How do you encourage saints to serve? God led you here not just to come and get the word. God led you here to work, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. As today we continue a message entitled Get Involved and pastor. Some of us may hear what you just said and say, wait, wait. God created us to work. Okay, I get it. I am supposed to get up and go to my job Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 or whatever your job happens to be. Um, but what do you. Because I
know that's not what you're talking about. Totally. God created us to do work outside of just our vocation. So what are we supposed to be doing?
Oh, yeah. Well, you know, our vocation is Christian before it's secular. Uh, so, for example, as a matter of fact, it was aired here on Moody Network. There was, and I don't remember which program it was, but they had a nurse on who was in a local hospital here in Chicago and had led almost her entire shift to Christ. Wow. She said something so profound, I've never forgot it. The announcer said to her, so you are a nurse? And she said, no, no no no no no no no.
He said, well, yeah, you're a nurse. She said, no no no no no no no. She said, I'm a Christian disguised as a nurse.
Okay.
I said wow. And then she went on to explain, I'm here at this job, first and foremost to lift up Jesus. And so I'm here to show everybody how Jesus would nurse if Jesus were a nurse. Yeah. And man, I mean, I got to look at her. So you see this goose? Oh, yeah. Now I'm kind of dark, but there, there, there. Yeah. It always brings me goosebumps. And that's the attitude that we have. So. So whether we're in the church or on the job, we understand that we have a work. Yeah. And so I don't
have a dichotomy for it, Steve. Okay. It's it's like, yes, if you're at your job site, you're a Christian lawyer, a Christian doctor, a Christian garbage man, a Christian, uh, laborer, whatever you are, you know, Christian is in the adjectival position which modifies the noun. All that does is tell us that the adjective dictates to the noun and tells the noun how the noun is supposed to act. So I'm a Christian. Whatever. Yeah. And my Christianity dictates. And
so that's what I'm talking about now. And that's not just at the job, but it's extended to the church that God has called each of us to work together. Read first Corinthians 12. Wow. It's powerful. We are parts of a body. And he gives us that analogy, that metaphor We're the body of Christ. So he has hands and eyes and ears and man. So if you're a heart ministry, then do hard work. That's mercy, of course.
The gift of mercy. If you are a mind gift, you know that's the gift of discernment, word of wisdom, all those kind of things. So whatever it is, find your niche and get busy. Bloom where you're planted.
Well, right now we're going to be in Colossians chapter four. So if you can grab a Bible, join us there as we continue a message entitled get involved. Here is Pastor Ford.
We must be resilient. You know what that means. Be able to bounce back from stuff. Man, too many of us wear our feelings on our shoulders. First time somebody doesn't say something or sometimes somebody says something. Here we go. I ain't coming to church no more. Why? Because one ignorant person. So if they sit over here. Sit over there. You ain't gotta sit with them. It's like what would happen if every leader let one ignorant person stop them
from leading? Wouldn't be no leader. You would never have a pastor. Because I'm going to tell you this. Somebody offends me every time I come. Somebody said something to me that's out the box all the time. Emails, letters. You know what I do? I file them in that receptacle beside my desk. That's what I do. Because some people have the gift of criticism. Now, now, if it's if it's if it's a valid comment, I always listen to every valid comment. But but there are people who
they just say things just to hurt you. Yeah. And so I know those folk. And so I don't worry about it. Don't worry about it at all. They they, you know, they come with the territory. You know, if you ain't ready for that, you ain't ready to do ministry. So then he says, stand not just against the evil devil, the evil day, but the every device. And he's talking about resources that the devil has strategy. That's what the Bible calls it, from which we get the word strategy.
And so what we have to do is we have been given the keys to the kingdom. Now, what do keys do? Open gates. And what gates? Already open the gates of hell. So every time hell has a resource, we have a key. Every time hell puts up a gate, we have a key. And then at the end, it says stand at the end. And that is to be resolute. Resolute. That's always ready to fight. So then next line. He
was a fellow soldier, but not a fellow worker. And so he was the one that would charge hell with a water pistol and tell God I'll put it out. He was a fellow soldier, but not a fellow worker. Now let me show you. They go hand in hand. That that that God wants the soldier and the servant to come together. So in Nehemiah chapter 14, here's what Nehemiah says. Let me just read it to you. It says in verse 17, be everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work. With the other hand he
held a weapon. So they had a shovel in one hand and a weapon in the other hand. Nehemiah said, stand on the wall. Be ready to work. Be ready to war. Every Christian is a warrior, and every Christian is a worker Occur at the same time. So then basically then how do you encourage saints to serve? God led you here not just to come and get the word. God led you here to work. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It's time to work, people.
