Message of God Through Man of God

The Importance of Context for Understanding Divine Letters

0:04 Perhaps some of you youngsters have had the experience on a rainy day or on a sick day when you weren't in school of rummaging through some of the old letters that maybe mommy and daddy saved from their courting days and you sort of sneaked up into the place in the attic where they kept them stored away. Or perhaps some of you as adults have gone through a box of some old heirlooms, trinkets, letters, family papers. And suppose you were to come upon a letter of your great-grandfather written to his family or to the family circle during a period of his absence from the family.

0:46 Well, I'm sure if the letter was very extensive at all, by a careful reading of your great-grandfather's letter alone, you could come to some very basic understanding of the character of your great-grandfather. Notice. Without certain things would be said that would indicate something of the circumstances of the family, so that by the reading of that letter, you could say that you knew something of your great-grandfather and you knew something of the family.

1:21 However, if in that same box from which you dug out the letter, there were some extensive family records dealing with the details of the history of your great-grandfather and his family, and you could find the circumstances which surrounded the absence of your great-grandfather from his family, how many children were in the family, something about them, then you see that whole letter, without one word in the letter itself being changed, would almost be a different letter. It would take on a much greater breadth of meaning and your understanding of your great-grandfather and of the family and of what he meant.

2:03 This, in his letter, would be that much more accurate and that much more comprehensive. What is true in human letters is true of divine letters. For the same Holy Spirit who has given to us the letter of the Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus, a letter which we propose and purpose to study in great detail in the coming weeks and months during our Lord's Day morning service, the same Spirit who gave us this letter, has also given us something of the family history that surrounds both the family to whom it was sent and also the one who sends that letter.

2:47 And since the Holy Spirit has recorded for us this history, I believe it is incumbent upon us to study it as thoroughly as possible in order that when we come to look at the letter, we may understand more of the intent of the author and of the intent... and of the Spirit of God in writing such a letter to that particular church.

3:10 So, for a few Lord's Day mornings, we are considering the birth or the founding of the church at Ephesus. If you think of the church in terms of its being the result of the work of the Spirit of God in supernatural power, it's better to think of it as the birth of the church. If you think of it in terms of its visible structure and organization, then the word founding of the church is the more proper word. So, we'll put them together, and for the purposes of our study, we are considering something of the birth and the founding of the church to which this great epistle subsequently came.

Review of Ephesus and Paul's Ministry There

3:54 Last Lord's Day, we looked at the city itself and its people, and we saw that this city was a veritable bastion of heathen worship. It was the center. Of the worship of Diana, God of the Ephesians. And from the letter of the Ephesians itself, the letter of the epistle to the Ephesians, we find some very clear indications of the condition of the people, predominantly a Gentile people, steeped in darkness, ignorance, and in all of the moral vice that follows from that pagan darkness and ignorance.

4:31 Then we looked at the labors of the Apostle Paul, and his... The inspired record is found in Acts 18, verses 18 through to the end of that chapter, all the way through the 19th chapter, and into the close of the 20th chapter.

4:49 And we saw that the labors of the Apostle Paul were such as to cover a period of some three years, during which time, we read in Acts 19.10, that all of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Perhaps those seven...

5:05 Seven churches, which are recorded in Revelation 2 and 3, were all of them founded during this particular period. And then we began last week to try to answer this very basic question, what was the cause of this great work that was done at Ephesus and in the surrounding area? When you see a very bastion of heathen darkness and satanic bondage, so confronted with the gospel, that there is not only the establishment of a strong church there, but the witness goes out into that whole area, then we need to ask the question, how did this come to pass?

The Sovereign Cause and Means of Church Planting

5:48 The general answer I gave you was this, what happened at Ephesus was but the unfolding in time of what God in grace had purposed in eternity. All that happened at Ephesus was the operation of sovereign grace in...

6:05 In keeping with eternal purpose. And if you don't understand that, then the first chapter of that letter to the church at Ephesus will be absolute nonsense to you. For where Paul gives thanks to God for everything that has happened at Ephesus, he continually traces it back to its source in the eternal purposes of God in keeping with his own gracious designs for the people of Ephesus. But...

6:35 But then since God is the God of means, that general answer must be broken down into specific aspects. God works according to sovereign purpose. He works in terms of the purposes of grace, but he works by means. And so we are now considering what means did this great sovereign God use to establish his church at Ephesus.

