Anatomy of a Man of God: His Knees #1

Introduction: The Distinguishing Traits of a Man of God

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, October 30th, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. I want to ask you a very pointed question this morning, and it is this.

0:22 What are the distinguishing traits of a man of God?

0:28 What are the distinguishing traits of a man of God? And by a man of God, I mean a man equipped by God and called by God to preach the Word and to shepherd the flock of God. If it were your personal responsibility to list those traits and then to support your list with Scripture, would you be up to the task? Well, it is crucial that all of the people of God at all times, and in all places, be able to recognize the distinguishing traits of a man of God. If they do not, they run the risk of committing the care of their souls to false shepherds and to men who may wear the mantle of a prophet, but who have the heart of a blind leader of the blind. However, in our own church situation, it is especially important for us to recognize the distinguishing traits of a man of God. It is especially crucial that we have a biblically-framed, well-defined understanding of the distinguishing traits of a man of God.

1:48 And this increased necessity is laid upon us because of the peculiar stewardship given to us in conjunction with the presence of the Trinity Ministerial Academy as an integral part of our church life and ministry. On the evening of September 12, we will be able to see the Trinity Ministerial Academy as an integral part of our church life and ministry. On the evening of September 12, we will be able to see the Trinity Ministerial Academy as an integral part of our church life and ministry. On the evening of September 11 of this year, the four new students and one temporary student were introduced to you as a congregation.

The Knees of a Man of God: Continually Bowed and Increasingly Calloused

2:17 And on that occasion, I began what I thought was to be just a sermon, but has become a series of studies on the subject of the anatomy of a man of God. And in our seven studies thus far, we've examined six parts of the spiritual anatomy of a man truly equipped and called of God to preach the word and to shepherd the flock of God. We have contemplated what the scriptures teach concerning the head of a man of God, his eyes, his ears, his heart, his mouth, and his hands. Today we come to an examination of the lower extremities of a man of God, namely, the knees of a man of God. And as we do so with our Bibles open before us, we shall see that in a very real sense, the distinguishing trait of a man of God is that his knees are always bent or bowed before God, and that they are calloused from the sustained contact with the ground or the floor, upon which he kneels.

3:41 And so we might say in brief that the distinguishing trait of a man of God with respect to his knees is that they are continually bowed and increasingly calloused. Now, as we attempt to describe this facet of the anatomy of a man of God, we shall do so in terms of three dimensions in which the knees of a man, the head of a man of God, are both bowed and calloused. First of all, they are bowed before the living God as the creator, sustainer, and sovereign ruler of the world. The mark of a man of God as to his knees is that they are continually bowed before the living God, and sovereign ruler of the world. Turn, please, to the 95th Psalm, Psalm 95.

Dimension 1: Bowed Before the Living God as Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign Ruler

4:53 The psalm begins with a summons to whole-souled praise to be directed to God, verses 1 and 2. O come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.

5:16 Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. There is the summons to whole-souled praise of the living God. We are to sing unto Jehovah. We are to make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

5:35 We are to come before his presence with thanksgiving with a joyful noise embodied. In psalms of praise. Then, in verses 3 to 5, the rationale for this summons is given. Why should we be so excited about coming before God with a joyful noise?

5:58 Why should we bother to engage the whole of our souls and even our bodies, our diaphragms and our vocal cords in enthusiastic praise of our God? Well, the answer is given. Verses 3 to 5. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.

6:20 In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, and he made it. And his hands formed the dry land.

6:35 Here in verses 3 to 5, the psalmist gives the rationale for whole-souled praise. Praise to God. We should give whole-souled praise to him because he is a great God. Furthermore, he is a great and a supreme sovereign.

6:54 He is a great King above all gods. And he is the sole owner and sole creator of all that exists. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are his.

7:12 The heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, and he made it. And his hands formed the dry land. So our whole-souled praise is rooted in the reality of what God is.

7:27 He is a great God. He is the great and supreme sovereign. He is the sole owner and possessor of all that is. And he owns and possesses it because he is its sole creator.

