Approved Preachers - Part 1

Will you please turn with me here this morning to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 in the New Testament. Chapter 6, sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And I'm going to read from verse 3 to verse 15. I'm starting a new short series. I'm going to preach three messages on a short, decisive series. And I don't want to lose any of you. As soon as I tell you what it is, some of you will say, that's got nothing to do with me. So I have to prompt you, have to get you into it, and draw you in. Because it's got everything to do with you. I want to preach three messages called, A Call to Preachers. So immediately you may say, but I'm not a preacher. I don't want to be a preacher, I have no intentions. You might marry a preacher and you don't know that yet. God can call you to be a preacher and you don't know that. Do you realise that? This is a very real thing. But you know more importantly than that, if you're going to be in a church, a preacher will affect your life. Who you listen to, what example you follow, who you get influenced by, is going to affect you. Not for time, but for all eternity. I would encourage all of you, that you all need to understand the calling of a preacher. The character of a preacher. The message of a preacher. The methods of a preacher. The life and the inward working of a preacher. And how the ministry of preaching works in the church. If you don't begin to understand a bit of that, you will miss out on an awful lot. You really will miss God. And so I want to preach three messages. I'm going to start this morning by a message called Approved Preachers. And then next week we've got a guest speaker. Then I'm going to preach two messages again on preaching. And in one of those services, we're going to set Brother Soph aside for ordination as an elder in this church. So these three messages are in around that. That we get an understanding how preachers and preaching affect our lives. Affect our children. Affect our families. Affect our eternity. I hope the weight of this comes upon us. Not just to prospective preachers, either online or sitting here. But I hope we all begin to understand that. Then after preaching these three messages, we're going to go into three weeks of the Bible School of School of Christ. Where we'll have 30 to 40 students coming in from 12 nations. And we're going to be locked in here. In this room. In this church. Throughout most of 20 days. Praying. Sitting under the Word of God. Fellowshiping. Seeking after the will of God and the plan of God for our lives. But I want to start here this morning. 2 Corinthians. You won't believe how many points I've got this morning. You're going to be really shocked. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And listen again. My message this morning. Approved preachers. Are preachers that are approved. It doesn't make any sense yet. But it will do. When I take you to this message. Read in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Verse 3. Giving no offense in anything. That the ministry be not blamed. But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. Notice what he lists here. These are all my points. In much patience. In afflictions. In necessities. In distresses. In stripes. In imprisonments. In tumults. In labors. In watchings. In fastings. By pureness. By knowledge. By long suffering. By kindness. By the Holy Ghost. By love unfound. By the word of truth. By the power of God. By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. By honor and dishonor. By evil report and good report. As deceivers and yet true. As known and yet well known. As dying and behold we live. As chastened and not killed. As sorrowful yet always rejoicing. As poor yet making many rich. As having nothing and yet possessing all things. Will you pray with me here this morning. Father we ask that your Holy Spirit would lead us into the truth of the word of God. That you would open up these verses that are so rarely dealt with or preached or taught. So little meditated upon or considered. But we are asking you in your presence. Under your instruction. We are asking that you would lead us into the word of God. That you would speak to us O God. Especially every preacher. That God would raise up in this house, this church. Nor God even those online that would listen to messages. As they go out or afterwards. In other nations and cities. We pray O God. Raise up a generation of preachers. Of labors in the field. Of servants O God that have been molded. By the Holy Spirit and the written scriptures. My God we are asking of you now. For the spirit of life to quicken. And alive in every member. Nor God of this body that would listen to the word of God. Nor God teach us what a preacher is. Teach us what real ministry is. Nor God show us the very character of a preacher. Nor God show us the high esteem that you put on ministry. Ministry isn't just a gift. And ministry isn't just a thing to be sought. But Lord God it's something to be cultivated of a godly character. Nor God we are asking that you raise up approved preachers. Approved ministers of the most high God. Nor God we are asking of you right now. Nor God show us the proof of what a real preacher is. Nor God we are asking of you. We are tired of false preachers and false prophets. We are tired of those that fall into immorality. We are tired of those preaching heresy. We are tired of those that have no character. No death to self. No denial of their own ambitions. But oh God we are asking again. Raise up and revive real preachers of the word of God. Who can approve themselves unto this generation. In the light of God's word. In Jesus name. Let Christ be glorified in his church one last time. Amen. Amen. My message approved preachers. If ever we needed approved preachers it's right now. Hell is at the gates. Hell is being unleashed. Demon powers are being released in our world. The like of which we never imagined. There is something coming you can't even imagine. Whatever we are going to do we have to do now. We need preachers in this hour. I mean fire drenched preachers. We need fire holy goose baptised preachers. We need men filled with the word of God. We need men filled Lord with the knowledge of the living God. It says here in verse 4. And this is our text here this morning. But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. In much patience. In affliction. In necessities. In distresses. Etc. This is where I get my message. The apostle Paul