7:00 Last week we only got the first of three great principles, and it was this, God worked through the proclamation of his message. It was the message of God which brought about this great transforming work there at Ephesus. A message which Paul calls in Acts 20, verses 26 and 27, a proclamation of the whole counsel of God. He calls it in verse 24 of the same chapter, testifying the gospel of the grace, the grace of God.

7:36 He breaks it down in verse 21 as preaching repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And it was that message in all of its unadorned simplicity and power which became God's dynamite to explode in that city and in the environment and establish the church of Jesus Christ. Now we come today to consider, the second thing which God used in his grace according to his sovereign purpose in order to establish the church of Ephesus. It was not merely the message of God coming through angels

8:20 or being announced by God himself, but it was the message of God coming through a man of God. And then next week we'll look at the third principle, God willing, a man of God, employing the methods of God. And that's how the church was established. The message of God coming through a man of God employing the methods of God.

The Effectiveness of the Message and the Character of the Messenger

8:47 Our focus today is upon the man of God through which the message came. And it's important to underscore this aspect of the truth because of a basic principle revealed in scripture and confirmed in the work of God. God through the centuries and that principle is this. The effectiveness of the message of God bears a direct relationship to the general character of the messenger of God.

9:21 Let me give it to you again. The effectiveness of the message of God bears a direct relationship to the general character of the messenger of God. Now I'm fully aware, that there are exceptions to this. Matthew chapter 7 says, in that day there will be some who claim to have preached, to have done miracles and performed wonder works to whom Christ will say, depart from me, I never knew you.

9:52 I'm fully aware of the exception, but I'm also aware that's an exception. The general rule is this, as is the life of the messenger in genuine godliness, so will be the message in its genuine fruitfulness. As is the life of the messenger a life of genuine godliness, so the message will be a message of genuine fruitfulness. This principle alone will explain such statements as we find in the lips of the apostle Paul or from the pen of the apostle.

10:34 First Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 5, Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, even as, and the even as in the scriptures many times has the force of a mathematical equation, an equal sign. The gospel came, he says, with great effectiveness and with genuine fruitfulness, the Holy Ghost, power, assurance, even as, in direct proportion to, what? Even as you know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you.

11:19 That thing bothered me for years. It seemed like he was making things equal that had no relationship. Like trying to compare bananas and elephants. He was putting two things together that didn't fit, but they do fit.

11:32 He says, and the powerful effect of the gospel had a direct relationship to the gospel. To the reality of the Christian experience of the men who brought it. Same principle is brought out in many other portions of scripture. I'll not take time to underscore it.

Paul as a True Bondservant to the Will of Christ

11:50 Therefore, it should not be a surprise to us to turn to the record of the founding of the church at Ephesus and find that when the apostle is reviewing the factors which led to the founding of that church, not only does he tell us the content of his message, but he also underscores in great detail the quality of the messenger. And so I ask you to turn with me to the 20th chapter of Acts, which is part of that whole section which is the inspired record of the founding of the church at Ephesus. And notice what the apostle says.

12:31 Acts chapter 20 and verse 17. And from Miletus, he, that is Paul, sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time. He said, You yourselves know after what manner or in what way I was with you.

13:07 That has reference to his character. Later on, as we saw in our study last week, he tells us the content of his message in verse 21, testifying to Jews and Greeks, content, repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. But before he mentions even the content of the message, he mentions the quality of his life. And so the question is a very practical one for us.

13:35 What kind of a man is it whom God uses to attack the bastions of ignorance, the great imposing structures of pagan society and there establishes church? What kind of men does God use to cause his church to grow and to expand and to multiply? To make the question more personal, what kind of men must we be by God's grace to be instruments through which God will carry out, his eternal purposes for our generation through you, through me? That's the question.

14:18 And so we see in this passage before us a beautiful and composite description of the kind of man that can indeed be called a man of God through which the message of God comes with great power. And I would like to summarize all that the apostle says in this section under two basic headings. And these two things comprise a man of God, a woman of God. And they are, first of all, a true bondservant to the will of Christ and then secondly, a true reflector of the character of Christ.

15:01 A true bondservant to the will of Christ. That is, a man of God is a man conscious that his supreme allegiance is to the will of him who has redeemed him by his grace. And notice how the apostle underscores this in his first statement in that passage to which we referred a moment ago, Acts 20 and verse 18 and 19. Ye yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time, serving the Lord.

