Commendation Considerations

I would like to read with you for a few minutes in Matthew's gospel in chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9 and verse number 36. Matthew chapter 9 and verse number 36. And what I would like to draw your attention to at this particular juncture of the meeting is I just want to help you to review some factors which should influence you if you are interested in the full-time work of the Lord in the gospel.

Obviously what we have just listened to should touch a chord in the heart of every believer here today, whether or not God ever gives you that privilege to be involved in the full-time work of the Lord, and even the wonderful privilege of being able to serve in another part of the world. The world is very large and very needy. And so with that in mind, it has been a setup for what I have been burdened about today to try to share with you for a little bit.

Matthew chapter 9 and verse number 36. And I think that here we have one of some obvious considerations, obvious factors, which ought to influence us when it comes to the work of the Lord. It says, But when he, the Lord Jesus, saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Now that's all we're just going to read at the moment, and trust with the Lord's blessing, and he will give some help to share these considerations with you this afternoon.

I think that one of the first factors that should consider should influence you if you are feeling a burden about a world that is going to hell, and about the possibility of what God wants you to do about that, whether on a small individual scale, whether involved in your assembly activities, where you are found, or whether if the Lord opens the way and opens the door for you to have an expanding opportunity and field of service, I think that one of the first things is what is highlighted for us in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, and that is love and devotion to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think we could put it any better than the way the Spirit of God has put it. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity or love, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. And it's not by accident that in the design of assembly life that on the first day of the week, at the beginning of the week, we should actually go to the place where it all began, to the cross, and that the remembrance of the Lord Jesus should help to fan the flames of our devotion to him out of consideration for the great sacrifice that he has made on our behalf. I think that the second thing I would like to draw your attention to, and maybe just in quick summary of what we have just listened to, we have heard about the need for great dependence upon God.

I think our brother used the expression, a bit of steel is needed, and the need for example in your life, and the need for carefulness in terms of a partner in life, and if you are married, the need for, I'm adding this part, the need for unity between you as a couple when it comes to considering just what God might have in mind and in store for you. I was struck by this consideration of this particular theme and topic in the last, in the last while there have been three different brethren that moved by the great amount of perishing souls and opportunity that there is, and in my particular case, in the land of Mexico where the Lord is allowing us to work in the gospel, they have all been puzzled by how and what to do and what is involved in a person in assembly fellowship, if the Lord should be calling them, and if the Lord should be desirous that they would be involved in the work, just what is involved and what happens, how did, they had no idea of what was, what was involved to go about it. And I remember talking to the one young man, one married man with children, and has a good stable job and everything there in an assembly in Mexico, and I remember saying to him, well I guess one of the things I would like to ask you is, would you, if you actually were certain about this and you felt the Lord was actually leading you and calling you to abandon your normal secular life and to walk and to begin the work of the gospel in dependence upon him, would, would your wife, what would she think about this kind of step? I could see that he was very interested and very eager, and I don't mean eager in a sense of a foolish or a youthful and immature excitement about it, but seriously looking at the staggering situation and the huge opportunities and the open doors, and I always liked what he said, well he says, I'm gonna tell you something, brother, that before I even ever heard of an assembly, and by the grace of God, in spite of the error where I was going, I ended up getting saved one night at home in my, in my own home.

He said, when it came to a partner in life, I remember that one of the first things that we discussed together was whether or not God would ever want us to dedicate our lives to be serving him full-time if we could in his employ, and I remember asking her that because I was concerned that if that was not anything that was in her mind or anything in her future, if she didn't see that in her future, then there really would be no future for the both of us together as husband and wife. And so I was really encouraged by that, to think that already long before he had ever heard of the assembly, that God in his word and his mercy had saved him, but that already was planted deep within his heart a readiness and a willingness. It may never happen, but there was a willingness and there was a plotting of his life in view of just that possibility, even in terms of his partner in life and what he was going to do in relation to her.