says. But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. He was a minister of God. That word minister is the Greek word diakonis. Which means a servant. Either a deacon or a servant. So Paul is saying as a preacher I am approving myself as a minister of God. You know what I'm doing? I'm about to give you a whole long list here to approve myself. Or to commend. Or to show you. Or to prove that I'm a real servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. A real deacon of the Lord Jesus. A real bond slave. A real genuine preacher. If ever you needed to know how do you tell the difference between a real preacher and a false preacher. You've got to do it now. You know why? You know why deception is about to get worse. Deception is about to get so bad that you won't even be able to judge with your eyes. Or your ears. Or your experience. Or all the knowledge of your brain. You won't be able to do that. Deception is about to go into realms you can't imagine. And so I'm preaching these three messages on a call to preachers. I am calling on preachers. You may not preach for some years. Some years it could be the worst thought in your mind. And yet one day you're going to preach. The Spirit of God is going to lay his hand upon you. Someone listening to this video is going to know the call of God is upon them. Either they're in mature ministry or stepping out into it. Or maybe he will call them in the days ahead in a way that they could never imagine. Back in verse 1 here Paul speaks about workers together with him. So he's building up a picture of what a minister is. A minister is a worker with God. He is a servant of God. He's not just a title. He's not just in a position. He's not just got fame. He's not only got riches. He's not only got your attention and a pulpit. Oh no, he is a servant. He is a bond slave of the Most High God. My message has been named after this text. But in all things, that's a big statement, all things. In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. If you're a preacher, if you're called to ministry. Can you this morning say that sitting here, standing here. That you can approve yourself. Or prove that you are fit to be called a servant of God. Can you lay out a long list of testimonies. Of characteristics. Of things that are a part of your life. And say by this I prove that I'm a real preacher. What a high estimate we have in the ministry in this church. We really do. Because this book does. This book has a very high view of ministry. I don't care about titles. Or positions. Or certain pulpits. Or crowds. I don't care about that. But I've got a very high view of ministry. Let me start taking you into this. And I'm going to have three points here this morning. But I just want you to understand this word. Approved. That Paul uses here. He says but in all things approving ourselves. So Paul is doing this to himself. It's not God approving him. It's not others approving him. But Paul says as a minister. At this stage. At this time. I'm approving myself. But what does approve mean? What is it that Paul is approving? Listen to what it means. The word approving is elsewhere in our New Testament. Translated commending. This is what the word means. Union together with. To draw together lots of different things. And make them to stand together. Unitedly. It means to line up all the facts. In support of something. Or it means bringing together all the information you need. To make a certain argument. It means to put it all together. Keep it all together. And then when you've got it all together. You start making contrasts. With it all. In other words you're making something visible. Bring all these points together. And he gives a long list of them. And when you have all this information together. Then start arguing. And present your case. Like you would in a court of law. It means to put together things. In order to teach. By combining them. Or comparing them. It means to show. To prove. To establish. Or to exhibit. Are you beginning to understand what Paul is saying here? He says. But in all things. Approving ourselves. As the ministers of God. In other words. A minister has to gather in all the facts and figures. Of who he is. What he is. What he does. What he has done. Where he's been. Where he is now. Where he's going to go. He puts all these things together. And he begins to prove. Or to show. That he is a real servant. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying here is. I'm going to give you facts. Evidence. I'm going to give you convincing proof. To confirm. That it's right. That I'm called a true minister of God. Or a preacher. Or a leader in the house of God. Notice he. That he is saying approving self. God isn't doing it. It's in this verse. It's not God approving him. It's not Peter. Or the apostles approving him. It's not the churches approving him. Paul here in these verses says. I'm going to prove myself. A day comes in a preacher's life. And I wouldn't expect this of a new preacher. Or a new elder. Or a young man. But a day comes. When you're going to have to stand. And prove. That you really have been a real preacher. All the attributes that has to be there. All the evidence has to be there. You don't ask this of the youth. You don't even ask it of someone with initial experience. We're talking about approving yourself as a preacher. Or a minister. Not by your gift. Not by souls one. Not by your skill. Not by your knowledge. But there's certain other ways to experience this. Or to know this. I expect more of a mature preacher. Or a mature elder. Than one just starting out in this. Or being set into the task of eldership. I expect an awful lot more. Because with time. And trials. And testings. And experience. A lot comes out of that. A lot grows out of this. What I was when I first preached is not what I am now. I was in character. I was in message. I was in desire. But I want to tell you. There's been a lot of experience. Or let me say it another way. I was the very same man when I first stepped out in ministry. The very same. With the same motives. The same desires. The same purity. The same convictions. But not with the same experience. Experience takes time. The evidence that I'm a real preacher. I once turned up to a church. The pastor was going away in Wales. And he had his old elders. I was a young guy. I'd never met them before. He begged me to preach. I went there with a, Thus saith the Lord. From the Lord. I'm in a word from God. I had a message burning. I was prepared. Prayed up ready. And as I