15:42 And the word he uses here for serving is that favorite word of the apostle by which he again and again describes himself as the bondservant, the doulos of the Lord. He introduces a number of his letters, Romans and Galatians and Philippians and Titus by saying, Paul, a bondservant of Christ. Here he says, you know that from the first of my coming among you, my life was one of continual servitude unto my Lord. I proved myself among you as a true bondservant

16:26 to the will of Christ. If you were to ask the apostle Paul, what in the world are you doing in this city? His answer would be very simple. I'm here on orders.

16:38 I'm here on orders. I'm a man under authority. For you remember in the record of the book of the Acts in chapter 16, he tried to go into Asia, but it says the spirit suffered him not. So he jumped his own plans as he surveyed his general commission, which was to preach Christ where he had not been preached to establish the church primarily in the Gentile world.

17:04 He saw that Asia was a great field unopened for the gospel and he wanted to go. But as he made his plans, it says the spirit of Jesus suffered him not. So he chucked his plans. But now another time around he finds himself there in Asia Minor in what would now be called Turkey.

17:23 This is the area where Ephesus was located. And as he's in that place he has an initial missionary encounter and the people are receptive to the word. Well, the reasoning is and this is actually put out in forms today in all kinds of manuals on how to do missionary work. Go to the most, most responsive people and where you find them stick with them and all the rest.

17:47 They got it all figured out and all fed into computers and they found out the secrets of church growth and why churches grow and they've got it all laid out for you. But not so this man. For when they pleaded with him and said, look, we like this, stay on with us. You read in the latter part of Acts chapter 18 that Paul would not do so.

18:05 The latter part of verse 20 and when they asked him to abide a longer time he consented not. Taking leave of them said, I will return unto you if God will. What was he telling these people? He said, you ever see my patsies around any of the real estate in Ephesus, there's one reason.

18:27 He says, the God whose I am and whom I serve has directed me to be here. That's why I'm here. No other reason. And so the very fact that they pleaded with him to stay a while and he said, no, but if the Lord will, the next time they saw him they said, there's only one reason that fellow's back.

18:45 God sent him. God has sent him back. And so his very presence in that second visit was a declaration that as a man of God he was a true bondservant of the will of Christ. They knew that he was not amongst them because of his own personal tastes, because of selfish desires, because of the effort to promote his image.

19:11 No, no. He was amongst them as a bondservant of the will of Christ. And when that's true, then with the Apostle Paul we can be willing as he was to jeopardize his life. Look at verse 24 of Acts 20.

19:26 Neither count I my life as dear unto myself. He says, when I make my plans I don't make them in terms of personal convenience, personal security. He says, that doesn't enter. What is my life?

19:42 It came from God in creation. It has been seized by God. In redemption. And if it must be expended in service, that's his business.

19:54 So he was willing to jeopardize his life. Why? Because he was a bondservant to the will of Christ, not a bondservant to a course of convenience and self-pleasing. Not all the time trying to find the path that would preserve his own reputation, his own security, his own convenience.

20:12 None of that. This is what caused him to be honest with the souls of men. Why could he, say in verse 20, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you? Why could he say in verse 27, I declared the whole counsel of God.

20:28 This is why he was a true bondservant to the will of Christ. And being Christ's bondservant and knowing that his master had deposited in his hands a body of truth, he did not say, now what do the people need in terms of their own understanding? What do the people want? What would, the people like?

20:50 This never entered. No, no. When his feet came and were planted on Ephesian soil, they were the feet of an ambassador who was conscious of the will of the one who had sent him. And so he could tell them all that was needed.

21:07 He was willing to cause offense and even upset society if necessary. And you read about it in Acts 19. They say this fellow's causing trouble. He says there's no God made with hands and he's upset.

21:19 The silversmith business and he's going to wreck our economy and the stock market might bust here in Ephesus. If that fellow hangs around, he didn't care. Why? Because he was the bondservant to the will of Christ.

21:37 And having such a man amongst them gave these Ephesians from the very outset a very vivid example and a very clear concept of what it would mean to them if they ever got his religion. They knew that if we get what this man's got it won't simply be exchanging some ideas about Diana for some ideas about Jesus. It won't mean merely changing some of our forms of worship Diana temple worship for Christian temple worship. No, no.