So there is a number of factors. We have, we have just looked at the passage together in I Think of the Lord Jesus, and I think it's an example for us. One of the things that is a factor that ought to concern us and ought to affect and be involved in any person with an exercise for the work of the gospel, that there should be a compassion for souls more than a love of the platform.

There's something of the flesh that likes to be heard and seen, and those of us that are involved in public ministry and service have to constantly keep that in check and have to be constantly suppressing the fleshly instinct that is within us. And I see here something that can be a ballast in the vessel, that if you are burdened, and I see that here in a twofold way, there is an illustration that is twofold as there is the the sheep that are fainting and scattered as having no shepherd. And then there is the other agriculture analogy of a field that is rippling and white all ready to harvest.

And in both cases there is a burden that involves urgency. The urgency of sheep that are scattered and are fainting. Sheep are not strong, sturdy creatures.

They are very soon going to die and they are very soon going to perish. And every farmer here that does cash cropping knows that when the harvest time has come and the crop is in the field and it is ripe and it is ready for harvest, that that is the time when there is there is no consideration of making some trip for a holiday. That is when the pedal is going to be put to the metal.

It might be working around the clock if necessary. There is an urgency there to get that crop into the garner, into the grainry, before it's going to be affected and perish in the field. And so there is urgency that seems to be the double thing that flows out of a compassion for a world that is perishing.

There is a race against the clock. We are living in the twilight time of this age of grace. Soon he that shall come will come and will not tarry.

And none of us as we've already been so sadly reminded at this conference, whether young or old, death is no respecter of persons. And we've all got a date on the calendar or perhaps even before that date. When our time will be up, our days will be numbered.

And to use our health and our strength while we have them at our disposal to do whatever we possibly can in the interest of a world that is going to hell. The factor of the compassion for souls. But I think another thing that needs to be brought into consideration is the characteristics of a deacon as it is outlined for us in 1st Timothy chapter 3. 1st Timothy chapter 3 tells us about some of those characteristics because gospel work is deacon work.

This is something that it speaks about. I'll just go over them in a very brief way with you. In 1st Timothy 3 and 8 it says, likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lurker, holding the mystery of the faith, the doctrine of the New Testament in a pure conscience.

Let these also first be proved, put them to work in the assembly locally. If somebody is going to be called into full-time service, it shouldn't shock or surprise anybody in the assembly. Actually, it ought to be to the contrary.

A shocker or surprise if they don't go because it will be so apparent and obvious that God is calling them and raising them up and lifting them up and sending them forth. It says let these also first be proved and then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderer, sober, faithful in all things.

Let the deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children in their own houses well. They'd have used the office of a deacon well, purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus, etc. So there is this kind of a guideline for us in terms of the character of a person that is going to be put into the harness and going to be employed by God in that way.

And at the same time, I want to raise a cautionary note because I know there's sometimes the extreme that we go to where we're nearly demanding perfection and we're nearly demanding a person to be so gifted that they can nearly do hand springs and all kinds of biblical gymnastics to the entertainment and wowing of the audience. Otherwise, they're automatically sidelined. I suppose to have a man that is perhaps not as gifted, but a man that has the balanced, a balance in his life of this kind of character, of this kind of godliness, of this kind of depth to his spiritual person and his spiritual perspective is something that will go in the long term and can be measured in such greater degree and weight, proportionally speaking, in case or in as opposed to an overabundance of gift.

I was, I was thinking of the fact that it is, it is seen, I suppose, consistent with this same thing when it comes to Timothy. It seems to me that there's basically two ways that men are brought into the work of the gospel, as we know it, in the New Testament. It seems to be like what happened in, in Antioch, in Acts chapter 13.

Do you remember how that the Spirit of God communicates to the overseers in that assembly what he had already communicated to Paul and to Paul and to Barnabas, I believe it is, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work we're on to. I have called them. He had already called them, and so now he's communicating that to the overseers of that assembly.

And so the overseers, as they respond to the direction and guidance of the Spirit of God in relation to these two men, take the initiative to see that that happens and that those men are sent away. And so they being sent forth when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they being sent forth by the overseeing brethren, no, by the Holy Ghost, departed on to Seleucia and from thence they sailed to Cyprus, etc.