So how do you encourage them? This one verse and like I said, we study it on a Sunday before, but this one verse, listen to it. He says the first thing you do and say to our shepherds. Stop. He says the first thing you do is confront them to instigate them. Confront them, to instigate them. What do you mean, confront them? To instigate them? Where do you get that? And say to Archippus, confront them. To Who instigate them? Say, what are you talking about? Here's here's
what he's. Here's what he's doing. There is what's called an ox goad. Anybody know what an ox goad is? Let me tell you what an ox goad is. It's a long stick that a farmer would use. And at the end, it had a sharp point. And if the ox didn't work, the farmer would stick the ox with the ox. Goad. Stick a stick. Uh, so Paul says there are people who are oxen. That's that's what he likens us to. Why? Because oxen will work. So we're all oxen because we've been given that nature by Christ. Now,
he says, stick em. Instigate them to get busy for me. So he says that that's what we are to do. So what happened? Now get this. Think about this. Everybody didn't have a Bible. So then the pastor got up and said, we have an epistle, a letter from the Apostle Paul, and he reads it. Then he gets to verse 17 and say to Archippus, what do you think happened? Everybody looked at Archippus. Wow. Paul, in the colloquialism of our young people, busted him out, pulled the covers off
of him. Wow. He had been apathetic. And so whenever Paul saw apathy, he dealt with it. Paul always dealt with what he saw in the church. Uh. I'm not I'm not going to. Imma drop. I'm. I'm not going to push him. But in first Corinthians chapter one, verse ten. Guess what Paul saw at Corinth. Division. And you know what he said in verse, in verse ten, it has been reported to me of the house of Chloe. Now
get this. What did he do? He called out the division, but he also called out the person who told him about the division. So that you can't tell Paul something without thinking that you are not going to be held accountable. What would that do in this church if we all had that philosophy that you can't come to me and talk to me about Sister Naomi Sharif, and you didn't go to her first. Did you go to Sister Naomi? No I didn't. Well, then you violated the Bible. You
need to go and go to her. Now I'm going to hold you accountable. I'm going to let her know. Uh, if you don't go to her by Sunday, I'm going to talk to her Sunday evening. Imma let her know you got a problem with her and you need to come get it straightened out.
Alright? Amen. Amen.
In other words, you can't say. They said some people are upset. No, because, you know. And I don't get it. And you want to know why? You know why? I don't get it. Since you're visiting with us today. I sound like I'm fussing, but I'm not. Uh, you know, you know why? I don't get it, sis. Because I don't accept it. No, no. They. Who's they? I can't tell you. Then you can't tell me what they said. Yeah, yeah. Because if there is no accountability, then there's no way
to rectify something. Can't rectify it on they said, because most of the time it ain't they. It's you.
Yeah.
Yeah. And you want this amorphous they. So. Because nobody can put their hands on it I don't want to bust them out. Well, you better if you want to tell me. I don't even want to hear it. I won't even listen to it. And so he did that. What about. What about with sin? First Corinthians five. He pointed out that there was a young man sleeping with his stepmother. What are you trying to say? I'm. I'm
I'm not just doing service. I'm saying when we know somebody's not living right, and they say they're walking with the Lord, we have an obligation.
Amen.
Say, you know, you know, bro, I'm not trying to, uh, get in your video and find out what flavor your Kool-Aid is, but I have to, because we're brothers in Christ. What you're doing is an affront to God, and it's a blight on the name of Jesus Christ.
There can be so difficult to hold each other accountable. But what a powerful reminder from pastor for that. We're called to do just that. You're listening to a message entitled Get Involved. Taken from Colossians chapter four. And we're going to continue this teaching in just a moment. You know, I know over the summer months, some of us might be traveling. Maybe you've got family vacations or other trips
coming up. You want to make sure that you don't miss Pastor Ford's teaching, or you can always listen to each and every broadcast online. Come to Treasure Truth Radio org. There you can stream programs, download mp3's, or order copies of the broadcast on CD. Again treasure truth radio org. Here is Pastor Ford.
How about when somebody was slack? Second Timothy six he said, hey, it's like they're not holding up their their end of the bargain. Nehemiah did it. You know what he did? He he talked about everybody that was working on the wall. Chapter three. Didn't you know what he said? Some of the nobles won't work. He pointed it out. What are you saying? We going around sin sniffing? No, we're holding each other accountable. And so he says, confront him. Now
notice something with me. Notice, first of all, letter A under Roman numeral one. Confront them to instigate. Say to Archippus it's spoken confrontation. It's spoken and say to Archippus it's spoken. And so the word is and spoken, not prayed about, not gossiped, not alluded to. Say is the word logos. Say logos. What does it talk about? Logos speaks of the content of what you're saying. So in in essence he's saying, listen, listen, uh, you know, pastor,
I'm praying about it. You've been praying about for five years. When are you going to do something? And so here he's saying, listen, it's spoken and say to Archippus, we, you know, why is it we talk to Lottie, Dottie and everybody except the person, why we do stuff like that? We need to stop. So it's spoken, but then it's specific. That's letter B, it's spoken confrontation. It's specific confrontation. Say,
what do you mean? Say to Archippus. Paul says, say to him not to the board, not to the elder, not to the deacon, not to the brother, not to the sister, not to the pastor. They mama, they daddy, they sister, they brother. Say it to them. Say it to them. You know, I haven't seen so-and-so in a long time. Okay, so you're telling me, did you call them? Did you try to find out what's going on with them? Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Where's the accountability for one another? Cuz Imma tell you something.