22:09 They realized if they ever got what Paul had it would mean a blessed enslavement in love to the Jesus whom Paul preached. And as then so now the church of Jesus Christ multiplies. Churches are born by people who've had such a discovery of Christ and his grace that causes them to gladly as we heard in the adult class this morning walk to the door post and say Lord Jesus thy love has kept pierce my ear make me your bondservant forever. Christ

22:53 free men are Christ's slaves. Difficulty doesn't move them. Lucrative salaries and convenient circumstances can't entice them. Smiles can't buy them.

23:09 Frowns can't wither them. They're Christ's free men.

23:16 That's the kind of person through whom God works to the establishing and to the developing of his church. A man of God. What is he? A true, bondservant to the will of Christ.

Paul as a True Reflector of Christ's Character: Humility

23:29 Serving the Lord. But then secondly and we want to enlarge upon this a true reflector of the character of Christ. For notice again in verse 19 having stated the general principle that he served the Lord he then indicates three things which characterize his service. With all lowliness of mind to and with all with tears three and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews.

24:07 I would suggest that these characteristics are nothing less than a reflection of the character the moral image of Jesus Christ himself. First of all then he said I was amongst you as a true bondservant to the will of Christ serving with lowliness of mind that is with genuine humility. This is the same root word used in Matthew 11 29 where Jesus said come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and here's the word

24:49 lowly of heart.

24:55 I say that when Paul declares that he served that he served that he served that he served in their midst in lowliness of mind this was a declaration of a Christ-like humility. Now what does that mean? How does it work itself out? What is its relationship to the individual possessed of this humility in his relationship to others and to the work of God?

25:20 Let me suggest several lines of thought that may be helpful. First of all this lowliness of mind will show itself with reference to his own assessment of himself. Here's a man who had no mean gifts. Why at Ephesus all you had to do was get near enough to Paul to touch him with a handkerchief and then you go home and lay that handkerchief on your sick child and he gets better.

25:50 Now how would you fare if walking out of here today people were clamoring not just to get a look at you but feeling that they could just touch you. They'd be healed. Can you imagine the thronging multitudes there at Ephesus as they pressed in upon the apostle? A man who when people asked him where you've been what have you been doing could speak of his world travels could speak of the great success he had seen in the preaching of the gospel.

26:19 You want to get a little idea of what it must have been like you read Whitfield's biography and one of the overriding impressions I had when I was done reading that biography by Arnold Dollimore I marveled at the powerful grace of God. The grace of humility that God poured into the heart of that man Whitfield. When the very mention of your name could gather 10 to 20,000 people wherever you went. That was what the apostle had.

26:46 And yet he said I was with you from the first day as a true bondservant of Christ serving with lowliness of mind and that reflected itself in his own assessment of himself. Never turned his head this is the man who could say I am what I am by the grace of God and if you take out of me what grace has put into me there is no good thing left for I know in me that is in my flesh dwelleth what? No good.

27:22 Lowliness of mind will always show itself with reference to a man's deep inward assessment of himself. Not what he may say with his lips but what he says in the secrets of his heart when he's looking at himself in the mirror.

27:39 Lowliness and it will show itself with reference to his dealings with others. That's why when he writes his letter and he gives the first practical exhortation in chapter 4 it's an exhortation to unity. He says I beseech you as the prisoner of the Lord to walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called and what's the first thing he mentions?

28:03 With all lowliness and meekness. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. He says the primary characteristic in the midst of a body of people dwelling together in the unity of the spirit will be this lowliness of mind. Each is seeming other better than themselves.

28:28 The scripture says by pride cometh contention and it's true. It's when you think your opinion is worth being pushed at the expense of your body. Brothers that dissension comes. It's when you're so convinced that your brilliant ideas or your personal likes must be acknowledged at the expense of others.

28:50 That's what brings contention between a husband and wife in a family in a church. There is no unity at any level of human relationship apart from that unity that comes by lowliness of mind. So as strong a leader as Paul was and he was then what do we find him doing? Toward the end of the chapter he says these hands not only work to provide for myself but he said my paycheck took care of supplying the needs of my lesser companions.

29:23 No wonder when a man like that goes to leave they fall on his neck and kiss him and cry.

29:29 There's some men they're great to behold from a distance but only the Lord can put up with them if you get close. Not so the apostle Paul. Lowliness of mind showed itself not only in regard to his assessment of himself but with regard to his dealings with others and thirdly it showed itself with reference to his dealings with the truth of God. It's pride and the itch for novelty which leads men to tamper with God's message.