walked into the church. The elders stand there. Looked at me. They looked at each other. And they frowned. They said. Who are you? I said. I'm the preacher. Your pastor. Brought me in to preach. They looked at each other. Said. No son. You don't need to bother. We've got a message. I can preach. Instead of you. I said. No, no. It's okay. I've got a message. They done everything to talk me out of it. And then as soon as I began to preach. They went. He's a preacher. He's a preacher. God is speaking through him. You know. They didn't think it. By looking at me. You see. That's where the proving. Are commended. Is used. In certain ways. In 2nd Corinthians 3 and 1. It says again. Same book. By Paul. We do not begin. Again. To commend ourselves. What's he saying? We are not proud. Or boasting. There's a way. You don't commend yourself. Or boast about yourself. Or talk about yourself. Or list out your. Attributes. And there's time. So that Paul says. We do not begin. Again. To commend ourselves. You know. Who we are. We don't need. To start boasting. Or trying to prove. You know. Some preachers. Are trying to do that. I've met some of them. And they're trying to prove. They're a man of God to you. If you're a man of God. I would see it. Or they're trying to prove. I've got a message. For this generation. If you had. I would hear it. But I want to assure you. When you're trying to convince me. For 45 minutes. I've got a word from God. I've got a word from God. I get very concerned. About that man. You're trying to sell. Your ministry to me. Why not just preach the word. And if the power of God. Is there. You'll convince me. That's all I need. He says. Or need we. As some others. Epistles. Of commendation. Same word. To you. Or letters. Of recommendation. So commendation. Or approving. Means to give. Evidence. References. Who are. You. What are you. It be like. Giving a letter. Of commendation. I should read it. And go. Okay. I know who you are. It's come from. Another church. I have met you. Before. Now I know. Who you are. Because of what. They are saying. About you. I understand. But Paul says. Look at this stage. I don't need to begin. To commend. And persuade you. Or in 2nd Corinthians. 5 and 12. He says. For we commend. Not ourselves. Again. Unto you. And give you occasion. To glory. On our behalf. We're not going to boast. In ourselves. There are many times. We must not. Commend ourselves. And yet. There's a right time. To commend yourself. There comes a time. When a preacher. Must commend himself. Talk about himself. Testify about things. That no one would know. Otherwise. Do you know when it is? Well it's given in the text. In verse 3. And it's given. I've given you verse 4. Our text. But verse 3. Before it. Listen to what it says. Giving no offense. In anything. That the ministry. Be not. Blamed. In nothing. Do you know what these preachers. They're to give offense. In nothing. In nothing. So that the ministry. Is not blamed. Do you know when a preacher. Fails. You know what gets blamed. The ministry. Preaching. The pulpit. You see. That's a tragedy. Of a man. Called a preacher. If you fail. Morally. Biblically. Doctrinally. Oh yes. You. You will get a finger. Pointed at you. But that's nothing. You bring. Reproach. On the ministry. I was in. Church. At 15 years old. And the preacher. Fell for a woman. That my parents. Warned him about. Many years before. He starts. Stealing. From the local. Shopping centre. He started doing. Many other things. And you know. At 15 years old. What I done. I cried. On to God. And I said. Oh God. Never. Use me. If I'm going to bring. Dishonour. On your name. Never. Never do. I never. I would rather. Not be used of God. Than to dishonour. This pulpit. You know why. Because when a preacher. Fails. Two things can happen. He gives offence. To people. He trips them up. He hurts them. Young believers. Backsliders. Those. Sinners. Who want God. And so when a preacher. Fails. It causes. Many. To trip up. Many. Many. To fall. Away from the faith. But also this. That the ministry. Be not blamed. So you know what. Why. Is Paul. Dealing with this. He's given you. An entire list. Because he says. You know what. We don't want. To offend anyone. We want. Preachers. Approved preachers. Qualified preachers. Preachers of quality. You know. Who are not going to trip people up. Who go back to that world. You know. People have left churches. And said. I'll never be back in a church again. You know why. Because of some Christian. Your words. Your actions. Your attitude. Someone comes into church. Some sinner. And some Christian comes in. Some mature Christian. Says. That's my seat. Fine. Have your seat. I'll go back to that world. They wouldn't speak to me like that. In a pub. Oh come. Take the best seat. But you walk into a church. And I know. None of you have done that. I hope not. But I'm telling you. The seriousness. Of this. That we're really. Dealing with. You know. We've got a real problem. In church ministry today. I've heard about it. All my life. It's called. Spiritual burnout. Where a pastor. Or someone. In ministry. Gets so burnt out. So exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. That they leave the ministry. They've got to leave the ministry. In one of those case studies. From 2013. An institute reported. In America. That 1700 pastors. Leave the ministry. Each month. Citing depression. Burnout. Overwork. Loneliness. Isolation. all things. He lists an awful lot of things here. And he says, in all of these things that I'm listing, approving ourselves as the ministers of God. Then he goes through a long list, patience, afflictions, necessities, distresses. And he says, in all of these things. This is the first thing I really want you to notice. They're not all good things he lists. I'm gonna prove to you that I'm a God called preacher. I'm gonna prove to you that I am a genuine minister, servant of Christ. All the things that I'm gonna list to prove that as evidence or facts are not gonna be nice things. In fact, far from it. They're not all about success. I'm not gonna stand here and say, do you know how successful I've been? Have you ever heard me claim how many souls I've won to the Lord? How many churches I've raised up? How many people went into ministry because of me? Have you once heard me mention those things? Not at all. Maybe I've overemphasized the biblical way, which is to talk about your trials and your troubles and your burdens, and I've minimized the other. Maybe I need to balance it again. Notice here, Paul