The Fitting Posture of the Creature Before the Creator

7:41 Now in verse 6, there is a renewed summons to praise and to worship. And the emphasis falls upon the posture to be assumed in that worship, especially in the light of the facts just previously enunciated. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel.

8:11 Before Jehovah, our maker, for he is our God. You see, the emphasis in this renewed or repeated summons to praise and worship falls upon the only posture that is fitting for the creature when he is in the presence of his creator. O come, let us worship. Let us ascribe worth and honor.

8:42 To this God, and the psalmist says in the light of the worth that we ascribe to him as the sole creator, as the supreme king and sovereign of the universe, there is only one posture befitting the creature in the presence of his creator. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. And kneeling, of course, and bowing down, is the external expression of the internal disposition of the heart. It is the disposition of the creature in the presence of the creator.

9:24 It is the disposition of the subject in the presence of his sovereign. And any other posture in his presence is irreverent, it is arrogant, and any other disposition is both incongruous, and utterly wicked. We are summoned as his creatures to recognize his activity as creator, his utter sovereignty and control over all that he has created, and in the light of it, to assume the only posture befitting the creature in the presence of his creator. And the emphasis of this psalm comes through again very clearly, when Paul is preaching there at the Areopagus in Athens. And I ask you to turn just briefly to Acts chapter 17. We do not have time to open up the setting, except to say that here Paul is preaching evangelistically to heathen philosophers.

10:35 And though they want to know more about Jesus and the resurrection, the message he had been preaching to the Jews, he does not. We do not start off with Jesus and the resurrection, but we read in Acts 17 and verse 23, as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar with this inscription to an unknown God. What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you. The God that made the worlds and all things therein, He, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands, neither is served by men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things. As the apostle seeks to prepare the minds of these men for the central truths of the gospel, he, he announces to them those fundamental truths of biblical theism that is the biblical doctrine of God in its most fundamental elements,

11:55 namely that God is creator and sovereign ruler and sustainer of all that He has made. Now you say, Pastor, that's so obvious. What is the peculiar relationship between that truth? And the anatomy of a man of God?

12:18 Well, let me attempt to answer that question. In a man of God, this foundational element of all true religious experience has become nothing short of a prevailing disposition of the soul, a habit of the mind and the heart, So that he lives the life of a man who inwardly is continually bowed down before God as his creator and the sustainer and sovereign Lord of the world in which he lives. This fundamental truth that burst upon us in the opening words of the first book of the Bible, in the beginning God created, in the man of God, be he the most profound theologian, the most astute linguist, the most penetrating, insightful, analytical expositor of the scriptures, no matter the measure of his gift, the breadth of his mind, he never, never moves beyond that fundamental truth that breaks in upon us in Genesis 1.

Implications of Bowing Before the Creator: Humility, Obedience, Stability

13:43 If his learning is holy learning, if his eloquence is holy eloquence, if his insight is holy insight, if his knowledge is holy knowledge, it is all predicated upon this truth. That he gladly lives. That he owns the reality of what he is as a creature in the presence of the creator, sustainer, and sovereign of the universe. And as a result, there are at least three profound and constant impressions of this truth making their way out into the very reaches, the farthest reaches of a man's ministry. First of all. This posture of kneeling before the Lord, his maker, is the very foundation of ministerial humility. It is the foundation of ministerial humility.

14:44 For no matter what God may give a man in the way of measures of gift or usefulness, when he really believes that if he breathes his giving and move and have our being, He gives life and justice to the world. When as a creature, a man of God really believes that he cannot draw the next breath into his lungs unless God gives it. He cannot think a rational thought unless God gives it. He cannot speak a sensible sentence unless God upholds it. Where I say, is there any room for ministry? Where I say, is there any room for ministry? Where I say, is there any room for ministry?

15:40 Where I say, is there any room for ministry? There is there anything for pride in what he knows, in what he may say, in how he may say it, and in how God may use it to the blessing of others. If he has the posture enjoined by Psalm 95, inwardly the knees of his soul are bent before God his creator, the one who creates, sustains, and governs all things. I say that posture maintained over the course of time is the very foundation of ministry. But secondly, this posture is the foundation of ministerial obedience.

