[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of 2 Corinthians, entitled, We Faint Not.
[0:15] It ought to be our prayer that that song be a reality in our lives, and we can thank God that He saves, that He has saved, and that we would pray that God would take the gospel through us all around the world, that He would commission our hearts.
[0:27] So if you would, let's bow our heads and ask God in prayer. What they've sang in prayer for us. Let's bow our heads. Father, I thank you so much for the song that was just sang, and I pray, God, that you would commission our hearts.
[0:38] I pray, God, you'd do a work in us, that we would trust you and believe in you and be hungry to carry your word around the world. I pray, God, that you'd help each of us to talk to the people where we live and the workplace and the neighbors.
[0:50] I pray you'd help us to give out gospel tracts. I pray you'd help us to be soul-conscious and awake. I pray you'd continue to help us to care about getting the gospel around the world. I pray you'd call somebody from our church to go and carry the gospel further.
[1:03] I pray, God, for those that are here this morning that might not know you personally as our Savior, that you would convict them of their sin and show them their need of the Savior. Make the dead alive, Lord, and come and pour out your spirit and power on us, and we'll give you praise for all.
[1:16] In Jesus' name, amen. Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and open them to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. We're going to talk about spiritual leadership and spiritual living today and what the Bible has to say here in this passage of Scripture.
[1:30] 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we're going to read from verse 7, if you would, all the way to the end of the chapter. Biblical leadership and service. And God gives you an opportunity to be serving Him.
[1:40] And there's some Bible truths I think will be a great blessing to you today. Verse 7. Do you look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trusts to himself that he is Christ, let him of himself think this again, that as he is Christ, even so are we Christ.
[1:57] For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed, that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
[2:09] For his letters say they are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. Let such a one think this, that such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also indeed when we are present.
[2:26] For we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.
[2:36] But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reach not unto you.
[2:50] For we are come as far as you to also, for we are come as far as you to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things without our measure, that is of another man's labors, but having hope.
[3:03] When your hope is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.
[3:16] But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, for not he that commended himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. There's a great problem going on in the church at Corinth.
[3:26] There's a great problem going on in the church today, and it has to do with spiritual leadership. The first thing that ought to be seen in this patch of the scriptures, leader of spirituality is often considered to be something external, or on the do level, what I'm doing in my life, and not actually on who I am in Christ on the B level.
[3:44] And so Paul is going to say to them, are y'all looking at things on the external? Much spiritual leadership is thought of as being about a great leader. Many get a position of want to lord it over their brothers and sisters in Christ.
[3:56] Spiritual authority seems to get to the point of building up oneself, rather than lowering oneself to serve others. The things of God work the opposite of the things of the human race.
[4:08] To live, we die. To go up, we go down. To be whole, we must be broken. To be filled, we must be emptied. To get, we must give. And to lead, we must serve. And that's really what Paul is going to talk to us about in this passage of scripture, because there's some guys coming down from Jerusalem, and they're bringing up another gospel, and they're telling lies, and they're messing with people's minds, and they're abusing their spiritual authority, and Paul's going to talk to them about that.
[4:33] So if you would, take your Bible, and go to verse 7 with me. Write down the first thing if you want to. Spiritual warfare and spiritual life are not an external thing. It's not external.
[4:44] That's all you need to write down. It's not about externals. The Bible said in verse 7, Do you look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trusts himself that he's Christ, let him of himself think this again.
[4:56] That as he is Christ, even so are we Christ. The Corinthians are judging Paul based on his external appearance. Look at your Bible. Chapter 10, verse 1. Right there where you are.
[5:07] And Paul says, I beseech myself, I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence and base. Boy, when you see me, you are not impressed.
[5:18] I am not the best looking guy. I'm not the sharpest knife on the knife rack. I'm not the nicest looking guy. And when you see me, I don't come walking in with a lot of power. Fact is, you say that I'm weak.
[5:30] Look at verse 10. First Corinthians 10, 10. For his letters say they are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is contemptible. Paul is not the best looking man of God.
[5:41] He didn't have, he didn't do or have externally what might call attention to him. If the apostle Paul walked in a room, he wouldn't be the guy everybody's going, man, that guy's somebody. That guy's got leadership written all over him.
[5:53] That guy's got the power of God, something special about him. And by the way, when he started speaking, it wasn't that impressive. Paul reminds them that though he might not have the appearance, he is truly a born again, and a man and a servant of God.