begins in verse four by stating, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God. Then immediately he goes into seven verses packed with facts and contrasts as evidence or proof to show that he is a genuine preacher and minister of God. I want you to notice this. In this list, he gives 28 clear statements. The last nine are doubles and they are contrasts. So he gives 37. You say you've got 37 points. Yep, but I've disguised them as three to keep you on board, okay? But 28 statements he makes. We're gonna deal with nine, then 10, then another nine in three of these points because I've got something to explain here to you. Half of these things that he mentions would never be quoted by a modern preacher as proof or evidence that he is called to preach the word of God. Many years ago, I believe 20 plus 25 years ago, I wrote an article called The Missing Mark of Apostolic Ministry. I wrote it because everyone's talking about apostolic ministry, churches, traveling, miracles. I wrote it on the missing mark. Paul said, a mark that I'm an apostle is death to self. So I wrote an article, The Missing Mark of Apostolic Ministry. Notice in this list that Paul gives us, and I'm gonna deal with these nine marks or contrasts that come at the end of the list. At the end of the 28, I'm taking the very last nine from verse eight to verse 10. These are nine statements about the contrast of a minister's life. A real preacher, that if you ever meet a real preacher and give him a bit of space and patience, give brother Suf a bit of, don't sit down with them around the table and start trying to drag this out of them or sit with the list and say, okay, let's go through this brother. So see how well you're doing. Give the man a bit of space. Do that with me afterwards. I'll be glad to sit with you and we go through. I'm just trying to shelter you brother Suf, you can thank me afterwards. But here you have nine contrasts to show the contrasts of a minister's life. Find a real preacher and you have these contrasts there. They're very strange. What are contrasts? Contrasts are things utterly unlike each other, dissimilar, seemingly they contradict each other and are opposites, yet they're in the life of that one preacher. Both of those things are there, but they seem to contradict. It looks like you should throw one of them out. But Paul says, no, by these two things, I prove I'm a real genuine preacher. They don't seem to match. And there's an obvious difference between the two things. That's why Paul nine times puts two things together. It's to compare them, to show the contrast of a preacher's life. If you're a real preacher, you'll never die of boredom. I want to tell you. And so with this, you compare two things in order to understand the differences and understand what God is saying. So I believe in diversity in ministry. I am not a bored person. I wasn't a bored child. I could never sit at home and just be bored. It's never once happened to me in 51 years. I doubt it ever will if I live to 90. You see, in a real preacher's life, if he's really doing the will of God, there's diversity. There is this richness of things in his life, going on around his life that seem contradiction. So there's no boredom. You know, I'm tired of today's preachers that pep talks, the little talks. Every time you listen to them, it seems like the same message. I get really bored of that. Have you seen our weather recently? We just had three weeks of phenomenal sunshine, the like of which we've rarely seen. Some people were canceling their flights to Spain to stay in Ireland. Can you imagine it? Nowhere better to stay if the sun should shine. So we had three weeks of sun. And you know what? I'm not a gardener. I'm trying to protect and save Candice's garden. I'm watching, in just one season, I'm watching all of our plants in the house die. All of the plants in the garden. I go, they said, just water it, it's dead easy. You can't go wrong. Well, I watered the things. I've done everything. I've been out with a hose during the hot weather. Everything is dying. Suddenly, it was an answer to my prayers. Suddenly, the rain breaks in. And now for a week, we've had nothing but torrential rain. We've got thunder, lightning, like I have never seen in Southern Ireland. All of my life, I've never seen lightning like this. It's all for me. It's my prayers. I want to tell you. But you know what you have in nature? This contrast. Saints, if it was all sun, we're gonna be in serious trouble. If it was all rain, we're gonna be in serious trouble. But this beautiful, radical contrast, extremes coming together. You don't get more extreme than the sun we've had. And now, the rain and the thunder we've had. It is utterly contrasted. But you know what? It does something beautiful. It brings a richness. So these contrasts make a preacher rich in his walk with God. Listen to the preachers of this hour. Boring, pep talks. They play the harp on one string. That's all they do when they're preaching. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Honestly, it'll drive you crazy. It does me. I go, please stop. You don't know how to play the thing. Either add another several strings or please set the thing down. But do you know what? There's something terribly wrong. You're always preaching on self-help. You're always like a coach. Why not go back to the word of God? Why don't you open up the word of God? How can you read the word of God and your messages not have a richness? God, help me. I'm gonna have trouble doing this this morning. Do you know what I told yous before about going to Lanzarote? Paul and family have just gone there for a much needed break. I and Candice went there many years ago. We had about five days. Someone gave us their apartment. We went there. As normal, we look for a church. I told you the story. We had to have a church. We want to have a church. I walked into that church, sat down. The pastor got up to preach. I hardly can call him a pastor. And he began to talk about his cat. And he talked about his cat. And he talked about his cat. And I sat there and I went, I just knew this man is talking about his cat because he's about to preach. And this cat story is very important to it. He never got to the word of God. I heard nothing but the cat. I said, God help me, get me out of this place. Well, that has to be 12 years ago or maybe more. Well, I'm talking to Paul, trying to find Paul a church there in Lanzarote for this morning. And he starts looking. He says, I think I found your