30:00 Paul says I kept back nothing that was profitable. Why? Not because I understood how it was profitable in every way but God Almighty who made the message who knows the human heart He said Here Paul that's the body of truth now you give it. He said Lowliness of mind I never stood above God's truth saying well this is essential and that's not essential.

30:25 This is necessary for evangelism that's not necessary. No, no. He said I never tampered with it that way. Why?

30:31 Lowliness of mind and beneath the modern tampering with the gospel that says well the only essential truths are this and this and that but these are not essential. Essential is nothing but cursed human pride.

30:46 God knows what's essential. And as one commentator has said so beautifully Paul did not omit what was difficult and hard to set forth. Unpalatable and obnoxious to human reason out of harmony with the spirit of the times he was neither reactionary nor progressive for the whole counsel of God is changeless. He put justification by faith into the spirit because God put it there but he treated a large number of other points as well each in its own place.

31:23 Here was a man reflecting the character of Christ for you remember our Lord said as the true servant of Jehovah he said my words are not my words but the words of him that sent me. I don't speak my own words. I don't do my own thing. He said I do that which I see.

31:44 Of my father. And so the apostle reflects the character of Christ as a man of God lowliness of mind in his assessment of himself I am what I am by the grace of God in his dealings with others and with reference to his dealings with God's truth. May I say that this is an indispensable requirement to be a true man or woman of God and you can't learn it in textbooks and you may have the gift of gab but you may not have this true humility. Paul puts it as

32:28 the crowning grace by which he moved in the midst of the people at Ephesus.

32:35 I used to wonder about some of the old writers in the way they viewed what they looked for as positive evidences of a flourishing state of grace in different people. And if I can sort of popularize and summarize their thinking and I see the wisdom of it the longer I live now when they saw a young man you know what they looked for as a true evidence of a flourishing state of grace? They didn't look for zeal for they knew that zeal and fluency of speech could be in 90% of the cases simply a natural characteristic of that particular age. So you know what they looked for in young men as an evidence of flourishing grace?

33:20 They looked for humanity because they knew generally humility is not a natural grace upon a young tree.

33:31 Humility usually is taught after a man has like Peter boasted of his strength only to fall in the point of his strength and God knocks the starch out of him.

33:43 So when they looked for grace flourishing in a young man they didn't look for burning eloquence zeal no no they looked for the grace of humility.

33:53 Now in old people you know what they looked for as an evidence of grace? Not so much as a grace of humility. Not so much as a grace of humility. Not so much as a grace of humility and a retiring spirit because they know that could be the fruit of intellectual and physical arthritis.

34:05 So what do they look for as an evidence of grace in an older man? A burning zeal. For when a man who's got lots of miles on his speedometer still has all eight cylinders going and still has a driving concern to extend the kingdom of Christ and has kept the freshness and the fervor of his desire to propagate the gospel ah there's an evidence that grace is in a flourishing state. So I would say to you young men present this morning study humility.

34:39 Be not so much occupied with what you're saying with these lips but with the condition of the heart in your assessment of yourself in your relationship to other people and in your relationship to the truth of God.

Paul as a True Reflector of Christ's Character: Tears (Compassion)

34:58 But the second thing he says characterized him and this is such an accurate reflection of the character of Christ is tears. Notice. You know he said what manner of man I was serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind and with tears. He repeats this down in verse 31.

35:22 Wherefore watch ye remembering that by the space of three years I cease not to admonish every one night and day with tears. Now what to do? Tears reveal. Well they can reveal a lot of things.

35:35 In some cases they reveal a good actor.

35:38 I remember someone who went to Bible school with me told me about an old preacher he knew and it was a standing joke when he'd be out in evangelistic meetings you could always tell the precise paragraph in his memorized sermons when he'd cry. He had it all down pat and when he came to the area where there was supposed to be real pathos and something to touch the heart he could turn on his tears just like that. An actor. An actor can turn on their tears.

36:05 So tears sometimes just reveal a good acting ability. Sometimes they reveal a soft weak character whenever facing opposition rather than going through they burst into tears and their tears are the reflection and the evidence of the weakness of their character. I know people like that.

36:27 They go into fits of crying every time they face problems. That's a characteristic of children. One of my famous words to my own children is when did tears ever do a thing? There's a problem.

36:40 Whether the problem is you can't open the drawer of your dresser whether the problem is you can't untie the knot in your shoes when in the world did tears ever open a drawer or untie knots? So when my kids get older just like I keep repeating my mother's words doing things you don't like to do develops character my kids are going to say tears never accomplished anything.