[6:08] Look at verse seven again. He said, are y'all looking at the outward appearance? Is that how y'all determine who is born again? Is that how y'all determine who belongs to Christ? Are you looking at outward appearance?
[6:19] See, belonging to Christ isn't about an outward appearance, but an internal faith. Belonging to Christ is a result of what you do, but what he did. Too many people want to think that their morality gets them into a right relationship with God, or at least proves it.
[6:35] The truth is that real salvation is a matter of realizing you sinned against the holy God and do not deserve your salvation. I'll stop just a second and say to you, we're full of cultural Christianity.
[6:47] You think because you grew up in the South, and you think because your mama took you to church, and they told you you prayed when you were two and a half, and you got saved, you think you're a born again believer.
[6:58] And then you think you're saved because, well, you go to church, and you've been baptized, and you dress right, you talk right, you walk right, and boy, you really think that by what's going on on the outside that you're born again. And Paul said, you can't judge if I'm a man of God by looking at the outside, and you can't judge if I belong to Christ by looking at the outside because it's not what's on the outside.
[7:16] You see those guys that came down from Jerusalem, they wanted everybody to get circumcised. That was external. They wanted everybody to get physically cut on, and that would kind of show that they were the people of God.
[7:27] So I'll just ask you this morning, do you realize that true Christianity is that you came to a point in your life one day and you realized that you had sinned against the holy God? Not what your mama said, not what the church said, but you realized that one day you belonged in hell.
[7:42] One day you deserved to go to hell. You realized that, and you said, God, I know I am not worthy to be saved. I know I'm not worthy to go to heaven when I die. And God, I repent, and I turn to you, and I ask you to save me.
[7:53] Now, you need to listen to this. You can't know you're going to heaven because you're the member of a church. And you can't know you're going to heaven because you do a lot of things right. And you can't know that you're going to heaven because you have a lot of externals down.
[8:05] You got to know that you came to a place in your life when you said, I failed God. I sinned against God. Nobody's going to go to heaven without having known they were a sinner. He didn't come to help healthy people.
[8:16] He came to help sick people. And some of us with so much pride won't admit we were ever sick. We won't admit that we were ever sinners. And we're almost overjoyed. Hey, I'm not like everybody else.
[8:26] That makes you a Pharisee, not a Christian. That makes you somebody who thinks you're good, but you're not. And Paul said, hey guys, are you judging on the outside when you ought to be judging on what God's done on the inside?
[8:37] Look at you at 2 Corinthians 10 in verse 3. Paul might live in a body, but he's not fighting battles in the body.
[8:47] 2 Corinthians 10, 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[9:07] We might live in a body, but it's not the body or flesh that lives the Christian life. True Christianity is a matter of the heart. It will affect the way you live, but it will start out in your thought life, bringing all your thoughts into captivity to Christ.
[9:21] That's what is the matter of the B level, to get the word of God in your heart. You know, I try to show you a B, do, serve, train, and what happens? Listen to this. Here's what Paul's going on.
[9:33] Are you guys looking at me on the outside and trying to make a decision based on what I look like? Okay, I'm contemptible in speech, and when you look at me, how my bodily presence is weak, and I don't come down with fancy letters from the guys in Jerusalem, and so you're determining by that that I'm not the man of God?
[9:48] You're looking on the outside, and God's not looking on the outside. So I want to know something. What's going on in the inside of you? Not the face you put on for me at church.
[9:59] Not the face you put on for your Sunday school class or the other believers here. Not what you say with your mouth, but on the inside. Do you know that you were a sinner and that you realize you deserve to go to hell and you put your trust in Christ?
[10:11] If you've never came to that point, you need to do that today. You need to realize that it's not about church. It's not about baptism. It's not about getting circumcised. It's not about being a good guy.
[10:22] It's not an outward appearance thing, but it's something that's an inward part of your body, inward part of your heart, your mind. Go with me to 2 Corinthians 10, verse 8. The second thing Paul talks about, he said, you guys have been judging me on the outside.
[10:35] But then the next thing that's happening was they were using and abusing spiritual authority. They were using and abusing spiritual authority. These Judaizers that came down. And they would remind you of many pastors today.
[10:48] They were abusing their authority and abusing the people that God put them in. Look what he says in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 8. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority. He said, I could brag more about the authority that God has given me.