cat, man. There's a pastor here. His books are on Amazon. And I went on to look at this. I can't even remember the title. It's hilarious, the title. Maybe it's best I don't have it online. And he said, look, he sent me a picture of the blurb someone had written under this pastor's book. It says, this book was something else. He said, this man talks about nothing but his animals back in England. I said, that's him. That's him. He sent me a picture. I went, that is him. That's the very same pastor. Do you know what? I am telling you real things. Where are the preachers of the word of God? A man who does not preach the word is not in the word, not walking with God. He is blind. He needs to get out of the ministry. I don't mind dull preachers, but if they preach the word of God, I am caught. I am hanging on them. It's not about style. It's about the word of God and the substance. Look what Paul gives about the contrasts of a minister's life. And this is proof that he's a real preacher. Verse eight, these nine couplets, by honor and dishonor. Do you know what he's talking about here? There's times where he is dishonored. And that actually means without dignity, without praise, put on a low place, ashamed or a disgrace. There are times by honor and dishonor. You're dishonored, you're ashamed. People think you're ashamed and a disgrace. Prove that you're a minister, keep going forward. There's other times everyone thinks you're honorable. They praise you, talk about you. You've got a good reputation. Do you know what Paul said? Whether you're dishonored or you're honored. You know what happens to preachers? Nobody likes me, I'm giving up. You never should have been in the ministry at all. Do you know if everyone turns against you, preach the word. If everyone's for you, preach the word. If everyone's getting saved, preach the word. If no one's getting saved, preach the word. You know what that is? That's a testimony you're a real preacher. Are you only a fair weather preacher? Oh, you preach when everything's going good. There's revival, a move of God, things are stirring. What about when everything is against you? Notice as well, he says, by evil report and good report. So there's times where bad reports are going round about you. I've had them in Ireland. I had people end to end in this country saying, do you know he's going from church to church speaking about you? One of the prominent preachers. I said, nothing I can do about that. I'm gonna preach the word. I'm gonna serve God. Bad reports, rumours, false stories, accusations, but they never come to you. So on the one side, you're being treated like that, evil spoken of, but also good report. That means good reputation, your fame, stories going about. Do you know that Malcolmson? You get both. We're gonna find out what sort of preacher you're like. Can you only preach in one of these? Are you strange? Can you only preach amidst bad report or can you only preach in good report? You're not fit to be a preacher if you only preach when there's good report. He goes further and he said, as deceivers and yet true. So there's times where a real preacher, there's gonna be those think he's a deceiver, an imposter, that he's misleading people. Can you weather the storm? Whenever there's theirs going, do you know LCC is a false church? Do you know they're deceiving people? Do you know they're after people's money? They can start bringing that in. What are you gonna do? Get hurt, get offended, get angry, get better? Are you gonna keep preaching the word of God as deceivers and yet true? I know that when I'm being accused of being a deceiver, I am true. I am genuine. I am real. I'm leading people correct. I take time over the word of God. Number four, he says, as unknown and yet well-known. Do you see the contrast of a preacher's life? You need to go through hot and cold, rain and sunshine, rejection and praise. That's what tests you, the contrast. You know, if God's really working on your life, he's gonna change things along the way. There's no fear of God in them because there's no changes. No changes in your life, everything the same for 30 years, there's something seriously wrong. You don't fear God. There's a lack of the fear of God. If there's not these changes that come about to upset the apple cart. He says, as unknown and yet well-known. Do you know some preachers being unknown is the worst thing that could ever happen to them? Devastating. I'm getting out of the ministry. I wanna be discovered. I'm looking for people to discover me, my message, what I've got to contribute to this generation. Why don't people realize what God has given me? You know, that's a very dangerous thing. Paul said, as unknown. I'll prove myself a minister. I'm happy to be unknown. Are you happy to be unknown? As a Christian, are you happy to be unknown? Are you as faithful when you're unknown as you are known? You know, look at a preacher. You suddenly bring him into the limelight. How does he change? Does it change his message, his manner? Does he suddenly get happy because he's out of the darkness of exclusion and non-entity? Do you see what Paul's dealing with here is the absolute importance as dying and behold, we live. Paul went through dying all the time, beatings, dangers, travels. He was always dying. The reputation about him is he's a dying preacher. He won't be around long. He's always suffering. What does Paul say? I'm alive, I'm alive. They might be spreading rumors about me. There was one of Candice's relatives. He died at sea. You maybe heard the story. It was her relative. He came in as a little boy to the funeral as they're burying him. You know what? Some people speak too early. I've had a few people say, Malcolmson's finished. I once had someone very close to me. I sat down, confided in him, started talking to him about my mental condition. He says, you're gonna have a mental breakdown. Went, oh, thanks a lot. I went away, start telling everyone. He then started an attack against me because he went, praise the Lord, Malcolmson's finished. So he started writing emails to me. Now he's gulping and trying to swallow it. Just recently with me, sat down with me, and he tried to backstep and sort of change that it wasn't quite like that. Oh, yes, it was. I've got you in print. I've got you in print. He says in verse 10, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Malcolmson, the devil's having a go on your life. You're sorrowful. No, I lost my wife. What do you expect? Oh, you need to be out of this now. Are you kidding? Your