, “Well, how about a test? Let’s say the plane engines failed and you start going down, what’s the first thing you’re going to do?”

the little boy looked down, and then he said, “Our Father, which art in Heaven…”

Kids just have a way of reflecting on things in ways that we’re too prideful to reflect on them...

I heard another story involving a pastor and his wife going for a home visit.

They’re sitting in the living room with a husband, wife, and their little girl. The visit goes well — good conversation, lots of laughter.

Finally, it’s time to leave.

But you know how that goes. No one ever actually leaves right away. There’s the “Well, we should probably get going…” followed by ten more minutes of standing and talking.

The little girl had clearly had enough.

Out of nowhere, she looked at the pastor and said,

“Will you please just leave so my mom and dad can talk about you?”

Talk about a humbling experience!

But having humbling moments and having humilty are two different things. People who are humble don’t often get humbled like that mom and dad did when the preacher was there.

What exactly is humility?

2 Corinthians 4:5 NKJV

For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.

This shows us three aspects of humilty.

It means not being self-centered.

Unlike the men that were using God’s word deceitfully to promote themselves, Paul says that the man of God ought not preach themselves. That being humble means not thinking too highly of yourself as if you are the reason that everything operates and functions well.

It also includes not thinking negatively about yourself…that’s not true humility.

Not being self-centered means allowing God to define you instead of you defining yourself.

It means being Christ-centered

A humble person is a person that is surrendered to God and does everything they do for the will of God. That’s why Paul writes, “we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.”

and it is revealed when we are others-focused.

That is, we work for the good of those around us, not simply for our own benefit. In ministry we ought not ask “What’s in it for me?” but we should be asking, “How can I serve them?”

This job requires mercy, fidelity, fighting, humilty…

E. It Requires Witnessing

Before Jesus left this earth He gave us a commission. That commission was to be His witnesses all over the world.

At the beginning of time, God said, “Let there be light.”

It was God’s will in the beginning that light should shine into the darkness and it is God’s will today that light should shine in the darkness.

And the way that God shines His light into the darkness is through His people.

2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The reason that God gives us knowledge and understanding of His will is not so that we hide the light, but it is that we shine the light.

Galatians 1:15–16 NKJV

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.

The reason that Paul was called and given the knowledge of God was so that he could preach.

Therefore, if there is any knowledge that you possess, if you have the salvation of God which illuminated your heart to the person of Jesus Christ, it is a requirement that you shine that light by sharing God’s word with those around you.

This job we call ministry has requirements, and before we take the job we ought to know the job. But not only should we know the job…

II. Know the Costs

Jesus cautions us in following Him. He tells us that before we follow Him we need to count the costs so that we don’t quit growing as disciples and being faithful to our calling when things get too hard.

Luke 14:26–33 NKJV

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

There is a cost associated with following Jesus.

What exactly does it cost?

A. It Costs Our Will

When we consider the work that God has for us, we need to understand that God has given us everything that we need to do the assignment that He has for us.

We’re not all going to have the same talents and abilities…we’re not all going to have the same perspectives and gifts…God has made us unique so that we function as a living organism and not as a lifeless organization.

Paul, in other areas of Scripture often writes about functioning together in unity with one mind.

The reason that this theme repeats itself is because far too often we let our will and our desire dominate how we function.

But the Bible says that if we want to follow Jesus, then it is going to cost us our will.

2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

What does it mean when it says vessel?

It simply means that we have to be empty and available for God’s filling.

But we can’t be empty if we’re always trying to get our way.

The reason that God will not use a person that is full of themselves is because the power is of us and not of God, and that’s contrary to what Paul writes in v. 7 that we are to be empty vessels so that God can fill us with His treasure, and then our power will be from God and not from ourselves.

The truth is that we need Him.

And when we get the impression that we can do things without Him then everything that we do is powerless and it ends in defeat.

2 Timothy 2:20–21 NKJV

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

What is it that we need cleansing from to become a vessel of honor?

We must be clean of faithless living and we must be clean of preaching a gospel or declaring a truth that contradicts God’s Word.

When you’re counting up the costs of ministry…know that it costs your will

B. It Costs Our Rest

We find rest in Jesus, that’s true. But that’s an inner peace that He gives that surpasses all understanding. That means that others will look at us and wonder how we can handle the trials and the pressures of life…it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to be tired.

How many of you know that faithfully serving in a ministry can be exhausting?

It’s hard, and it costs us our rest…but the beautiful thing about it is that we are trading our physical rest for the joy of Jesus Christ and service to Him.

You will not have an appropriate amount of joy unless you serve God free from compulsion and free from guilt. To serve the church out of compulsion or guilt is going to leave you exhausted both in your spirit and physically.

But to trade your physical rest for the joy of serving the Lord will leave you strengthened for every trial.

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NKJV

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

The reason that Paul was able to write these words is because he was able to endure the trials of life and the persecutions of the enemy. But it wasn’t in his strength that he did these things.

Paul says that he is an empty vessel so that the power may be of God and not of himself.

Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is not a meaningless statement like we see it used so many times…Paul wrote this from his chains which he got because he dared to preach the name of Jesus Christ.

Do you think that Paul was tired?

We know that he was tired…it was evident in his life that he was ready to just go home and be with Jesus, but he knew the costs of the job…and he knew that it was going to cost him his rest…

Here is what Paul writes about his longing to go home and be with the Lord.