[11:03] And God gave it to me. He says, which the Lord has given us for edification and not for destruction. I should not be ashamed. And he goes on in the verses that follow there and he talks about, he talks about how they even make fun of him because they say when you come into our presence, you don't have authority.
[11:20] But when you write letters, buddy, you are one scary guy. You can chew us out in a letter and you are really impressive in the way you can write. But when we see you, we're not all that impressed.
[11:31] And Paul says, Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 8, I have authority. It was given to me by God to be a leader, to be a pastor, to be an apostle.
[11:43] He said, and it was given to me to build you up, not to tear you down. And I am the same guy that writes the letters even though I don't look like it so much on the outside. Spiritual authority is very different from the authority Gentiles exercise or lost people exercise or the world exercises.
[12:02] And we don't have time to look at all the verses, but in Mark chapter 10, verses 35 through 45, Jesus gives us a lesson in authority, in spiritual authority.
[12:13] And what happens is, James and John, in verse 35, the sons of David, they come to Jesus and they say, they say to Jesus, kind of like you pray, they said, hey Lord, we want you to do for us whatever it is we want you to do for us.
[12:25] That's a real good way to talk to the Lord. He said, hey Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we desire. God, I come to you in prayer today and I want what I want. And I want you to do what I want and I haven't even told you what I want, but I want to come here and tell you that I want something and I want you to go ahead and tell me now before I ever ask you're going to do it.
[12:44] Jesus said, well what do you guys want me to do in verse 36? In verse 37, they said, well we'd like to sit on the right hand on the left hand. We would like to be big shots in the work of God.
[12:55] We'd like to be big shots in your kingdom. And he says, you don't know what you're asking for down in verse 38. He says, you don't know what you're asking for. Would you be able to drink of the same cup? Would you be able to deal with all the issues?
[13:06] Do you know what you're asking for? If you're going to follow me and you're going to be in my kingdom, do you have any idea that you can handle it? And they said, oh we can handle it. Oh we can handle it. He said, well you're going to have to handle it. It's coming. And then he says, he says, by the way, the other 10 apostles, man, they got upset.
[13:21] They said, look at these J who's going over there and talking to Jesus and trying to get the left hand and the right hand and in verse 41 they were much displeased when they heard what had happened. Then Jesus said this, guys, in my kingdom we don't do stuff like they do in the lost kingdom in the world.
[13:38] We don't do it that way. Those guys, they rule over you. Verse 42, they exercise lordship over the other people. They exercise authority and they walk around and say, hey, I'm in charge here.
[13:52] I'm the man of God. I'm the anointed. I'm the appointed. I'm the man. Everybody needs to know that. I've come here to be in charge. But he said, that's not the way it's going to be with you guys. That's not the way it's going to be in my church.
[14:04] If you want to be a leader in my church, if you want to be a leader in my kingdom, if you want to be a leader in my work, you'll be a minister or a servant. He even says that the chiefest, the guy that's got the biggest, biggest shot, job will be the one who does the most serving.
[14:18] And then he reminds us of what he did. He said, by the way, I didn't come here. I didn't come here to be the big shot. I came to minister. Look at verse 45. For even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
[14:34] So in Christianity and in serving Jesus and following Christ, it's not about how many people you get to tell what to do. It's about how many people you serve. It's not about how many people are under your authority and leadership.
[14:45] And the apostle Paul reminded him of that. And then he said, boy, we could stop on verse 45. You need to stop. You realize Jesus came to this earth not so you'd obey him.
[14:56] He could have done that from anywhere. He came to earth to die for you. Can you say amen right there? He came to minister to you. He came to go to a cross and put on human flesh and to go to a cross and to die in your place and take your sins on him and to become a servant for you so you could be saved.
[15:13] And that's what he did. He came to minister to us and to give his life a ransom for many. James and John want Jesus to do for them what they want. They're seeking authority and rank and privilege in the kingdom that Jesus is going to establish.
[15:26] They say they're prepared and they're ready to pay the price. And Jesus explains to them that's not how it works in my kingdom. Now go with me if you would back to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 8.
[15:36] Here's how it works. It is God who gives authority. Verse 8, 2 Corinthians 10, 8. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority which the Lord hath given us.