16:41 What was the creature made for but to do the will of the creator? Everything in the created order, the scripture tells us that all things obey his will. The sun and the moon and the planets and the farthest galaxies, all of them in their rightful places, doing what God has commanded them to do. Doing the will of their creator.

17:08 And man was likewise made that he might do the will of his creator God. And therefore in a man of God who has known the grace of God bringing him back to moral sanity, no longer drunk with the heady wine of the folly of his sin, thinking that self-realization comes in the course of enmity against God and rebellion, and doing his own thing, but he's come to see that true humanity is found when man, the creature, takes his place as man, the subject.

17:48 I say then that posture of kneeling and bowing down before the Lord, our maker, is not only the foundation of ministerial humility, it is also the foundation of ministerial obedience. He gives. He gives me life and breath and all things and sustains that life to what end, that as the creature I may do the will of God the creator. But then thirdly, this posture is also the foundation of ministerial stability.

18:26 It's the foundation of ministerial stability. If this is God's world and all things are under his control, then there are no surprises, no accidents. God never drops a stitch as he knits the fabric of human history in the world, nor in my own individual life as a servant of Christ. God's never caught off guard.

18:56 God's never caught without aspirin in the medicine chest. God's never caught with the situation somehow not quite completely resolved, resolved in his own mind. He is never tentative because he is the sovereign creator, sustainer and Lord of the universe. Taking that posture before him, bowing down before the Lord who is a king above all gods, who holds in his hands the will and the impulse of every heart, of every creature, of man and demon and angel, of all things alike, then the child of God and in particular the servant of God can rest in such words as Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things work together for good. How can all things work together for good unless God is in control of every last single thing? You mean God is in control of that tongue, that life, that will slashes out and slanders the character of the man of God? Yes, that tongue could not wag and do its evil without God upholding it.

20:24 He could silence it in a moment if he chose to. You mean those devices which would undermine and cut at the nerves of a man's confidence that he's of any worth in Christ's kingdom, those discouragements, discouragements, the backslidings of God's people, all of those things are under God's control, yes, absolutely. And you see, it is only this posture of the knees bent in the presence of the God who is Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign Lord of the universe. It is in that posture alone that there is a foundation for ministerial stability.

21:09 And I'm personally convinced that one of the many reasons, not the only reason, but one of the many reasons for short pastorates is because there are so few men who've taken this posture and by the grace of God maintained it. You see, the poor God theology that has God in control of some things and the devil in control of some others and then a whole bunch of other things that are no man's land. How in the world, when everything seems against us in the language of old Jacob, how can we stay by our post? How can we hold, as it were, our course? How can we keep our shoulder to the plow and press on through periods of dryness and dullness? Well, when we believe God has not in any way vacated his throne, then there is the foundation for ministerial stability. And ministerial stability, it doesn't mean we are stoics.

22:16 We may go to our closet of prayer to bow before this God with a heart that is torn to pieces by the conduct of God's people. That's why 2 Corinthians is such a precious epistle. Paul lets us know that the state of the Corinthians tore him up. He was not ashamed to say there were fightings without and fears within.

22:39 It is not unmatched. It is not unmanly or ungodly to confess to fears. But he didn't give up his apostleship.

22:49 He didn't run from his God-appointed post because he was confident that God was upon his throne. And so the mark of a man of God as to his knees is that they are in that state of being continually bowed before the living God as creator, sustainer. And sovereign Lord of the world. But then secondly, they are bowed before the incarnate God as redeemer and mediatorial king.

Dimension 2: Bowed Before the Incarnate God as Redeemer and Mediatorial King

23:29 They are bowed before the incarnate God as redeemer and mediatorial king. Now what do I mean by those words? Simply this. The scriptures affirm that as the reward for his voluntary humiliation, God the Father has given to God the Son, the Lord Jesus, a position of unrivaled kingship and authority.

23:59 This is what he promised him in the second Psalm and what he clearly gave to him as taught in many passages of the New Testament. What was promised him in the second Psalm? Listen to the language of this Psalm. Verse 7, I will tell of the decree.