So it would seem to me that that is a wonderful thing. I, you know, I'd have to confess that in my personal case, that's not the way it happened. And this was no slight against the brethren in my home assembly.

But I just remember that it was rather the other way around, and I felt really uncomfortable by doing it. And I'm sure that at least this is why I kind of think this is a, I was gonna say a kind of a neat way that it happened in Acts chapter 13. But, you know, it's really awkward.

How do you go to your elder brethren and say, um, you know, I think that the Lord is calling me to the work of the gospel. Say, what? You know, you, you know, you know, you're, it's such, it almost sounds so arrogant to yourself. At least that's the way I felt.

That how can you humbly go and say that you think that you're qualified, that you're being raised up, that you're gifted, that, you know, that everything checks off. So, you know, hi gentlemen, I just wondered, you know, what you thought about that. So it seems to me that there's a lot of wisdom and logic that's found in here, where the Spirit of God is raising men up like Paul and Barnabas.

They have already been active and engaged in the work of the Word and the ministry and the teaching and preaching of the gospel in this assembly here for a pronounced period of time. It's no secret. It was no surprise.

But just as the Spirit of God is simultaneously working in these men's lives, he is now going to communicate the same sense and awareness and consciousness of what he is doing, so that these men, the leadership of the assembly, are now going to move in sync and in cooperation with the Spirit of God. And the timing works out right, and the Spirit of God's choice works out right, and it measures together and it flows and it follows through with two men that are going to be great servants of God in the work of the gospel in the New Testament era. And of course, the other example of how that happens in a person's life is in Acts chapter 16.

And again, it's, I noticed that in both cases, it seems that the individuals that are being sent out, or in the language of our verse in Matthew chapter 9, that are being sent forth, and it's a strong word there, it's a word to be thrust forth. It's something that the Word, that the Lord is doing, the Lord of the harvest is pushing these men forth into his harvest to send forth. It seems like they're passive in each case.

So in Acts chapter 16, along comes Paul, and it says that he came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman which was a Jewess and believed, but his father was a Greek. And then it says these words that follow, and I love the way Luke kind of mentions important things almost like casually, by the by. And he says, which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

You think that's just incidental? Here is a man that's got a good testimony by the believers, by the brethren, that were in at least two assemblies in Lystra and Iconium, and so not to mention Derbe. And then it says in verse number three, him would Paul have to go forth with him. So Paul comes along, I mean that's already in the work, and he is interested in conjunction with the believers, the brethren in those assemblies, in that area, about the advisability and about the possibility of taking this younger man along with him.

And I suppose that that all shows to us the both the passive side of it and also the active human instrumentality whenever such a step is reached in the experience of an assembly and of a man or a woman that God is calling forth to the work of the Lord. I think on a personal nature I can, I'm very grateful for men that were in my life. I remember, for example, when Paul Kember, I wasn't even a teenager yet, and there was a kind of an internal rising up in the assembly that our Sunday school was sort of like just the pits.

And it was just primarily Sunday school classes for the children of the believers. And if that's all it was, I mean that's a tremendously, terrifically important part of assembly responsibility. But it was something that was burdening their hearts and so they met together.

And I remember being sort of like a mouse in the corner when they all got together and they had a prayer meeting about it. And they got permission from the overseers to actually rent a city bus. And I remember how that we went out and I remember Paul Kember being on one side of the street and myself being on the other side of the street.

And I was a little bit of a shortstop and I'm not much taller now, but I remember knocking on the doors. I remember the smell of those, of those, I don't know, it was a very lower income level side of town. And I remember knocking on those doors and as we went along to invite children to Sunday school.

And I remember the thrill that was involved when eventually there was as many as a hundred and twenty kids in the Sunday school. And all of a sudden the barbering is now placed down in the basement. Not that it was less important, but it had to go down in the cave.

And up on the main floor is now the Sunday school. And from the front to the back and from wall to wall there's classes and the children are there. And it was a little bit of a, it was a bit of a ruckus.

