2Co 6:1 We then, as
workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in
vain.
2Co 6:2
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of
salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is
the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation.)
2Co 6:3
Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
2Co 6:4
But in all things approving
ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in
necessities, in distresses,
Approving means to introduce, to exhibit. Approving ourselves as the ministers of God. In all things exhibiting ourselves as the
ministers of God.
Being a minister means more than just being a pastor. It is also a waiter of tables or a
servant. That is all that any of us are:
a servant.
A minister of the gospel is a servant, they serve the Word
of God on Wednesdays and twice on Sunday.
They serve in other capacities as well.
Eph 4:11
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ:
One of the common things that is brought out is the thought
of being an edification: You don’t want to tear down, you want to be an
edification; build up. We want to
exhibit God in our lives in the way that we live. If we are not doing this then we are coming
up short.
In much patience:
cheerful or hopeful endurance, constancy. Holding to faith for answers to prayer; holding
yourself together in trying times. We
are going to go through trials and tribulations. We need to go through with proper
endurance. We need to go through in such
a way that we can get the good out of it.
Sometimes when you go through certain things you feel the
fight or flight response. When we went
through the trouble with the school job, we thought to take flight. We thought to go to the oil fields. It was not the way to go through that. But at the time when you are going through
the storm, you don’t see that.
When you are in a deep storm or turmoil, don’t make
decisions. Be careful of the decisions
that you make, hold your position.
Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I
will be exalted in the earth.
There were some storms going on in this chapter. There is a time to be still. God wants us to exhibit ourselves as the
servants of God in our patience. Hold
faith for answers to prayer.
Brother Naylor wrote something in one of his books: “Sometimes we as saints have faith for our
brother or sister that God will help them, but when it comes to where we need
help, we are wavering as far as God helping us.”
God is no respecter of persons. God wants you to have faith in Him. He will bring you through if you just trust
Him.
Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Jas 1:2
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3
Knowing this, that the trying of
your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4
But let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall
be given him.
Jas 1:6
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jas 1:8
A double minded man is unstable
in all his ways.
Go through the trial the way that God wants you to so that
you can get the good out of it.
In much patience. In
afflictions: pressure, affliction, anguish, tribulation, trouble... We have access to God that really helps. We don’t have reason to doubt. We can trust God. We have been around long enough to know this.
Psa 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I
will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
God brought me through that tough time and it helped me to
have faith for the future battles. It opened
the door to increase my faith. “Look how
big God was. He will help on this next
step.” We have a God that we can truly
trust. He will answer our prayer if we
live right no matter who we are.
In your afflictions do your best to exhibit yourselves as a
servant of God.
In necessities: There
are times when others need your help because of their necessities. We are in an aging congregation. According to Timothy, if you would study it
out, when you have family it is up to your family to take care of you. But other than that there is a portion of the
weight that falls upon the body.
There will be times that the elderly saints will get a hold
of you, “Brother, Sister I need help. I
cannot handle this myself.” You will get
old someday and will be in a position that you will need help. Exhibit God in necessities. There will be situations where things happen
that are a mess. Exhibit yourself as a
servant of God.
In distresses: narrowness of room. When you are put in a tight spot, (There is
not much wiggle room between a rock and a hard place), exhibit yourself as a
servant of God in tough spots.
Psa 96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto
the LORD, all the earth.
Psa 96:2
Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to
day.
You show forth His salvation by exhibiting yourself as a
servant of God.
In stripes: a stroke, a wound. When you are corrected by your boss in your
job, when you are corrected by the pastor, when you are corrected by your wife
or your husband, exhibit yourself as a servant of God in those cases.
Years ago I read the percentage of people that felt they
were better looking than they were.
People have a tendency to think more highly of themselves than they
ought.
When you deal with stripes: I’ve found sometimes you are
either the hero or the zero. I have been
in both situations. On the job sometimes
there will be people praising you and in just a matter of days, they are
chewing on you. In times of stripes
exhibit yourself as a servant of God.
In imprisonments.
Sometimes there is no way out but to go through. Go through it right.
In tumults: instability, disorder, commotion, confusion, times
of instability. In troublesome times we
have a God that will help us.