37:03 When they are tears revealing weakness of character and unwillingness to faith reality and press through difficulty sometimes tears reveal an overindulged petulant selfish character like the wife who every time her husband crosses her she bursts into tears.

37:23 That's just an adult tantrum. That's all. That's all. I should say it's a child's tantrum in an adult body.

37:31 That's all it is.

37:33 But also tears can reveal tears can reveal the overflow of the deepest inward grief and pain.

37:47 And as we think of the Apostle Paul dare we say that when he says I was a true bondservant of Christ serving with humility and with tears that he was simply a play actor the very thought was shocking to us. Whatever Paul's enemies even said of him one thing they never accused him of was being a play actor. They thought he was a fool. They thought he was crazy and beside that he was inside himself but one thing they knew he's for real.

38:18 So we've got to dismiss his tears as being the tears of a good actor. Well what we know about Paul certainly he was no soft weak character who was afraid of opposition. You look at him in Acts 19 and there that whole crowd has come together shouting for two hours great is Diana God of the Ephesians and Paul wants to run into the whole midst. If you've got any imagination you can't help but laugh at the scene.

38:41 The disciples are grabbing him saying oh Paul get back just like you know when they get mixing it up at a hockey game and everybody's got to grab onto them they want to get in and start swinging. Well there was Paul he saw that great crowd and an opportunity to defend himself and the gospel and he says let me at him but they had to restrain him. Right in the setting here no man of of weak feminine type character no not at all. Well could they be the tears of an overindulged selfish man?

39:11 No because later on in this very passage he goes on to say my hand supplied the needs of others. He was no selfish man here was an outgoing man concerned with others so we're shut up to one conclusion that when he says tears characterized my ministry they were the tears of a man of God. Tears which became the outward expression of the deepest form of inward grief and pain. It's in this context that it says of our Lord that he wept in the eleventh chapter of John as he faces the reality of death.

39:50 Death that has severed him from his friend Lazarus. Scripture says with eloquent simplicity Jesus wept. In Hebrews 5 we read who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers with strong crying and tears and I believe that has direct reference to Gethsemane where our Lord becomes so intense in his prayer and so overcome with the grief of the impending separation which he will experience in his communion with the Father that he weeps with strong crying and with tears.

40:33 And so as the Apostle Paul ministered at Ephesus it was this ability to feel deeply and genuinely the tragic realities of sin of unbelief and impending judgment temporal and eternal which forced tears from his eyes. That's precisely what forced tears from our Lord's heart and eyes in Luke 19. For we read in verse 41 of that chapter that when he beheld the city of Jerusalem he wept. And why did he weep?

41:10 He said O Jerusalem Jerusalem how oft would I have gathered but ye would not behold your houses left unto you desolate. What was it that poured into the soul of our Lord wrung from him those tears? It was these great issues the reality of sin of unbelief of blindness of mercy spurned of grace turned away. And then the judgment that must inevitably follow it's this that caused him to weep over Jerusalem.

41:46 And so it was with the Apostle Paul as he prayed and preached to men as he set forth from scripture the doctrines of the grace of God as he entreated men to repent and to believe the gospel promising on condition of faith that they should be saved threatening on the possibility of unbelief that they should be damned. He wasn't just a word machine. These things had so gripped him they had become such a part of him that when the realities of sin and grace and unbelief and impending judgment were seen before his eyes he wept. It broke him.

42:30 And so he says from the first day that I came amongst you I was a true bondservant of Christ reflecting the character of Christ not only in humility but in compassion.

42:44 I would say by way of application that to this day churches are built sinners are saved saints edified not by well-oiled truth machines not merely by men who can say I preached unto you the whole counsel of God I kept back nothing that was profitable but men who can say with Paul I preached the whole counsel of God and I did it with tears.