[15:47] Spiritual, biblical authority is used, number one, to build up and not to tear down a church. Look if you would at verse 8. Would you want to know this? The Lord has given us for, say the word with me, what did the Lord give Paul authority for?
[16:02] For edification. Would you say that with me? For edification and not for destruction. And so if you got a position, hey, your job is to serve and to build up other people and to help them.
[16:15] It's about not being recognized but about serving other people. Paul writes awful hard letters. He wrote the first Corinthian letter and it was a tough letter. I mean, he did.
[16:25] He said, boys, you guys have messed up big time and he chews them out and he shows them where they're wrong and so some of them are still upset about it. And Paul says, but you know what?
[16:37] In presence, I'm the same guy. And Paul wrote that letter crying. It wasn't his desire to hurt them. It was his desire to build them up. It wasn't his desire to tear them down. It was his desire that they would grow spiritually.
[16:50] By the way, in our church, different ones of us, all of us have some level of spiritual authority. If you're a mother, you have some level of spiritual authority. If you're a dad, if you're a Sunday school teacher, if you're a discipler, God's given you some spiritual authority.
[17:02] Could I remind you of some things? Mature people grow with their authority and cause others to grow around them. It's never about, well, God made me a deacon. God made me a pastor. God, it's not about that.
[17:14] Mature people do not demand respect, but they do command it. Mature leaders can wait on their people rather than rushing ahead and forcing them to do what they're not ready to do. Paul says, you guys have been judging me on the outside.
[17:27] You've been determining I'm not a leader on that, but I've got my authority from Christ. I have my authority from Christ. And there are other guys that are abusing their authority, using their authority. verse 10. Paul says, spiritual living and spiritual leadership are not based on comparing ourselves to one another.
[17:44] Boy, if this verse doesn't fit our society, if this verse doesn't fit normal American Christianity, look what it says in verse 12. We dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.
[18:04] First thing that would be interesting if you got your Bible open is that look at all the themselves in that verse. But then look at this. They commend themselves. Hey, I am somebody. Check me out. I am somebody.
[18:14] You know how I know I'm somebody? Compare me to everybody else in this room. Look at how many people I've led to Christ. Look at how many churches I've started. Look at how much money I give. Look at how much I serve.
[18:25] Look at me and compare me to others. We often want to determine our spirituality by how we compare to other Christians or other ministries. It's like we think I'm a good Christian.
[18:36] If you think I'm a bad Christian, look over at that person. You know, I've always dealt with a little bit of a weight issue. And, you know, I've always enjoyed comparing, but I always choose who I compare myself to.
[18:48] Say amen. In Peru, it was pretty hard because in Peru, there were very few people as big as me, not as tall as me or as large as me or as around as me. But when you come to America and you go to the Golden Corral Steakhouse, or you go to Ryan's.
[19:03] I used to love that. We'd go in there and I'd say, Betty, you think I'm fat? Check out that person. Isn't that how you've been doing your spirituality? I must be saved. I'm not like they are. I must be saved.
[19:14] Look at all the things that I got going on. Even churches like to prove their ministry by their budgets, by their numbers, by their buildings. Commending ourselves will cause us to condemn ourselves or commend ourselves.
[19:29] Because you can easily look around the room and say, well, you know, he seems to be doing better than I do and she seems to have more than I have and God seems to answer her prayers more than he does mine. You're judging, you're comparing yourself with other people.
[19:41] You'll either condemn yourself, you'll come away going, I give. I don't have my act together like all those people do. I give up. I'm just not like them. They are so much better than I am.
[19:52] Or you may come away saying, better than me, nothing. I'm the stinking best thing in this here church and you walk away feeling real good about yourself. And he says in the verse, he said, hey, they're not wise.
[20:03] They measure themselves by themselves and they compare themselves among themselves and they commend themselves based on what they see. Spiritual growth is not based on how I rate compared to someone else.
[20:14] God will not judge me or reward me for how I live or how I serve based on another person. God's not going to say, Austin, let me compare you to this guy or this guy or this guy.
[20:25] God's going to say, Austin, I had a will for your life. Let's see how you measured up to what I was doing in your life and how you responded. Look at verse 13 if you would. Spiritual living and spiritual leadership are based on serving where God has placed us in the ministry he has for us.
[20:41] Verse 13, we will not boast of things without our measure but according to the measure of the rule God hath distributed to us. A measure to reach even unto you.