Psa 46:1 To the chief Musician for the sons of
Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Psa 46:3
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
There will be times that people will fall away. The earth will be removed. People will apostatize: the mountains be
carried away. The mountains shake: it
causes you to tremble. Though those
times come there is a river the streams whereof will make glad the city of God.
Though things happen, in times of tumult and instability, be
hooked up to the river, to that flow. We
don’t have to be removed.
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten
thousand at thy right hand; but it shall
not come nigh thee.
Though a thousand fall by the side it won’t come nigh
you. We don’t have to fall.
In the times of instability, exhibit yourself as a servant
of God. Stay hooked up to that river and
you won’t have to be removed.
In labors: Be an
example in your labors whether you are noticed or your labors are unnoticed. Remember that you are a servant to God.
Mat 6:3
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth:
According to the scripture we are not supposed to be talking
all that we are accomplishing. I am
convinced that there are labors going on that we know nothing about.
My prayer has been, “God help me to have my allegiance to
you in such a way that it doesn’t matter whether others know or don’t. You are the driving force. We want the labors for God to be what is
motivating us.
In watching: in what we do and what we say, how we respond
to situations.
In fastings: we have reasons to really fast. After the bridegroom was gone was the time to
fast. This is the day to fast. We have reasons to fast. Exhibit yourself as a servant of God in your
fasting
2Co 6:4
But in all things approving
ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in
necessities, in distresses,
2Co 6:5
In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in
fastings;
2Co 6:6
By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy
Ghost, by love unfeigned,
2Co 6:7
By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
2Co 6:8
By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers,
and yet true;
2Co 6:9
As unknown, and yet well known;
as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
2Co 6:10
As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as
having nothing, and yet possessing all
things.
By pureness: do all these things in a way that is pleasing
to God. We have some knowledge; handle
these thigs by the knowledge that we have according to the gospel.
Forbearing one another in love: put up with each other. You may think that you are the greatest thing
that may have come to the church of God but you may have some quirks that
people have to put up with.
You read in Corinthians and think, “Those people had a lot
of problems.” I think that is the way
that people are. There are a lot of
problems that you have to deal with.
There are misunderstandings.
There are apologies that must be made.
There are things that have to be dealt with.
We don’t walk about with halos on our head. There are times that I have had to make
apologies. Yes, God has a holy experience
for us. Today is the day of salvation,
but there are times when our humanity or whatever it is gets us in
trouble.
By longsuffering:
there will be times in necessities when you don’t feel like having long
suffering but there will be a time when you will get old. It is easier for me to help people than it is
for me to ask for help. There will be
times that it is just that way.
By kindness: how do we handle it? By kindness.
By the Holy Ghost: you will need God’s help. It will be hard at times to exhibit God in
some situations. “God please give me
that grace; I am needing God here.” We
are human, we are needy creatures of God.
By love unfeigned, by the Word of truth, by the power of God,
by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.
Your personality may mesh better with some people than with
others. On the left there may be one
that when they make a mistake it is so easy to forgive them. There is another dorky person, like me, on
the other side that you can’t deal with as well. Make sure that you are even. God wants you to be even.
If you don’t understand how, then go for a long walk and
meditate on how God is. He is no respecter
of persons. How would the Lord have you
treat this or that one? If you let the
knowledge of God work on you, you will come out having a clear understanding on
how it is to work with each other.
By honor and dishonor: whether people of the world treat you
with honor or dishonor, exhibit yourself as a servant of God.
You will have some that will give a bad report about
you. You will have people that have a
good report. Whatever the case, exhibit
yourself as a servant of God in that case.
As deceivers, yet true:
people will look at a saint of God as fanatical or a cult: as a deceiver,
but you are not; you are true.
As unknown but known:
I noticed one time while I was in the break room, it was lunchtime and
the men teachers were talking and wanted to get together at the cabin and have
a good time. They didn’t ask me to
go. We don’t fit in with the world.
As unknown and yet we are well known. It is surprising how people know my
testimony, how do they know that I am what I am?
As dying behold we live; as chastened and not killed. Whether people chasten us or the Lord, yet we
are still serving God.
Sorrowful yet still rejoicing. Poor in the vices of the world, yet we have
the ability to make many rich in the true riches; yet possessing all
things.
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