24:20 The Lord said unto me, I'm sorry, backing up to verse 3 and 2 and 3, we have the language of the kings of the earth conspiring to cast off the rule of the Lord's anointed. God laughs in derision. Verse 5, then will he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his wrath. Verse 5, then will he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his wrath.

24:42 Verse 5, then will he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his wrath. Verse 6, then will he speak unto them in his wrath and anguish, and they in their wrath and nar Per 6, again, he will speak. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

25:20 Here is the prophecy of the mediatorial kingship of Messiah. God is determined to set his king upon his holy hill. And in that posture of exaltation, he has promised the nations for his inheritance. When we turn to such passages as Ephesians 1, we find that position of exaltation described in words that almost seem to be a straining to find language to express the reality of that exaltation.

25:58 Ephesians chapter 1, speaking of the measure of the power which God exercises to his believing people, he says, It is the power, verse 20, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet. And gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now to these words we could add Philippians 2, 9 through 11, Wherefore he hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name. 1 Corinthians 15, 25 and 26, He must reign till he has put all enemies beneath his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The Man of God as a Bond-Slave of Christ

27:13 Now in analyzing the anatomy of a man of God, I've asserted that not only are his knees bowed and calloused from maintaining the posture before the living God as creator, sustainer, and sovereign in his universe, but they are also bowed before the incarnate God. But as redeemer and mediatorial king. Now his knees initially bowed before the redeemer and mediatorial king when he was brought to repentance and faith. For no man enters into the possession of the forgiveness of sins who does not bow before Jesus Christ as his sovereign as well as his only savior and hope of salvation. No one enters into the possession of the forgiveness of sins who has not joyfully capitulated to the present exaltation of Jesus Christ. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, as well as believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

28:38 But in the man of God. There is the extension of that posture into his own peculiar calling as a servant of Christ. For he's come to recognize, according to Ephesians 4, that it is the activity of the exalted Christ to give to his church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. It is the exalted Christ who has marked him out.

29:10 It is the exalted Christ who has marked him out. And furnished him with the requisite gifts and graces and has given him as a gift to his church. And therefore he has not only bowed before Christ to receive from Christ pardon and acceptance and title to everlasting life, but he continues to bow before Christ in recognition that that same exalted Christ, has marked him out, furnished him, and given him as a gift to his church. And therefore his favorite self-designation as a man of God is that which the apostle Paul uses of himself, namely, bond-slave of Jesus Christ. In Philippians 1.1, notice how the apostle places this designation, before his identity as an apostle.

30:17 Philippians 1.1, Paul and Timothy, bond-slaves of Christ Jesus. And in Romans 1.1, here we see him using it prior to his designation of himself as an apostle.

30:37 Paul, a bond-slave of Jesus. Paul, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, called an apostle. And as I read through the introduction to all the epistles in preparation for the message, it's interesting that in these two places he says, bond-slave of Jesus Christ. And in almost every other, he says, Paul, an apostle, by the will of God.

31:06 By the will of God. By the will of God. By the will of God. Why does he say that?

31:13 He says that to express his own consciousness, that his being an apostle was not something that originated in his own notions. It didn't originate certainly in carnal ambitions, nor did it even originate in sanctified ambitions. It was an expression of the unfolding of the sovereign will of God. And the will of God, in this present epoch, is administered by the mediatorial king, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

31:53 And therefore, in being an apostle by the will of God, he regards himself as the bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Now again, you ask the question, Pastor, what peculiar influence will that exert upon a man of God? Is not it? Every Christian in a true sense, a bond-slave of Christ.

32:18 Yes, Romans 6 makes that very plain. If you are not joyfully a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, you're as lost as the devil. Do you hear me? If you do not identify yourself joyfully as a slave of God, you're lost, you're undone, you're in your sin, you're under wrath.

32:45 You're either a slave of Christ or a slave of God. You're not a slave of your sin, but some one slave you are.

32:52 And if the Holy Spirit has not given you such a sight of your sin, and such a sight of the glory of God's forgiving mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ, that your heart has run out in joyful submission to Christ, as your Lord and Master, you are not a Christian.

33:15 And if you profess to be his bond-slave, and yet you regularly, regulate your life by your own whims and your own desires and your own plans and your own fancies, and by the standards of the world, your professed bond-service to Jesus Christ is a sham, for the Scripture says, His servant you are whom you obey.