And you know, it was always entertainment, entertainment because you know for us, for us kids to see what would happen and all the challenges of making kids behave and sometimes seeing adults get mad and all this kind of stuff. And it was very interesting. But it was very, it was very encouraging to see that that's something that could happen.

And I'm so thankful for that generation in my cousin Paul's age group there. Where those different men took an interest in us younger persons. And they tried to encourage us when it came to going door to door.

They would take us along with them when they would rent a community hall in another adjacent neighboring community. And sometimes without a lot of advanced warning they would say, I'm not preaching tonight, you're gonna. And you know, you all of a sudden have a heart attack and I'm supposed to speak tonight.

And I remember they always trying to strike a balance by saying, by not letting it go to your head, right? And they would give you kind of curt remarks and sometimes I thought they were rude. And you know, always just trying to keep you in your place so it doesn't go to your head. And to balance it off, it was sort of like, there's no platform privileges if you're not going to go out and do the dirty work and the footwork out there by knocking on doors and talking to people.

No, no, no. This is not like some kind of armchair evangelism. No, sir.

No. There's going to be out, you're going to get your hands dirty at it and you're going to prove yourself out there as well. And the educational experience of sitting there listening to conversations as they would grapple over issues of the day and try to come up with biblical answers to the questions and queries of the people at, into the homes that we would finally get into at times.

All of that reminds me of the value of a man like Paul as he comes along and him, Timothy, would Paul have to go with him. All the value of men that are sensitive to the guidance of God and they got their, they have their eyes open and they have a vision for a perishing world. And they're on the lookout for men that God may be raising up to respond to a desperate, desperate need that is around us on every side.

A love and devotion to the Lord Jesus, a compassion for souls, the characteristics of a deacon, a good report of your brethren. Can you work with your brethren and sisters? Can you work with your elder brethren? Or is there an adversarial kind of a thing? Sometimes I think the adversarial thing is to blame on us young guys. I can remember back when, when I was younger and, and, and I remember having a, I had a combative, you know something? I've wondered about it and I've thought that likely I would have opposed my own commendation if I had been the age I am now looking at how I was the guy I kind of remember I was.

And you know, you're even kind of limited in terms of how, how you perceive yourself, you know, a few years ago. Not to mention how everybody else saw you. I remember that I was actually, I had the privilege of being able to, well for lack of a better word, try it out, okay? And so I was able to get, I was able to spend a year down in Nova Scotia working with Albert Hall and James McClellan and doing gospel work there, trying it out for size, seeing if this is really what I want, this is what I like or not.

Would I want to do this for the rest of my life or am I crazy? And, and I just remember those, those kind of situations were, I was, I remember I was back to Ontario and I remember that somebody down in Nova Scotia had told me, well, you know, if you're thinking about the Lord's work, don't even bother about commendation or anything like that until you've got a wife. Then they get to see, you know, who's your better half and whether, you know, whether she's worth commanding or not too. So they must have liked her because they ultimately did to the work.

But I remember, I remember that I was involved in some meetings down there with Paul Kember and Steve Kember and Chatham and somebody, that was about an hour from home, somebody came along and said, oh, did you know you got commanded to the work? I said, what? Yeah, yeah, they read your, they said they meant, they announced that the other Sunday there in, in Sarnia where you're from. You're kidding. No, no, they never told me nothing.

Oh yeah, they did. That's weird. Oh well.

All right. So anyways, keep on trucking. And so we just kept on going, you know, but then, you know, after a couple of months I got to wondering, you know, and others had said the same thing.

I thought, that's really strange. You know, well, what happened was, and this is something you should keep in mind in case the Lord happens to call you at some point, you know, maybe, I don't know, but anyways, somebody didn't think the Lord was calling me. And it was actually another full-time worker in the gospel.

And he got on the line to the elder brethren back in Sarnia and said, oh no, no, not a good idea. Guy's a scrapper. Guy's gonna sow division, you know.

No, no, no, no. That's bad, bad choice. Bad number.