43:18 Oh what a difference when a letter comes from someone who's loved you've been able to read by the glistening drops of water spilling from his eyes when this man picks up his pen and writes to the church at Ephesus and says walk in love as Christ loved the church they're ready to listen why? they saw that love that love was often read in the glistening drops of water on the cheeks of this man when this man says husbands love as Christ loved the church when this man says speaking the truth in love Ephesians 4 they had an example of what that meant

44:01 serving the Lord with tears no wonder they wept when he left he had wept his way into their hearts as he had preached his way into their heads that's the mark of a true man of God he weeps his way into men's hearts as he preaches his way into their minds I believe some years ago I told the story but since we have so many new men and women it's worth repeating it was a time in the early days of the history of the Salvation Army back before they had become just a glorified philanthropic organization

44:44 with a few religious overtones back when General Booth moved with compassion for the unreached of London and though I feel he was wrong in bypassing the whole concept of the church I can't hold a candle to the man and dare criticize him because he was moved upon by the spirit of God with measures of compassion and unction that I know nothing of and in those early days when young officers came and it cost something to be one a group had gone out to an area where there was no established church reaching anybody doing anything probably just a dead old Anglican church as all England was cursed with in those days and these men had preached

45:29 and they'd labored and nothing moved nothing happened and they wrote back to the general and told him their terrible plight and were ready to quit and the general sent them back a letter and it only had two words on it just two words two words try tears now what did he mean by that did he mean that there would be some magical power if they could as it were work themselves up into some condition whereby they could spill tears when they preached was he trying to get them to be good actors no was he telling them look you people are too strong in character become little soft weak effeminate men and try a lot as you face your difficulties and then that will work no

46:12 was he telling them to become petulant overindulged little brats drawn beyond their years who when they saw people refusing to believe would cry as it were in a spirit and temper tantrum in frustration no no what he was saying was this don't rest until your love for those people and your desire for their salvation becomes so intense that in the face of your pleading with them to repent and in the face of their refusal to repent your love is of such a nature that it will break your heart into tears needless to say a mighty work of God broke forth when these men tried

46:56 tears I remember one time listening to an anecdote told by the late Dr. Tozer who speaking along a similar vein in another connection mentioned his own experience as a young convert he didn't know much but God had saved him and he said and he had had a deep travail of soul for his unsaved mother she was a good upright moral kind unsaved Presbyterian woman at that time she didn't know experimentally the salvation of Christ and Tozer mentions that one day after being deeply burdened in prayer he came down and his mother looked at him and his countenance was sad and she said son what's the matter and when she did it opened up the sluice gate and he began

47:40 to sob uncontrollably and she said son what's the matter and he said I didn't give her a good presentation of the gospel it was miserable he said all I could say was mama you're lost mama you're not saved mama you're not a Christian and he turned and walked out and went back to his room the next day when he came home from school he found that mother on her knees praying to God and when her son came through the door she said son the Lord has saved me I wouldn't minimize anything I said last week about the change that came to Ephesus through the preaching

48:25 of the pure message we must hold tenaciously to the purity and comprehensiveness of the message but unless that is fused with this ability to compassionately entreat sinners we'll not see the effect that the apostle Paul saw so the second true aspect of a true true reflection of the character of Christ is tears then I have time only to mention the third with trials with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews that is with deep hatred

Paul as a True Reflector of Christ's Character: Trials (Opposition)

49:10 of and opposition to my life and my ministry particularly from those who were acquainted in a surface way with the scriptures he says my opposition came primarily from the Jews oh yes the Gentiles opposed him here in Acts 19 we read of the opposition of the silversmiths but for the most part his bitterest opposition came from the Jews you say Pastor Martin in what sense is that a reflection of the character of Christ well I would ask you to read carefully at your leisure the latter part of John 15 beginning with verse 18 down to the end of the chapter and I shall

49:55 only give the pivotal verse in that section in the interest of time listen to our Lord's prophetic words to his own if the world hateth you ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you if ye were of the world the world would love its own but because ye are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you and then he goes on to say they will give you the precise treatment that they gave me and remember that our Lord's greatest opposition came from that segment of the world unregenerate humanity which was characterized by its surface acquaintance with the scriptures

50:39 it was the Jews of whom he could say you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but these are they which testify of me and you will not come to me that you may have life and so the mark of a true man of God is that in spite of true humility in spite of genuine and displayed compassion in carrying out the message of God the exposure of sin and sham is such that opposition will come and he will have trials especially from the professedly religious our Lord and the Apostle insisted that a mere

51:24 surface acquaintance with the scriptures and with a great tradition of religious heritage was not enough they insisted upon the inward reality of grace so our Lord says before I came you had you had no sin that is you thought all was well but I have come I've unmasked you you have no excuse for your sin anymore and there's no fury like the fury of an unmasked deceived professing Christian you want to see fury begin to tear away the mask of people who have a name that they're alive but are dead you're tearing away their most precious possession their false hope that they are the children of God