33:39 It will not do to have a sign around your neck, Jesus slave, when sin and flesh in the world regulate your hands, your feet, your eyes, your thoughts, your goals, your ambitions. My friend, it will not do. Whose slave are you? Well, you see, in the case of the man of God, he has become a bond-slave in that generic sense by grace, but in this additional sense, as God has made his will known in the ordinary means of grace, and he has come to his posture or his position of responsibility, in an orderly Biblical manner, and there has been ample confirmation of the requisite gifts and graces he sees that the ascended Christ, in the administration of His mediatorial kingship, has appointed him to be a man of God, and he takes that posture of being bowed before the incarnate God, as Redeemer and mediatorial King, and it has applied, has a profound influence upon his ministry, let me again just trace out three ways in which it will impact his ministry.

Implications of Bowing Before the Mediatorial King: Authority, Liberation, Devotion

35:00 Number one, this posture is the foundation of the proper exercise of ministerial influence and authority. This posture is the foundation of the proper exercise of ministerial influence and authority. You see, if a man really believes that Jesus Christ alone is the head of his church, he will never knowingly usurp the crown rights of his Savior.

35:33 You see, if a man knows that Christ alone is the supreme head of his church, that he alone has a right to bind the consciences of his people, then a man who's bowed before the incarnate God as his Redeemer and mediatorial king will never knowingly, never knowingly intrude upon the crown rights of his Savior. He knows that the nature of his influence and authority is purely administrative, never legislative. And what do I mean by that? It's simply this.

36:15 Jesus in the commission said, Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. He knows that he has no right to make the rules in Christ's kingdom. Christ has made them. Christ has deposited them in his own word and in the words of his inspired apostles.

36:41 And he is therefore careful that from that posture of bent knees before his Redeemer God as the mediator, he will not be a moral king. He will simply function in an administrative role. He won't be in a legislative role making rules for God's people, making doctrines for God's people. He labors to extract from the scriptures pure doctrine and to extract from the scriptures a balanced statement of the duties and responsibilities of God.

37:21 Of the people of God. And because his posture is one of kneeling constantly before the incarnate God, his great passion is to do what Christ says, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded, and that has a powerful excluding influence upon his ministry. He is careful lest he ever intrude into the realm of the law in Christ's church. Anything that is not Christ's word whatsoever I have commanded, but it has a powerful inclusive influence as well.

38:03 For Jesus said, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded. And when he comes in the word of God, to those duties that he knows will cut across the grain of men's natural tendencies, and he does not want to displease or agitate his people, and he's tempted to draw back. He says, no, I dare not. Why?

38:38 I'm bowed before my mediatorial king. He has told me all things whatsoever, and I dare not disobey my king and my redeemer. You see, the knees of a man of God while he stands erect preaching, the knees of his soul are bent before his redeemer and his mediatorial king. And he must go wherever scripture takes him, no matter how offensive it may be to the hearers, no matter how strange it may sound upon their ears.

39:16 If it is the track marked out by the king and his word, he is prepared to follow that track. No matter what it costs him. But this posture is not only the foundation of the proper exercise of ministerial influence and authority, it is the foundation of liberation from bondage to men. This posture is the foundation of liberation from bondage to men.

39:45 Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7.23, You were bought with a price. Be not the slaves of men. Paul said again in 1 Corinthians, Paul said again in 1 Corinthians 7.23, Paul said again in 1 Corinthians 7.23, It is a very little thing to me if I be judged of you or of man's judgment. I love that text. He says, If I'm preaching to you and you sit there and make funny faces at me, that's a very little thing to me.

40:10 It's a very little thing to me if I be judged of you or of man's judgment. You want to sit there and stick your tongue out at me, put your finger in your ear and wiggle? Very little thing to me. Why?

40:21 He says, He that judges me is the Lord. You see, He will judge me. Paul was in that posture of being bowed before his Redeemer and mediatorial king, and he knew that to his own master he would give an account of his ministry. He said, It is a very little thing for me to be judged of you or of any man's judgment.