Philippians 1:23–24 NKJV

For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

He is so physically weak and so tired…he knows that the end is near…and yet his joy is overwhelming. So much so that he would choose to stay in his prison cell than to be instantly brought into the presence of God.

That’s not the power of a man and those are not the words of a man…but that is the power of God speaking in and through a man.

That means for us that God’s power is available to us also.

Though we may labor on and grow physically weak, I pray that as you serve in the church that you do it in God’s power so that your joy may be full.

This job will cost your will, it will cost your rest…

C. It Costs Our Life

When you signed on with the Lord you signed yourself over completely.

That means from here on out everything that you do in your life must revolve around His will and His ways.

2 Corinthians 4:10–12 NKJV

always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.

That is, our sufferings and the death that we die when we accept the Lord Jesus is the way give life to other people.

death here doesn’t necessarily mean Paul’s physical death even though that would certainly apply…but this is death personified.

And that is to say that when we die to our will and to our ways, we are used by God to give life to other people by effectively ministering to them just as Paul did.

One thing that we can be sure of, is that if we are doing things in and by the power of God…no matter how tired we get, no matter how perplexed we are…He will sustain us and He will use us to give life to other people by being a living testimony of the goodness of God.

I’ve heard it wisely said that the best evidence for Jesus Christ is the life of a person transformed by Jesus Christ.

When we choose to die every single day…we give life to those around us because we share the treasure of God’s hope here on earth.

We need to know the job…we need to know the costs…

III. Know the End

What makes something worth it?

When you’re struggling to hold on or to complete a task…when you’re trying to change your life and begin a new journey…what is the appropriate mentality to have so that you don’t quit?

The way that we can endure and know if something is worth it is if we know the end result before hand.

Well, when the Bible calls it good news it calls it good news for a reason. The good news is that even though we are at war…even though we will be humbled…even though we live in this body of death…and even though it costs…following Jesus and serving Him is worth it.

If we are to stay faithful to the ministry and complete the task…how will it all end?

A. It Ends With Our Presentation

There is no wrong we could do, there is no trial we could walk through, and there is no darkness that could surround us that would keep us from being presented before God as holy and blameless.

2 Corinthians 4:13–14 NKJV

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

We will, one day and in one place, be presented before God alongside one another and alongside Jesus Christ as holy and blameless.

Ephesians 5:25–27 NKJV

Christ gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

I talked about hope to the youth basketball league. I told them that my ultimate hope in not on whether I win or lose, that my ultimate hope is not on whether I am well-behaved, and that my ultimate hope is not on whether I go to church…but that my ultimate hope is found is the saving work of Jesus Christ.

God has made us a promise, that in the end we will be presented as a glorious bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing…that not one of us that are His will be left out.

Not only will it end with our presentation…

B. It Ends With Our Multiplication

As men and women of God, we are to actively become more like Jesus Christ.

In the process of that, we are to be actively teaching others to be more like Jesus Christ.

If and when the church functions the way that God intends it to function then we will see multiplication happen.

What we are tasked with doing is leading people to Jesus Christ and then teaching them to lead people to Jesus Christ.

And, in the end, you and I will get to see all the ways that Jesus Christ used us to advance His Kingdom.

2 Corinthians 4:15 NKJV

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

What will it be like to be in heaven and see all those men and women that impacted your life for Jesus receiving their reward and throwing it at the feet of Jesus?

It will be an endless line of praise where we are all singing and giving glory to God for everything that He did through us and in us.

It all ends with our presentation, it ends with our multiplication…

C. It Ends With Our Resurrection

All these things so far, from the job requirements to how it all ends serves as an encouragement for us not to lose heart, but to understand that God wants to and is restoring us day by day.

That even as the bodies are being broken and tossed back into the ground, the joy we get from serving the Lord is increasing in us…and that’s not pointing us to this world, but that inner and everlasting joy is pointing us to resurrection of our physical bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

We ought to live our life being filled by God’s Holy Spirit.

We are, at the time that we are saved filled and sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are what is called regenerated. We are cleansed, and we are made alive, and we are made blameless before God.

But each and every day, the Bible commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 5:18 NKJV

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Literally, that is, “be being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

If a drunk wants to stay drunk, he has to keep drinking…if you want to stay renewed and live life in power…you have to keep drinking.

To drink from the Holy Spirit, we have to be that vessel we just talked about. We have to be empty, we have to be cleansed, and we have to be available for service unto God.

This inward renewal that we receive from the Holy Spirit is His guarantee that He is bringing us home to be presented and spotless and blameless is our glorified bodies.

It all ends with our presentation, multiplication, resurrection…

D. It Ends With Our Acceptance

So many Christians live feeling unaccepted, but if they knew that they were already accepted I wonder how that would change their life and their freedom to serve God?

What would it do for you? If you know for certain that God accepts you and that He will always accept you, how will that change the way you live?

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 NKJV

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

I haven’t been through anything that close to what Paul went through, and I mope and complain and I wonder what God is doing…but Paul says that our affliction here is light compared to what is coming.

What is coming is our full acceptance and the warm embrace of God for all eternity.

Matthew 25:21 NKJV

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; Enter into the joy of your lord.’

The joy that we experience internally now will be the reality that we live in each and everyday when we enter Heaven’s gates.