Keep him out of it, you know. So the brethren there, they didn't tell me nothing about this, but they kind of sat on it, you know. They kind of, whoa, okay, bad, bad vibes here, you know.

Not a good idea. So anyways, you know, it's weird. Sometimes, you know, it's the Lord, whether it's that or any other kind of a thing, sometimes the Lord just puts a little, a little test in your, in your way, just to see, you know, you can act in the flesh, you can act in the spirit.

I act in the flesh, you know. Who, who is that guy, you know. I like to get a hold of him, you know.

You know, coward. Can't even come tell me what the problem is, you know. Like I'm saying, now looking back, I like always said the same thing.

Not a good, whoa, whoa, loaded, whoa, watch out, you know. Bad news, you know. But you know, God is a God of grace anyway, and eventually somebody dropped, I was in a series of meetings in London, I remember, and somebody said, oh, your, your letter of accommodation finally came through.

It's, they dropped it in the mailbox there at the apartment where you're staying here. Oh, oh, okay, piece of letter, you know. Oh, well, it's not nice, you know.

Like, you know, God bless them. They weren't big on social skills or people skills, you know, communicating to you or something like that. Like, it was the kind of thing where I remember, like, if I got a little, I remember the one brother, and if I got a little, like, you know, handshake, if he gave me, like, a little more prolonged handshake, that, that was him saying, you know, give her, give her, you know.

Never said boo, you know. And another man, I was remembering, used to scratch his head, like, well, brother, never know what the Lord might want you to do, you know. Oh, so I wonder, does he think it's maybe a good idea or not, you know.

And I remember when, when I went and talked to them, and we sat down, my wife and I, and there they were, and somebody prayed, and then they wanted to know what it was about. And I said, well, we kind of think, we're not sure, but, you know, we're willing to, and we're just wondering about, like, the work of the gospel, and it's the awkwardest thing in the world. You never know, like, it's still, anyways, oh, well, yeah, that's, that's quite a thing, yeah.

Yeah, well, we'll, uh, yeah, we'll definitely, uh, well, we'll, yeah, we'll be praying about that. And so they prayed, and it's done, you know. So we walked out, and we're wondering what that was all about, you know.

I wonder, is that pro or con? Does that mean, you know, vote, you know, Facebook? Was that thumbs up or thumbs down? You know, did they like or not like, you know. But eventually, you know, several months later, you get a little rumor, but you know, all these little things are all great situations. I guess it tells you that there's all kinds out there, you know, and some of them are your brethren, and some of them are your elder brethren, and you know what? You need to have patience and compassion with all, but I'm getting away from what's going on here.

What's another thing that should be a factor? I would say a knowledge of the Bible, especially of the gospel. I would think another thing is surrender to God's will, even if God says no. And I suppose that means that not, it's not pushing yourself on people.

The elder brethren say, you were thinking of going in the work of the Lord? Oh, well, you know what? It never ever crossed our mind. What are you going to say? Well, guess what? I'm going to tell you something right now. The Lord has told me.

I have a clear cut on, well, you know what? He didn't tell them. So just, you know, cool your jets. Like, you know, your sense of what you think God is maybe doing with you and in you and through you someday, I mean, it's very subjective.

You could be completely off track. And that's where it's such a hard thing. Who can judge their own gift? You're basically, you're basically at the mercy of your audience.

You're at the mercy of other men who are more godly than yourself, more gifted than yourself to try to evaluate this in the final analysis. Your own self-evaluation is always subjective and consider it always suspect and never be too, too sure of yourself in this matter. So you seek confirmation from others.

Surrender to the will of God. You don't have to lobby for your own cause. You don't, you know what? They're not going to commend me in this assembly.

Guess what? I'm moving my assembly fellowship over there and I know they will. I mean, they've even told me that they would. So I'm heading out of here.

You know, that doesn't sound like you're really waiting and that you're really neutral or passive in this thing, that you're really surrendered to the will of God in this matter. So what's another thing? Well, I suppose another thing you ought to do is you need to count the cost. I think of the words of the Lord Jesus back in, in Luke's gospel chapter 14.