40:44 Therefore, judge nothing before the Lord come. He says, At that time the hidden things will be brought to light, and then shall every man have his praise of God. When a man stands to preach, in his heart disposition is one in which he is bowed before the incarnate God as Redeemer and mediator, how in the world can he be in bondage to men's frowns, or how can he ever be bought by their smiles? You see, Paul makes it plain, and I want you to turn to this text, see it with your own eyes, in Galatians 1 in verse 10,

41:25 that to the extent that any man who claims, to be a man of God, is seeking favor of men, at the price of having the smile of Christ, he ceases to be the bond slave of Christ. Galatians 1 in verse 10, For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men? Now notice, If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a bond slave of Christ.

41:59 What? For the simple reason no man can serve two masters. No man can be dominated by two powerful motives, pleasing Master A and Master B, especially when there is a constant conflict of directives from Master A and Master B.

42:23 And so Paul says the two are mutually exclusive. He said, If I am driven by the motivation of pleasing men, I would no longer be a bond slave of Christ. I would no longer be able to write, Paul, the bond slave of Christ. Oh yes, I could write the words, but they'd be a lie.

42:43 In truth, these bond slaves mean that I take my orders from him. If it pleases men, fine. If it brings their anger and frown, stones and whips, do with me what they will. I'm determined to please my Master.

43:03 You see, that's what gives to a true man of God, an element of both mystifying and at times threatening independence from his fellow mortals.

43:17 There's something very threatening about a man that you know you can't scare away with your frowns or buy with your smiles, isn't there?

43:27 There's something very threatening about him because he stands as a visible representation of the God who isn't influenced by your smiles or your frowns either. But when you come to the place where with all your heart, you want to please Christ more than anything else, the very man that is threatening suddenly becomes very endearing to you.

43:55 I found it so whenever I've sat under a man of God. If I had any controversy with God, I was threatened by the fact that I knew I couldn't buy him with my smiles or shut him up with my frowns. But when my heart was bowed to his Master, no one was nor dear to me. But when I afraid to face Statua, I only relieved myself as a man that loved me enough to be free of my frowns and my smiles.

44:30 That was the Great Apostle. That's the identity of a man of God. His knees, the knees of his soul are constantly bowed before the incarnate God as Redeemer and mediatorial king. But then this posture in the 3rd place is the foundation looking at the implications of this posture in the work of the ministry, and it not only will, as we have seen, enable him to have a proper exercise of ministerial authority, it would be the foundation of liberation from bondage to men.

Selfless Devotion: Examples of Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Paul

45:07 But this posture of being bent before Christ as the incarnate Redeemer and mediatorial King is the foundation of selfless devotion in the work of the ministry. I want you to turn to Philippians chapter 1.

45:26 It's tragic that Paul's words are true in every generation.

45:32 And in his own generation, the great apostle had to say these very sad words. Verse 19 of Philippians chapter 2.

45:45 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I may be of good comfort when I know your state. Now listen to these words. I have no man like-minded who will care genuinely for your state, for they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. Think of it.

46:14 He said there's only one man I could select to send to you, because there's only one man that I know. I'm convinced, is motivated by one single, open, uncomplicated agenda.

46:31 It's my companion Timothy, and he will genuinely care for your state. His well-being, his reputation, his possessions, his health, his anything else, that's not the thing that motivates him. He has one agenda. His agenda is pleasing Christ, and in the context, pleasing Christ meant genuinely caring for the people of Christ.

47:01 And then there is a beautiful illustration of that spirit in the other man, Epaphroditus. Look at verse 25. I counted it necessary to send you, Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my needs, since he longed after you all, verse 28, I have sent him there for the more diligently when you see him you may rejoice, verse 29, receive him in the Lord with all joy, hold such in honor, why? Because for the work of Christ, he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life, to do what?

47:44 To supply that which was lacking in your service towards me. You mean he was willing to risk his life, to carry the gift from the Philippians to Paul? He said he was willing to hazard his life, to supply that which was lacking in your service towards me. His life was expendable, but the servant of God and fulfilling the will of God as a messenger, that was the thing that drove him.