[20:52] You read those next few verses and you might have a little bit of problem. You might say, well this is kind of confusing reading. So God let me summarize what goes on as you go back and you read that when you get home. See, God gave Paul a measure of ministry.
[21:04] He gave Paul a place, a job, talents, and abilities and that was where Paul was supposed to labor. That was Paul's job. Paul said, hey, I didn't take this job on myself and I didn't extend myself over to another man's place.
[21:18] I'm just doing the work that God has for me. Look here now, listen. See, you're not supposed to be looking around the room comparing yourself because you've got a race to run that God laid out for you and you've got a ministry God laid out for you and so your job is not to compare yourself with another person so you can come in yourself.
[21:32] Your job is to say, God, am I doing what you called me to do? Am I living up to what you have for my life? See, Paul wasn't seeking to do someone else's ministry like the Judaizers but rather the ministry God gave him.
[21:44] He wasn't trying to take over somebody else's ministry. He wasn't trying to make decisions for somebody else's ministry. He wasn't trying to abuse the leadership in some other place. He wasn't trying to compare himself. He was just doing what God had given him to do.
[21:56] Paul simply wanted to live out and be who God made him to be. He's a born-again man. He was a God-called servant. He was serving God and he would do what God had for him to do.
[22:07] And by the way, Paul would never, ever be satisfied. Paul was going to stretch out. He said to the Corinthians, he said, I don't want to boast in what another guy's done. I want to keep looking further out there.
[22:18] I want to go find a place where nobody else is working. I want to keep going further and further. He will later on say, God, tell the Romans, I'm headed to Spain. Can't wait to get to Spain.
[22:29] He's always extending himself. This morning, I want you to know that your ministry is not compared to anybody else's. So you don't need to leave here thinking, I don't know if I measure up, but neither do you need to leave here thinking, I'm better than anybody.
[22:42] You need to leave here knowing this, you serve the Lord Jesus Christ if you're born again. You serve him and he has a job for you to do and the job he has for you to do is not the job he has for somebody else to do and you don't need to be getting into somebody else's job and they don't need to be getting into your job.
[22:56] You don't need to be comparing yourselves or commending yourself. You just need to be doing this. God, I want to serve you. I want to be where you want me to be. I want to do what you want me to do. I want to live up to what you have for me to do. Last thing, spiritual living and spiritual leadership seeks the Lord's approval, not man's approval.
[23:12] Look at 2 Corinthians 10, verse 17 and 18. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is a prude, but whom the Lord commendeth.
[23:25] We're not to glory in our ministry or our spiritual life. Look at this. We'll get this. Wait just a second. Man, as Americans, you know what we glory in? We glory in how much money we have. We glory in how wonderful our family is.
[23:37] We glory in how spiritual we are. We glory in how healthy we are. And we glory basically comparing ourselves to somebody else. But here's what he said. Your glory is not to be in money or things.
[23:48] Your glory, you're to glory in the Lord. You're to glory in the Lord. You're to be like, I love Jesus and I want to serve Jesus and my life's all about Jesus and I want to honor him.
[24:01] And it's not about me comparing myself to somebody else or getting another thing. I want Jesus to be pleased as I serve him. We're not to glory in how we compare to others. We are not to glory in ourselves, who we are or how we look or how much we do.
[24:15] We are to glory in the Lord Jesus, who he is and what he has done. Our heart is to seek the Lord's commendation, his blessing, his being pleased with our work.
[24:27] I want you to look this way just a second. Here's the story of the chapter from seven on down. They judged Paul based on externals and they didn't think Paul was maybe even saved and he definitely wasn't a leader.
[24:39] And Paul says, I am Christ. I am Christ. You might not can look at me on the outside and know that I am because it's not an external. And I remind you again this morning, it's not about the externals.
[24:51] I worry about people in the southeast. I worry about people in our church. I worry about how many of you really think you're saved because you got down some externals. I really do worry about you.
[25:02] I worry about how you think, well, I'm saved. Good night. My mama was saved and my daddy was saved and my grandma was saved and I go to church, don't I? And I give money, don't I? And I don't, and I don't, and don't I do that?
[25:13] Yes, I do. And you think that got something going. We're not to glory on things we do. We're to glory on what Jesus did. It's not what I did. It's what, or what I do, but it's what Jesus did.