And he talked about the cross, bearing the cross and coming after me. And then he says, which of you intending to build a tower sits not down first and counts the cost whether it is sufficient to finish it. Lest happily after he hath laid the foundation is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and wasn't able to finish it.

And so he's calling upon us to reach a place of surrender and self-renunciation to the place where we're prepared to lose all for him. To count the cost, to be prepared to make the sacrifice. You think of that couple that just lost their lives in Zambia.

What a tragedy. Looking at situations like that and others that have happened among people that we know leaves you completely bewildered. Promising at the very beginning in the flower of their youth, in the prime of their life, at the very commencement in a situation which it seems to be like as it was in the days of Christ himself, the harvest truly is plenteous, but it's hugely understaffed.

And just when you're thinking of someone that you can count on to add up and shore up the numbers and help to carry the load forward and to carry the burden of this work and then some tragedy happens, there's a cost sometimes and there's consequences to it that are totally unpredictable to the wisest and most experienced of believers, much less someone just beginning out to start out counting the cost. And I think of another situation, I think another sense that is compelling for our consideration in this is to be marked by a lot of prayer. This word prayer here in Matthew's Gospel chapter 9 is a strong word.

It's really the word to to beseech, to supplicate. I think the ESV says it, to pray, to therefore pray earnestly the Lord of the harvest. It's to be pleading and to beg God to allow a sense of this need to so infiltrate and so inundate your spirit and your heart that it affects your prayer life.

And upon your knees you cry to God in high heaven that he will have mercy upon this crisis point in which we are all found at this very moment. But watch out about that prayer. That's a very dangerous prayer request because he might just send you, so watch out, be careful.

And you know I have to confess that driving up here and driving through these fields and seeing the order and the neatness and seeing the the nature of this the culture here, it's a fresh reminder, it impacts you again when you come back and see it. You know the United States is a very comfortable way of living and I wouldn't blame a single one of you if you all walked out of this room after this little message and said, you know, definitely not for me, definitely not for me. And I'm not trying to accuse you all of lazy Christianity and saying you know I want a comfortable, but you know I would have a side that would say oh this is nice.

Hey it's you know we got it all lined up, everything, all our ducks are in a row. I mean we got the situation here, this is comfortable, look at the caliber of education, look at the possibilities for the future of the kids. I mean everything, like I'm not saying there's not problems, difficulty, but you cannot help but notice that there is a vast difference in the comfort factor between one culture to another.

But I would think that that's part of counting the cost to pray earnestly therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Not only a burden, not only beseeching, but a bowing to him as the Lord of the harvest. Bowing to him in prayer, but bowing to him and being and being predisposed that if the Lord should introduce that into my life then I'm willing that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

He's the Lord, he has the right to do it. And it's so hard to talk on something like this and be balanced and I'm sure and I'm hoping and counting on you all being able to balance out the stuff that I'm not saying that I likely should have said or could have said to make this all balanced out properly. I'm not trying to say this is a an all or nothing thing, that if you're not called into the work of the Lord then, you know, close your Bible, don't go to meeting, everything's done, you know.

There is a multiplied number of ways in which we can and should be all involved in in the work of the Lord. I like what William McDonald in his book says that every believer is full-time in the work of the Lord and should consider his secular employment as his hobby. That's what he does as his hobby, that's his part-time thing, but the main focus might not be the main glut on all his time but the main focus and the main burden on his mind is the work of the Lord.

There's nothing else besides that for such a person. I think of how that there is an urgency to the situation and I want to just draw your attention to another little thing here and that is that another factor that should be pulled into consideration in terms of such a step in a believer's life, if the Lord is so indicating that, is that they should have a hard work ethic. You know, I was just going through some of the words of the New Testament.

I mean, even this word right here in verse number 38, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth preachers into his harvest, no, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. So we are, you know, we're all called to good works but in terms of the work of the gospel it is just that, it is the work of the gospel. And this is the word ergon, this is the word for for effort or toil as an occupation.