48:18 That spirit, I believe, these men caught from the apostle himself, and I want you to look at two passages in the book of Acts, passages that I come back to again and again, and find myself humbled and convicted, and seared, driven to my knees. The apostle is about to leave the Ephesian elders, and he says in Acts 20, 24, I hold not my life of any account as dear to myself, that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He said, I don't count sparing myself as anything worthy of consideration. There's one thing that I long to do, and if my life must be consumed in pursuit of it, so be it. I desire to accomplish my course, and I'm not out to see how I can feather myself, and nest, and find an easy road in doing it. Later on in the book of Acts, two chapters later,

49:32 he's on his way from the people of God, and he knows that suffering and affliction and possible death await him, chapter 21. And what happens? Verse 12, And when we heard these things, that is, that going to Jerusalem, he would face opposition and trial, they besought, they sought him not to go up to Jerusalem. And Paul answered, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?

50:01 You see, he wasn't hard-hearted. Their tears and their entreaties broke his heart. But they didn't move him from the will of God. For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

50:17 And when we would not be persuaded, we cease saying, The will of the Lord be done. When a man is bound in sorrow, such thick chains of affection and devotion to the Lord Jesus, that even the prospect of suffering and death do not move him. And he says, Why do you carry on weeping and breaking my heart? Don't you know that I am so bound to my Savior, that if I must die for His name, I stand ready to do so.

Application: The Cost of Ministry and Parental Sacrifice

50:51 You see, it's that posture of being bound before the incarnate God, Israel, Redeemer and Mediatorial King that is the foundation of selfless devotion in the work of the ministry. And brethren, as I thought of this, and I speak especially now to you men in the academy and to you mothers and fathers,

51:15 what is going to be from the human side the thing that triggers a stream of men going out to the Philippines to join our brother Steve, to labor with our brother, Manny Martinez, to be a shepherd to that shepherdless flock in Ormoc that met on their Lord's day with nothing but a tape recorder and a cassette for a preacher. What's going to be the trigger to release men who are willing to endure the discomfort of that tropical climate, to have to get their tongues all twisted around learning another language that they might be useful not only speaking, but speaking one of the other major languages or possibly even learning one of the many dialects? What is it that will cause men to be willing to bury their lives in a situation where they will be for all intents and purposes written off?

52:22 I say here's the answer.

52:25 It is hearts bowed in such devotion to Jesus Christ that they can say with the Apostle, I count not my life as any account dear to myself.

52:43 Many of you men will be called upon to engage in church planting ministries here in our own country. Why is church planting so unglamorous? Because it means you have to go in and take a little group of people, many times not able even to support you adequately and have to work with your own hands to put bread on the table. And you've got to be, in the trenches and dig those trenches deeply and lay solid foundations for a generation to come.

53:14 And this is the age of instant success. The church growth movement with all of its carnal sociology and all of its psychology and Madison Avenue's slick technique has no time for what it takes to see churches built on solid foundations.

53:35 What's it going to take, my brethren? I'll tell you. I don't know what it'll take. It takes this posture of knees that are bent before the Lord Jesus Christ and chains that are forged in the secret place that become thicker with every passing day so that as His bond slaves, reputation, success in the eyes of men mean nothing to us and our only passion is to finish the course that our Savior has set for us.

54:10 Our Savior has marked out for us. And then when He calls us to hear Him say, well done.

54:20 You see, life becomes relatively simple when you live it in the posture of bowed knees before your Redeemer God, recognizing that His claims over you are unconditional. And you parents, what's going to make you really pray? I mean really pray to the Lord of the harvest to send His word to you. To send forth laborers with no subtle fine print.

54:49 If it means God lays hold of your daughter and gives her to a man of God who's going to bury his life in the Philippines or in Pakistan or some other place, and you may not see your grandchildren for years at a time, what's going to crush the idolatry of those natural ties that you will hold those children with an open heart? Open heart. Open hand. I tell you only one thing.

55:17 It's a posture of being bent in knee in the presence of the incarnate Redeemer who gave up the very glories of the presence of His Father and the worship and adoration of those angelic creatures and came to this pigsty called planet Earth and then took upon Himself the horrible burden of the guilt of all of our sin. I tell you, parents, that's what it comes down to. Does Jesus Christ and the reward of His sufferings mean more to you than cuddling your grandchildren?