Paul as a True Reflector of Christ's Character: Self-Abandonment

52:09 and opposition will come so it's no easy thing no easy thing to declare the whole counsel of God whether there as a witness in that high school of yours whether as a witness in that shop no easy thing opposition will come and then the last characteristic that is implicit in all of these others but explicitly stated in verses 33 to 35 of this chapter it's what I'm calling his self-abandonment to the needs of others notice verse 33 he said I coveted no man's gold silver or peril he said it was obvious in the three years

52:54 I was amongst you I never wanted anything from you but then in verse 34 he says and these oh these very hands of mine did what minister to my necessities and them that were with me what a powerful statement it's one thing to say to a group of people I wanted nothing from you you knew it I knew it but then to be able to say I was willing to bear everything for you at that point I stand ashamed one thing to say I sought nothing from you but now he says in order to have the privilege of being in your midst to preach I labored to put food on my table but not only for me

53:39 I had the rest of my group with me and I labored enough to provide for them and what do you call this in summary I don't know what else to call it but a self abandonment to the needs of others when that man writes in his letter as he does in chapter 4 let him that stole steal no more but rather let him work with his hands that he may have to give to him that needs it has some proof in it because here's a man who had already set the pattern and so in this he reflects our blessed Lord who in order to meet the needs of the people whom the Father had entrusted to him abandons the privilege of the unlimited freedom

54:22 of that dwelling place with the Father becomes enfleshed in a virgin's womb commits himself to a life of poverty experiences the agony of Gethsemane the terrible terrible judgment of Calvary and in all of this for what purpose to meet the needs of his people you see so often people who are hard on themselves are also hard on others therefore the hardness on themselves is not out of principle it's not an evidence of grace it's just an evidence of constitution and temperament I've met people like that I admired

55:06 their discipline of themselves but when you got close to them they treated you with the same ruthlessness with which they treated themselves not so the apostle Paul ruthless on himself tender and outgoing to me to meet the needs of others that's grace that's grace and I say that's a quality of a true man or woman of God without which the church of Christ does not advance my friends listen if I may state it as simply as I can in summary the work of this church will not be advanced by people who simply throw their spare moments and their leftover energies and time into the hopper of a little bit of prayer a little bit

Application: The Cost of Advancing Christ's Church

55:51 of effort a little bit of attempt to propagate and spread the gospel the church of Christ advances as the people of God stick their heels into the face not of their sins that's just sanctification but into the face of their rights and their privileges and their legitimate liberties read 1st Corinthians 9 Paul says I've got all these rights but what do I do with them I forego them why that others may be saved some of you know nothing of this your relationship to Jesus Christ hasn't cost you

56:35 one thing this past week you've had every luxury and privilege of any ungodly person except the grosser forms of this you've never said no to an evening you had a perfect right to kick your feet up and watch that ball game when he just said no to that get in your car and go out after some person that doesn't know the savior and make an offer and make an offer and make an honest effort to establish a friendship that would lead to an opportunity to witness to them how long has it been how long has it been how long has it been since you took an hour that you could legitimately use in some legitimate diversion and got yourself upon your knees and cried out to God for your children

57:18 and when they don't follow the Lord you'll blame the church didn't have enough young people's activities and the preacher talked over there my friend it's your own carnal fault messed up with sin sin your own convenience and say oh God give me a heart that can pray for my own children what about somebody else's children you can pray for your own children out of purely selfish motives the acid test of your longing for the glory of God and the salvation of people is not to be found in how often

58:03 and how fervently you pray for your own but how often and how fervently you pray for others by that standard who amongst us can lift up his head with pride this morning that's the mark of a man a woman of God helpless a man well time is long gone from us when we see that kind of a man the reflex action of our heart should be oh God only you can make me like that we're not here to deify Paul this morning because he said I am what I am

58:48 by the grace of God left to himself he wouldn't be like Christ he'd be like the devil left to yourself that's what you'll be like left to myself that's what I'll be like but the same resources of grace that were open to him are open to us in Christ to make us by his grace true men and women of God what does that mean? true bondservants to the will of Christ true reflectors of the character of Christ genuine humility true compassion opposition and selfless abandonment to the needs of others may God make us that kind of a people

59:31 and if he does then as we proclaim that message perhaps we'll begin to see things the likes of which we've never seen before may God grant it for his glory and for our good let us pray