This is the word that is used in first Corinthians 16 and 10, now Timotheus come see that he may be with you without fear for he worketh the work of the Lord as I do. This is the word that is put along with fellow worker in terms of Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor, same word, and fellow soldier. There's a conflict, there's hardness that must be endured but your messenger or delegate or apostle and he that ministered the word for the temple service to my wants for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death not regarding his life to supply your lack of service toward me.

Second Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy and says but watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof measure measured up to the full of thy ministry. I counted just quickly nearly 20 different men that are considered and called Paul's fellow workers. There's another word that is the word for kopos and it's really the idea of toiling to the point of exhaustion.

John 4 and 38 the Lord uses this word I sent you to reap that were on you bestowed no labor other men labored to the point of exhaustion and you are entered into their labors toil resulting in weariness toil and trouble according to vine same word is used in second Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 23 where we've got Paul outlining the characteristics of a true deacon of Christ and we'll come to that word in a minute and what's he say are they ministers of Christ I speak as a fool I am more in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes save one second Corinthians 6 verses 3 to 10 he takes another list in the same kind of drift 28 different things that he lists in all things approving ourselves as now another word the deacon this is perhaps a word signaling the humility of it this is the idea of the lowly service that is involved it's from a means to raise dust and therefore the idea of a person that's running carrying a message down a dusty path and he's simply an errand boy or a waiter at a table like in a current day restaurant or some other menial task just lowly service and Paul says in all things approving ourselves as this kind of service as this these kind of servants as deacons in much patience and afflictions and necessities distresses stripes imprisonments tumults in labors in watchings and fastings by pureness knowledge the power by long-suffering kindness the Holy Ghost love on fame the word of truth the power of God this huge list and as you read through the New Testament and you see the labors of this man Paul it makes you nearly embarrassed to even say that you're involved in the work of the Lord it makes just sense that you've hardly even begun you hardly even started and if this kind of passion is something that drove this man at the beginning of the New Testament era to so burn himself out and to soar and to so pour himself out in this great quest for the perishing masses of humanity on route to hell how much more so at this juncture as further along in the church's history than any other generation and perhaps facing a world in terms of numbers greater than any generation in church history until now and instead of doing less we are and ought to be compelled to be even doing more to try to reach a world that is perishing another word that is used is is a word for slave Paul calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ before calling himself an apostle in Romans chapter 1 verse 1 he says this word he says about Timothy in Philippians 2 and 22 you know the proof of him that as a son with the father he has served as a slave with me in the gospel Philippians 4 and verse number 3 is another word and it's really the idea to contend along with son athleo I entreat thee also true yoke fellow help those women which labored with me in the gospel seems that many times Paul was involved with a number of believers around him brethren as well as sisters that strove together that contended with this great quest and this great conflict that soldiered on and supported each other mutually in the work of the gospel another word is agonized agonized we're all familiar with that word we preach it to the unsaved to strive to enter into the straight gate Paul speaks about a prophet who is one of you a of Christ salutes you always laboring fervently to strive to wrestle for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God and in that particular passage in Colossians 4 I noticed there's at least eight different men who are mentioned who labored with Paul and you think of the way these men were just like hard workers just giving her you think of how that there was two of them not to mention Paul himself that wrote two gospels the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke and Paul himself and all of this busyness of his life and all this care of the churches that came upon him daily is the author of at least 13 books in the New Testament and on top of that in three different places we learned that Paul actually labored with his own hands sometimes tolling through the hours of the night so that he would enough have enough to meet the needs of the team that was with him and to have something left over to give to the poor so that in the daytime he could serve God in the gospel not a lazy bone in his body you think of how he blazed trails in the gospel took others with him I can't even tell you the number of assemblies that he planned in the New Testament the Lord Jesus said I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can can work so anyways you'll be you'll forgive me for getting this kind of a B in my bonnet and this kind of a thing on my heart I don't think