56:03 You better ask yourself that honestly. I'm a grandfather. I'm not speaking in a vacuum.

56:09 I pray for my grandchildren. Say, who are you to say that? Nothing would please me more by the grace of God than to have my prayers for laborers answered. And my grandchildren?

56:25 My hard-hearted... No, I'm not hard-hearted!

56:29 My friend, life is short and hell is real!

56:38 What will it matter? Yes, some tears, some pain, some agony if you don't believe it. Talk to Pastor Dixon and his wife.

56:49 Tears, I'm sure, shed in secret when the Savior comes. And by His grace, we can present a little something that is the fruit of that single-eyed devotion. Listen to him in the language of that old gospel hymn. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

Conclusion: A Call to Examine the Condition of Your Knees

57:13 One look at His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race till we see Christ. I'd hope to touch in the third place on the knees of the man of God bowed before God the Father who hears and answers prayer. But our time is gone.

57:37 And I've been determined in this series of studies not to get through my notes, but I trust to preach truth into the hearts of God's people in this place.

57:51 I ask you as we close this morning, you who feel God's hand is upon you for the work of the ministry, what's the condition of your knees this morning? Are they knees bowed before the living God as Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign Lord of this universe?

58:13 Pray that God will rivet you in that posture and that you never move from it. For there is the foundation of ministerial humility. There is the foundation of ministerial obedience. There is the foundation of ministerial stability.

58:30 And then pray that that posture of being bowed before the incarnate God is redeemed. And mediatorial King will become the prevailing disposition of the soul that the knees of your soul in every situation will be found bowed before your blessed Redeemer. And in that posture you will never abuse the position of authority and influence. You will jealously guard that position realizing Christ alone is head and king in His church.

59:08 And you will never abuse the position that He has chosen for you. And you will never back down from the position of authority and influence. And you desire that His word alone will bind the consciences of your people. It is there that you will also find the foundation for true ministerial devotion.

59:21 It is there and there alone that you will find yourself more and more wedded in single-eyed attachment to the Savior so that you with the Apostle will be able to say, I count not my life dear to myself, that I must die, may finish my course and you who have no aspirations of being men of god in this technical sense let me ask you is there anything in what i've preached this morning that is unreasonable for any child of god you see it's not a double standard it is an intensified standard but not a double standard and if you sit here this morning and christ is not precious to you then i urge you to run to him because he stands ready to save all who come unto god by him seek his grace lay hold of his promise and you who do know him ask yourself the question this morning is my attachment to him such that my own life my own convenience my children my grandchildren everything is expendable that his gospel may be preached in our generation and that he might receive the reward

60:48 of his suffering let us pray our father we thank you for your word we thank you for the gift of your dear son we thank you for the salvation that is offered to hell deserving sinners in him and we pray that you will take the meditation upon your word this morning and bring some perhaps for the first time told what they are as creatures who have rebelled against their creator may they see the magnitude of that rebellion the horror of it and maybe run to christ for pardon and cleansing and forgiveness maybe calm his willing bond slaves finding joy in doing the good and acceptable and perfect will be made by god and by god's will and by all the works he has created in the world. will of god we pray oh lord for each of the men who are in the academy or seeking to frame in their minds and hearts what it is to be a man of god oh that you will write these truths upon

62:05 their hearts and from this place oh god send forth not mere professional clerics and preachers and pastors but men of god men like timothy who will naturally care for the state of others men who by your grace have been brought to the place where personal ambition and name and fame and reputation mean nothing and all that matters is the glory of christ and the reward of christ and the approbation of christ in the last day oh oh oh father cleanse us we pray from all of the devious secondary motives the hidden agendas of our hearts and make us single-minded in our devotion to christ all baptize this church afresh with that single-eyed devotion to jesus that as a congregation oh lord nothing will matter to us but laying hold of that for which christ has laid hold of us have mercy upon us and deal with our hearts as you see we have need we ask these mercies through our lord jesus christ amen