87a) Desire for the Office, Spiritual Character #1

The point: Seek realistic exposure to the life of an ordinary, healthy, well-ordered biblical church to keep down unwarranted desire for the ministry.

Martin argues that realistic exposure to the 'gutsy realism' of church life, with its problems and imperfections, is the best way to temper unwarranted, romanticized desires for ministry, blowing away unrealistic notions.

desire for the ministry let a man realistic exposure to what is involved in shepherding the flock of god and if he's got romantic notions and all the rest a couple of years of that should pretty well blow them away and it's one of the reasons in wrestling with the theology of ministerial training we are committed to the principle that that training ought to be undertaken in the context of a real life well-ordered church with all of its problems with all of its struggles with all of its sins and imperfections so that men who aspire to

2:41 - 3:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Express your desire for the pastoral office to God himself, pouring out your heart before Him.

Martin uses the analogy of a young woman with a romantic interest in a young man, unsure how to express it, to illustrate how one should approach God with a desire for ministry – by simply telling Him everything.

Well, it's in that area that I address this fourth aspect of an enlightened and sanctified desire, the proper channels for expressing this desire. Well, first of all, obviously, we express it to God himself. As I've told young men, and young women who've come to me and saying, Pastor, I don't know what to do. I find my heart going out, particularly if it's a young woman, to this young man, and I know it's not right for me to plunk myself in front of him down in the foyer or just happen to get in his way when he's going.

6:15 - 6:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually bring your desire before God, asking Him to enlighten you if it's ignorant, sanctify you if it's carnal, and fan the flame if it's of His Spirit.

He compares pouring out one's heart to God to tipping a glass of water and letting everything come out, emphasizing God's receptiveness and lack of embarrassment.

Lord, here it is. Spread it all before him. Doesn't the Bible say, pour out your heart before him at all times? If I take this glass of water and pour it out, I just tip it up and just let everything in it come out.

7:12 - 7:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually bring your desire before God, asking Him to enlighten you if it's ignorant, sanctify you if it's carnal, and fan the flame if it's of His Spirit.

David's noble desire to build God a house, which God affirmed but did not permit him to fulfill, illustrates that a passionate desire, though good, may not be God's will for its performance.

Spread the thing out before God himself. His ear is open to the cry of the righteous and ask him that if the desire is something like David's desire, we can have a passionate and noble desire that may not be the will of God in its performance. David had a passionate and noble desire to build God a house. He felt embarrassed when he walked into his own house.

8:29 - 8:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Be open in disclosing your growing desire to your overseers, subjecting it to their questioning and scrutiny.

Martin recounts an evening spent listening to a brother pour out his desire for ministry, which he then encouraged and helped frame for further cultivation and assessment, demonstrating the role of overseers.

I can think of one of you, brethren, here that after that desire would not go as you poured it out to God over a period of a couple of years. The time came when this brother felt he needed to pour it out to me. And we spent an evening and I just sat and listened. I said, brother, tell me what's there.

10:21 - 10:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Disclose your desire to mature, trusted, spiritual friends and counselors, and hear their biblical counsel.

Jesus' practice of disclosing different levels of his heart to the multitudes, the twelve, the three (Peter, James, John), and finally John, illustrates that it is not sinful to have varying levels of transparency with different people.

I'm not talking about indiscriminate, completely saying to all of your fellow church members where you are. No, no. The Bible discourages that. We are to follow the example of our Lord Jesus, who as perfect man did not disclose the same levels of his heart to the twelve indiscriminately.

12:01 - 12:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate the ability to bear your heart and pray with and for one another within an inner circle of mature, trusted spiritual friends and counselors.

Martin uses the proverb 'a friend near is better than a brother afar away' to emphasize the practical value of close, accessible spiritual friendships over mere familial ties for bearing one's heart.

No, God gives those special friendships and he gives them that we might use them. That's why the book of Proverbs says, a friend near is better than a brother afar away. Far off. So somebody shared the same womb as you and your mother, with your mother, well big deal.

12:52 - 13:10 Read in full sermon

The point: If married, ensure your wife is fully on board and has grown with you in your desire for overseership, recognizing her lack of support as a caution light.

Martin shares an anecdote of counseling a man from another state about his desire for overseership, immediately asking about his wife's involvement, to highlight the critical importance of a wife's support.

one of the first questions I ask him, as I did a couple of weeks ago with someone who came to see me from another state to discuss this whole issue, as he laid out the scenario, the scenario of God's dealings with him, I said, all right now brother, where is your wife in all of this? Is she fully on board? Has she grown with you in your growing desire for overseership? And if she hasn't, I tell him, look, that in itself is enough to be a caution light.

13:53 - 14:22 Read in full sermon

The point: When counseling others, encourage married men to share their heart with their wife and ensure they are on board with the call to ministry.

The metaphor of banking a fire at night to stoke it in the morning is used to describe how God might temporarily 'discourage' or 'bank' a desire, only to rekindle it later, illustrating the diverse ways God works.

or discourage that desire or bank it like we bank a fire at night to stoke it in the morning. And again, God's ways in bringing men into a well-established biblical call are so diverse that we dare not set up ironclad rules, but at least this general counsel, I trust, will be helpful as you wrestle with this yourself and as you will be called upon to give counsel to others. Well, that's all I wanted to say to you men on this first of the four elements that comprise a biblical call to the pastoral office, an enlightened and sanctified desire for the work of the pastoral office.

15:07 - 15:51 Read in full sermon