you could be like our brother and go to a country like India and come back unmoved what kind of a heart of stone would you have to have and on a lesser scale perhaps in terms of numbers but you know when we've been going over to Iguala as some of you know another another town nearly 1200 miles away from us in Obregón and there has been some blessing there and souls and families about five different families we're trying to work with but to get there we have to fly from Obregón over to Mexico City and then we catch a taxi down to the south part of the city and catch a bus that takes us down for three hours down to Iguala in the state of Guerrero and you know as as we Duncan Beckett and I as we flew on our first trip and we come into Mexico City my first time to visit there and after hearing Dave Alves stories they're very interesting entertaining but they scared the pants off me and I didn't want to go near Mexico City but anyways went in there and nothing has happened so far and uh tremendous just look at as far as you can see out both sides of the airplane city just like I don't know is there some 25 million you think of the whole country of Mexico 100 plus million 10 times smaller than the country of India it's unfortunate but it doesn't seem like there are people that we're having to say listen guess what you know what we got too many workers already you know what god bless you and just stay home locally and keep working there you know I really appreciate you wanted to come but you know what go home you you had that a problem here in Guerneville too many people wanting to go out and sacrifice surrender all you know I doubt it and I guess it's not just the the great need but also the great opportunities this is one of the things that triggered our interest we were up in Canada and trying to work in the gospel there in states a little bit in the northern end but I always remember when Dave Alves came up there had a series of meetings at Saint Mary's and told us all about Mexico and and I love Dave Alves and he's he's a great missionary storyteller I love listening to his missionary reports and you know at first I thought you know you're a good salesman and you're really stretching it telling us about you know these people that are supposedly asking you to come for meetings if you'll just come they've got a building they've got chairs they've got family neighbors if you'll just please come and Dave would say and you know we just there's not enough time I just yeah can't go this one over here this town over here and I thought you know you're well anyways but you know what it actually is the truth and it's I tell you if you're interested and if you enjoy seeing people saved and if God even allows you this kind of a privilege it is the thrill of a lifetime and here we are in Iguala and I can only afford to get over there a few days per month we're hugely understaffed and I'd rather be understaffed and have the wrong kind of people there you don't get me wrong but a door that is open in the city of Mexico and I just get a an email from Raul there and Nesa and some of you have been there to help in that construction on the hall there are help renovations and stuff and he tells me after the third house meeting in a family that's a connection of another family in Iguala that the man of the house after these years in an evangelical system says that he has just gotten saved and I talked to him and I talked to his daughter on on Saturday and she says you know today is my day off and I'm going to be I'm going to be taking that list of verses you gave to my mom and she says I'm I gotta be patient I know but I'm just wanting to read through them maybe perhaps the Lord will give me salvation too and we we just went over to the city of Toluca just to the a little bit to the south and mostly to the west of Mexico and had a a house visit there with a man that's not saved and his wife is and his mother-in-law was in the assembly in the assembly in San Diego and a house meeting is now set up and uh brother Marcus came that is going to go with me and take his wife along and for the first time the believers in Iguala the new believers are going to get to see a sister that along from the assembly from the from the uh the work that we're involved in and uh numerous different places where there are people waiting right now for somebody to bring them the gospel and I for one and I'm sure you as well find it completely intolerable completely unacceptable that that should be the case when you and I know the message that they so desperately need what a tragedy for these people's blood to be on our hands when there's open doors opportunities people that are calling people that are wanting people that are willing and I know there is work locally and I know that there is an importance and a value to that and I'm not asking anyone to to divest themselves of the concerns locally you should think locally you should act locally and you should you should think locally and and and also consider the need globally but surely surely the same lord that asked us to do this prayer request in Matthew chapter 9 and verse 38 surely is the same lord that is listening and can answer his own prayer request and raise up and send forth men and women of God fitted by God for God in this closing little window of opportunity that awaits us before the lord comes in our time and day of service and opportunity is over I trust these thoughts will be taken in the spirit in which they are given and will serve to stir all of our hearts in terms not only of Mexico India a world that is perishing so much need God have mercy on us and God bless us and stir up our every heart