mind's messed up. I am sorrowful. You know why I'm more sorrowful than most? Because I loved her the most. I loved her with all my heart. My emotions are alive and real. I'm not drugged up. I'm not blanking out emotion. I feel pain. I feel sadness. I feel sorrow. I'm a preacher who is sorrowing. I've never stopped rejoicing, saints of God. I went from that hospital bed straight to this pulpit. You know I did. And I come in here, and we started to worship the Lord round the Lord's table. I got down on my knees. You know what? I'm sorrowing, but I'm rejoicing. Some people don't understand that. They say that's a contradiction. Not for the apostle Paul. He can sorrow and be sad, and even despond of life, and yet he's always rejoicing, always in the victory. Do you know what this is? This is a preacher. This is a preacher. All hell is against him. He says, maybe I'm not gonna make it. Maybe I'll give up. Maybe I'm discouraged. Maybe I can't manage. But at the same time, he's rejoicing, and praising, and worshiping the Lord. This is the contrast of a preacher. He says, as per, yet making many rich. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna change everything, and just make, I think, these three into three messages. Because I want you to understand this. I really don't want us to lose this sense of God. It's so important. It's so vital that we begin to understand what an approved preacher is. This is the contrast of a minister's life. It's absolutely vital that you see someone who's called to the ministry. God leads them through so many different circumstances. At times, they're hurting bad, and rejoicing at the same time. At times, bad reports are damning them to hell, and yet other reports are coming, saying he's a hero of the faith. How do you get to work that through your mind? You know, when I was a young preacher, I didn't know how to handle someone approaching me after a message. I just loved God. It was a struggle to preach. I felt depressed for six years after preaching. Six years, I'd preach, try to walk out the door. You see, all the preachers I knew growing up never shared about their battles or difficulties. They didn't do that. I actually, from a young child growing up in church, I went, every preacher is a born preacher, all of them. They just naturally preach. And I went, now there's no faithful preachers left. And God went, what am I gonna do? Oh, no, Malcolmson's the only one left, this little boy. I'm gonna have to use him because he's faithful, and he loves me, and he prays, and he loves the word of God. But is there anyone else? Send the angels out, have a look around. There's gotta be someone. No, Malcolmson's the only one. So he had to call me to preach the word of God. And here I am for six years going, every other preacher's a born preacher. But you know what? I struggle, I wrestle, I cry. As soon as I'd preach, I'd deliver the word of God. I didn't want anyone to speak to me. Let me get to that door. Let me get out of here. I couldn't bear to face anyone. You know, I told some of you guys the other week, there was one old man in that church, and he sat always on the second row. I told him, Brother Jair's not like him, very different. Do you know what happened? You never knew who the preacher was gonna be. And then I'd get up and say, I'm preaching tonight. That man on the second row, that old man, would cross his arms, sigh, and the depressed other looked, and he would just stare at me unless he fell asleep. I'm telling you, for six years, I had to watch him on that second row. I knew I'd never become a preacher if I couldn't get past him on the second row. But thank God on the fifth row was Ivor. Ivor was a remarkable man of God, a man of God, mature. He hated to be asked to pray, but he was a man who walked with God. As soon as I wandered out of that church, he intercepted me at the door, grabbed ahold of me, always encouraged me before I got to that cup of tea. I wanna tell you, he was always there, always drew something out. I felt sorry for them all. You bunch having to listen to this preacher, God help you. Every time I felt like apologizing, but I'd bite my tongue and say, that's not right to do. I'm not apologetic about the Word of God. I'm a preacher of the Word of God. I wanna do this in the will and the purpose of God. But saints, when someone come to me and said, thank you for the Word, I was caught. I didn't know what to do. What do you do when someone comes and says, thank you for the Word of God? I didn't have a clue. I go, if I say, if I accept it and receive it and say, amen, I'll get proud and arrogant. I don't want that in my heart. See, I was tender. I was a young preacher. I didn't know how to handle rejection or praise. But you know what? These contrasts are gonna do something in you. God's gotta put you in the cold, then in the hot. He's gotta put you in the sun. Then he's gotta put you in the rain. Do you realize God is working in our lives? Not just with the preacher, with every Christian. You will be a very boring, very bland, very drab Christian. But when God allows you to go through the trials, allows you to face troubles, you know what? Something happens within you. You begin to mature. You begin to grow. You begin to get a backbone. You begin to understand how to fight, how to master your characteristics or your attitudes or your arrogance or your pride or your jealousy. God will deal with all of that. So the little lady would come, say, thank you. I didn't say anything. When I'm being rude, I can't even respond. I don't want to respond. Don't know what to respond. I can't accept it. I can't reject it. What to do? Then I watched a video of Corrie Ten Boom. That wonderful lady traveled all over the world, came out of the Nazi concentration camps, and they'd done a, this is your life for her. And they brought her all these beautiful flowers. And you know what they asked and said, how have you handled this all through the years? She said something impacted my life now for 25, 30 years. I heard her say it and I went, that's it. She says, you know what to do when people come with flowers or spoken at a meeting or something, and they bring the flowers and they say, oh, Corrie, thank you. And says, thank you very much. And she receives the flowers, receives the praise, receives the thanks. And then she says, as soon as I get alone, she says, I turn, say, Lord, it's not for me. Thank you, Lord. She says, I present the flowers to the Lord and the cards and the thanks and start giving him glory and