We don't always mean what we say, do we? You know, they say usually means I heard it from at least one source. But everybody must believe it. You know this needs to be done. Usually means I'm not going to do anything about it, but the church ought to. I heard some criticism. Usually means I'm against it, but I don't have the nerve to state my belief. How about this one? The whole church is upset, which usually means 2 or 3 loud mouths have turned loose their venom.
You know, doing this might bring some criticism. Means I know it should be done, but it takes too much effort for me to do it. How about this one? If my memory serves me right, here's what it really means. I'm going to say something I'm not sure of whether it's true or false, but if somebody discovers I'm wrong, then I can always blame it on the fact that I didn't remember. Preacher I'll be there if I'm not providentially hindered. Usually means if I'm not there, blame God.
I'll come every time I can. Usually means if I don't have something better to do, I'll be there. I won't promise, but I'll do my best. Means don't expect much out of me. And so on and on and on. Hey, I know we're talking about this, but I'm still studying. The question usually means I want to stay in a position that I can agree with both sides. And so here notice it's a responsibility. It's the responsibility of the body to encourage the body. It is not my job alone.
So I tell you all the time, if you see somebody missing call the office. You know I haven't seen brother or sister so and so in a long time. So that somebody can get in touch with them and find out if they need some help. Hebrews 1024 he says, provoke one another. The word is paroxysm, from which we get, you know what a paroxysm, a paroxysm is, right? When somebody has a paroxysm, it's like an epileptic seizure. It just comes on suddenly and here he's saying it's like
a sudden outburst. You know what a mother Eagle does when she wants her eaglets to fly before she does that? Before she does that. Because she. What? She pulls out all of the feathers and everything that made it comfortable. Because she makes it out of thorns. And then if they don't get out, she turns the nest over. But usually all she got to do is take out the animal skin and and all the things that made it comfortable and soft. And when them baby eagles sit down
and get stuck, they they try to fly away. I got to get.
Away from here. I thought mama loved me.
But it's time to fly. Come on. Come on people. It's time to fly. And here's what I hear all the time. Well, I don't think I know enough. Who said you had to know enough? Who said that? The woman in John chapter four. And so what happened? I'll tell you what happened. She got saved and then went to Moody Bible Institute and took the course in evangelism, then went back to the city and said, uh, the Roman road said, is that what she did? No, she
got saved. And she went into the village and said, come see a man who told me everything I ever did. That's what he did, huh? Yeah. So you don't need a whole lot. Here it is. Secondly. Secondly, says confront them to instigate them. Notice. Secondly, challenge them to involvement. It says it say to our churches, take heed to the ministry. The word is depot. It literally means to look to something. In other words, here's what he's telling. Here's what he's telling us. Archippus. He was the pastor
of this church. Something caused him to look away from the ministry. And Paul says, tell him to look back. Look at what God had committed to his care. We'll see that in a minute. So something had turned him away. Some decision. Maybe somebody damaged him. Maybe some board meeting got out of hand. Maybe he felt like he was unappreciated. Maybe he was doing too much. Maybe he was trying to make up for some of the 50% that was doing nothing. And so. Sometimes we have to realize like
Habakkuk had three chapters one, two, three. And so you look at the book of Habakkuk and what you'll find is chapter one. He's looking at the storm. Chapter two he's looking through the storm. Chapter three he's looking above the storm. Now you have to ask yourself, what are you doing right now? No, no, I'm not talking about your neighbor. I'm talking about you in terms of your
ministry involvement in this assembly. Are you looking at the problems you're looking through, or are you looking beyond because I submit to you? Unless you're looking beyond, you'll never make it. Because the only way to make it is to look beyond, to see what God has called us to do, that we haven't finished.
Pastor James Ford Jr and a message called get involved while you're listening to Treasure Truth. And I hope that as you've been tuning in, you've been discussing these messages with someone who can help you take these lessons that you're learning and figure out how to apply them to your life. You know, treasure truth exists to make a difference in your life. We don't want you to just
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I'm Steve Hiller, our producer is Amy Rios. Join us Wednesday on Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.