[25:25] And then I want you to know that you have been given spiritual leadership. Boy, what an awesome thing. Paul was talking about his leadership and Paul was talking about how he ought not abuse a church and that ought to help you in one day when I step out of here as the pastor and you pick somebody or if I step out of line, it ought to help you to know, hey, a pastor's not supposed to cross those lines and a pastor's not supposed to be abusive and a pastor's supposed to be a servant and the day I quit doing that, somebody needs to call my hand at it.
[25:52] And when you choose another pastor, that ought to happen. But can I just remind you that happens at your house? That happens at your house, mama. You can't make spiritual decisions for your family, but you ought to be motivating them.
[26:03] You ought not be comparing them and commending them. You ought to be pointing them to Jesus. You're a husband. You're a Sunday school teacher. Whoever you are, be careful. Be careful to not abuse the spiritual leadership that God has given you and the place he's put you.
[26:17] Don't be comparing. Don't be comparing. Comparing will only make you feel really bad or really good and both ways, you'll be really wrong.
[26:29] It'll make you feel really good or really bad, but both ways, you'll be really wrong. You know, when I compare myself to Jesus, I don't do too good. But when I compare myself to some of you, I do real good.
[26:40] And when I compare myself to some of the others of you, I do really bad. And I could walk out of here saying, man, them people at Vision, man, they got it together, don't they? I don't think I'll go back to that church. They seem to have it together.
[26:50] Well, let me just see. The key word is seem to have it together. They really don't have it together that much. It's not us having it together. We don't compare ourselves and we don't commend ourselves and we don't believe that we are any of that.
[27:04] And we serve where God has placed us. Everybody in this room, boy, I had no idea what song Ed had picked out, but Ed picked out a great song, You Ought to Be, saying, God commissioned me to care about souls.
[27:16] God commissioned me to get the gospel around the world because everybody in this room has a position just as important as everybody else. There's no bigger position and no lower position. There's no, boy, I'm a missionary, don't I compare real good?
[27:27] There's no, I'm a pastor and that makes me better. There's no, I'm just a church member or I'm just a sender or I'm a goer. Hey, we don't compare it. Here's what we say. We say, God, where did you place me? What abilities did you give me?
[27:38] What job do you have for me to do? I want to do the work where you place me and I won't, last of all, most of all, boy, I want him to be pleased with me. I want his approval.
[27:50] If you approve me or disapprove me, it's not that important but that Jesus approved me and commend me, that's very important. Have you been focused on externals and not on what's happening in your heart?
[28:04] You know, externals make you feel good, make you feel bad. Have you been seeking to exercise authority with the wrong motive or the wrong purpose in your home or in the church or anywhere else?
[28:14] Are you comparing yourselves with others so you feel good or bad about yourself and your ministry? It's amazing. Well, I come to more services than they come to. I give more than they give.
[28:25] I pray more than they pray. And boy, don't I rank up there somewhere. Are you seeking to do what God gave you to do? Get your eyes off the rest of the people in the room and focus on what the Lord Jesus is doing in your life, in your heart, in your ministry.
[28:39] Whose approval are you seeking? Listen to this. This church might say, I believe they're saved. And I might as pastors say, boy, you're one of the best people I know. But it really doesn't matter what I think.
[28:50] It's the Lord's approval. Are you born again? You'll stand before him someday. And I don't care how the Americans judged you and I don't care how the church judged you and I don't care how you judged you.
[29:02] Here's what it's going to come down to. Does the Lord Jesus recognize you and commend you? And in the ministry you've been given. What's your goal? Your goal in the ministry you've been given is to please Jesus.
[29:15] Paul said, let's be honest with you, those guys that come down from Jerusalem, they may have some man's approval and they may have come down with some letters, but the Lord's pleased with what I'm doing and I want to please him. That's the goal of your life.
[29:26] Where are you today? Where are you? Are you born again? Are you saved? Do you know you go to heaven? Are you serving like you ought to be? What's God doing in your heart? Would you bow your heads with me for a word of prayer? Father, I thank you for the opportunity to be in your house.
[29:38] I thank you for the opportunity to talk to your people. I pray God that you might save those that need to be saved in this room and I pray God that you might cause Christians in this room this morning to serve you and honor you and magnify you.
[29:50] God, bring glory to your name. God, lift yourself up and I will give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church.
[30:05] For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com. www.visionbaptist.com access to one newώνac