praise and worshiping him. Says, that means I don't touch it. I know it's got nothing to do with me. It's wrong to say to those folk, oh, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me. I'm just a humble servant. Sure, it's the Lord. Sure, everyone knows that. But you know what? It's right for people to honor things, but you must not. If God's using you, you must not touch that. It will destroy you. The pulpits are filled with half-breed preachers who are touching the glory and the praise. It's destroying them. They've got in the pulpits. They've got people in front of them. They've got position and bank accounts. It's destroying them. They're proud, they're arrogant, they're jealous. They're hurting people. They're blemishing the gospel. It is so dangerous. That's why I'm preaching on approved preachers. We need preachers of character. And you know what? This is so vital, this first point. Maybe you wanna stay till tonight, but I'm gonna cut this short. The contrasts of a minister's life. Number eight, as poor yet making many rich. Paul's saying, I'm poor. I don't have much as far as this world goes, but I'm making many rich, many people. You know, some people would say, I'm poor, I don't have much, therefore I can't touch many. That's the thinking in today's church. We don't have finance. We don't have the resources. I don't have money for a flight. I can't do that. I can't give, so sit here and not do anything. I'm just poor. I have no money. Do you know what? It's your mind and unbelief and your own wickedness that's limiting you. Paul said, we, the ministry of the first century are poor. Peter is poor. You know what Peter said? Silver and gold. Me and John, the beggar is there. He says, look at us, him and me. We have no cash. You're a beggar. Look at us. Set your eyes on us. Silver and gold have we none, but whatsoever we do have, we're gonna give you that. Rise up and walk in the name of Jesus. I saw Oral Roberts in a video with Kenneth Copeland and they're gonna pray for Kenneth Copeland for taking over the ministry. And you know what, Oral Roberts was there with his wife and he began to laugh and he said, silver and gold. We have lots. We have lots. Whatsoever we have. They didn't have much to give to Copeland. I wanna tell you, that man's got very little. Since this was one of the contrasts of the Christian minister. A real preacher may not have money, may not have finance, may not have his own house, may not have a car. First time I met Candice, my car did not impress her. The exhaust is falling off. The oil is leaking. I barely traveled up. She actually, she told me after, said one of her first thoughts is, how does that car ever, ever function? She didn't love me for my car. Neither did God give me messages because of my car. It had nothing to do with it. It's just as long as it gets me there by a miracle of his grace. Then the last thing here, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. You say, but the gospel. If you're a real preacher, you should be financially stable, independent, have all your own resources, have all nice suits, all of the rest. I'm gonna tell you, what did Paul say? Having nothing. The ministry of the first century. What preachers today can say they have nothing? That they're poor. Can you point the preachers out that could honestly say, I have nothing in this world and yet I possess all things? You see, that could damage you if you're a ministry going, what do I get out of this? My heart is broken. 1,500 pastors in America every month, burnout, getting out of ministry. I read some of the reports that said, nobody prepared us in Bible school for this. Nobody taught us this was coming. Brother Soph, I wanna warn you this morning. Do you know what Christian ministry is? There is a contrast. You will have to, there is good things, but you will have rejection as well as acceptance. By God's grace, you as a church will treat them well. By God's grace, and you've treated me well, and you're not a burden to me, and you're not a weight to me, and I'm very grateful for you, and I'm very humbled about you as a church because you know what I've seen? Many churches, I've been in many churches, and I wanna tell you, there's lots of people there, if you had the right as a preacher to exclude, you would, but you've got no right. You've got no right. They're there for the perfecting of the preacher. There's attitudes, words, actions, the like of which you could never imagine in your wildest dreams. If I told you what people have said to me as a preacher, you wouldn't believe it. They actually have the neck to do that, and so this contrast is so vital. God prepares preachers in this contrast. They have nothing, yet they possess all things. Do you know what? I know I possess all things. I possess Paul and Peter. I possess Luther and Wigglesworth. I possess the riches of the kingdom of God. I possess eternity. I possess Christ. I've got all the riches and wisdom and understanding that I could ever need in the person of Jesus Christ. If you're called to ministry and say, I'm serving very hard in the camera. I'm serving very hard in the guitar. I serve hard in putting the songs up in time, and nobody notices me, get a grip. Do you see, you have to learn this, because if anyone's ever done anything in this church, and you're gonna tell me that you've never felt that, or maybe you're a member in this church and go, what about me? I cleaned the table once, and nobody noticed. I passed around the plate three times so far this year, and nobody announced it from the pulpit. Saints, I'm getting really in here to some things, because you know what? When you begin to understand this, it doesn't surprise you what's in your flesh, or what comes to your mind, or what rise up in your heart, but you go, there's my opportunity to deal with that, because this is the contrast that God allows us in, that we grew in, that we become something very worthwhile in. One of the most important meetings, and I'm saying this as I close now, one of the most important meetings I ever was in, in my entire Christian life, was many years ago. It was in Scotland, I was in my 20s, and it was in a small town of Jedburgh. We evangelized there with our exhibition bus. We drove in every week, preached in the open air for six years. We evangelized on the streets. We done door-to-door evangelism, not just in our own town, Hawick. We done all of it, 10,000, 15,000 people in that town. Then we went to Jedburgh. Then we went to other villages. Then we went to other towns. But we went to Jedburgh. We done every door, not just once, maybe twice or three times. We went to every single door. We've got an outreach. And you know what? Everyone's coming back excited. All of our team, several people, they fasted, they prayed, and a number of the church as well. They're evangelizing, laboring, reaching out. They're filled with faith. They're touching God. They've been sacrificing. And you know what? It's getting closer to the meeting in the town hall. And we had the whole thing taken over. Hundreds of seats laid out. How many do you think's coming? Oh man, the amount of people who told me. So it was a bit green in those days. Are you coming to our meeting? Oh yes, I'll be there. Are you coming to the meeting? Oh yes, I'll be there. So we're all coming back on. I just know. Then we had that night. And the other guys are up there. I'm waiting. No one's arrived yet. But you know, we understand that. Sinners will come late. They don't wanna be first. 10 minutes, two. I'll go up and see if they're okay. I got up there. How are you's doing? Anyone? No. Waited five minutes, 10 minutes. No one. You's go down, I'll be down in a minute. I've got a gospel sermon for sinners. And I stand there and go, no one's coming. Not one single soul is coming to this meeting. Not one single soul. I've got an entire church, labors, people have been on the streets, who worked hard, who poured their heart out. And they're about to be so discouraged, you can't even imagine. My heart is in my shoes. And I'm going, oh God, what am I gonna do? I can't preach the gospel message. No, I'm gonna have to encourage them. I'm gonna have to preach another message to them. Do you know what I heard as clear as day? God spoke to me. And this is what he said. And nothing more important I heard, more important than any video that's ever gone out. That meeting was more important than any of the big conventions I was ever in with the greatest preachers. So I stood at that door in Jedburgh, ready to go down those stairs into that city town hall. I heard as clear as day. God speak to me. What are you gonna do now? What are you gonna do now? And at that point I knew, my heart's being so tested. And you know what? I'm gonna either make or break as a preacher standing here right now. Because what I do when it's all like this, we've labored, we've prayed, we've served, and there's nothing. And God's saying, what are you gonna do? Christian, can I ask you, what are you going to do? These are the contrasts that a real vessel that's gonna serve God gets forged, prepared, made ready in. And all the shallow preachers out there with big audiences, that's what is an audience. It's not a congregation. It's a big audience and it's a show and it's a game. Do you know what? You check the character out and you said, prove to me that you're a preacher, a servant of the most high God. What do you think they're gonna tell you? I'll tell you what Paul said. Sorrowing yet rejoicing, having nothing but I've got everything. Evil reports everywhere about me, but there's also good reports. And the good reports are with God. I wanna tell you, saints of God, we want real preachers, real ministries, real heads of homes. We want real families, real godly children being raised up. But we better start with the preachers because if the preachers are wrong, everything's gonna be wrong in this church. And there's no point in me dealing with some little issue in your life if this isn't here in our life. Approving yourselves as ministers of the Lord. Bring together these contrasts. Let's compare them and let's prove, are you a real minister? Do you have these contrasts where no matter whether it's good or bad, dark or light, whether everything's for you or everything's against you, you can show that you're a real preacher. And saints of God, it's not the good things that prove what you are. Anyone can look good when everything is good and you have everything you want. Anyone can minister in that. But what if everything's taken away? Then we see what you are. And if you ever meet a preacher who only gives you all the good reports and doesn't talk about the trials and the burdens and the weapons and the rejections and the evil reports and the slander and the heartbreaking trials they've been through, there's something fundamentally wrong. And I know God can protect you. God help Brother Souf what's gonna happen the years ahead. Do you realize there's things gonna happen with Souf and Hannah and their children the like of which they wouldn't like to know at this time? And that's not a prophecy, it's not a threat. It's not a warning. It's just reality of life. There comes a day where God protects you. He guards you. And he says, okay, are you ready for this? You ready to reserve me? You ready to stand? And God doesn't wanna be testing vessels that are just broken in the night. Will you stand with me here? Lord Jesus. Oh, thank you. Blessed be your name. We worship you. We adore you. Oh, living God, come and have your way. Lord God, this morning. Father, we're doing more than just teaching things. Lord God, we know this is life. This is where the church began. This is where it is right at the end of the age before you come. We realize that you are preparing approved preachers. This is how it's been in every generation, in every nation. You have sought, oh God, you have written down these things in your holy word. We are tired of the false ministry. We're tired of arrogance in the pulpit. We're tired of those that touch the glory. We're tired of those that are making a fortune out of the gospel. My God, we're asking of you again for qualified men that would stand in the preacher's pulpit. We're asking for preachers anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit. We're asking for real God sent preachers that are gonna make a difference in this world. And Father, we do ask as an entire church, not just with the preachers, but with every member. Lord God, help us to be approved. Help us to carry evidence. Help us amidst the contrasts of our lives, good and evil, to show we are Christians. We are born again. We are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Not just when everything is good, but when it's dark, when we seem deserted, bereft of help, when it seems the heavens are locked to us, O God. Lord God, I pray that you'd raise up Christians that labor during the day, that labor at night, that are faithful in season and out of season in serving you in the mighty name of Jesus. Hallelujah.