Paul's Ministry: Fulfilling the Word of God

What I learned out of this passage was so exciting to me because really you have here the eight different aspects of the ministry of the servant of God. Eight different aspects that should characterize the life of anybody who serves the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks for joining us here on Grace to You with John MacArthur. In just a few moments, John's going to begin a series on the amazing blessing you receive at salvation, how right from the start you have all you need for a life of joy and godliness. It's titled, Complete in Christ. Well John, when you think about the great biblical themes that are important for any redeemed sinner to understand, this one, the idea that we are complete in Christ, is certainly on that list of important truths. It's really a foundational truth for our daily walk with the Lord, and I know it's been a theme of your ministry for years and years, but it's probably not talked about or thought about by most Christians today as much as it should be. Yeah, I think I grew up thinking that even though I was a Christian, there was something more out there that I needed to pursue. And of course, that shows up in certain theologies. There's a second work of grace, or a third work of grace, or a deeper life. There's a level of spirituality that you ascend to, and you can have Jesus as Savior, and then if you get serious you can make him Lord, and that catapults you onto another level. I think all of that basically goes against what Scripture says, that you are complete in Christ. Now it's one thing to be complete in Christ, it's something else to reach the maturity where you access all that is available. And that's what I think Paul was talking about when he said he wanted to present believers fully matured in Christ. So you are complete in Christ in that you have all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, you have everything that pertains to life and godliness.

But while those resources are available, they're not necessarily manifest in their fullness until we begin to take access into the throne of God and draw down these resources, because they are the most important things that heaven has to offer us, and earth can't compare with what heaven provides. This marvelous truth of being complete in Christ is the subject of our new series launching today. And it's a series that looks at Paul's great love for the church at Colossae and his burden for them, and his desire that men and women in that congregation would live and thrive in the knowledge of all the spiritual resources they have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That church in Colossae had been hammered by false doctrine, which brought anguish to the heart of Paul. And while imprisoned in Rome and literally chained to a Roman soldier, he wrote this epistle to refute heresy and strengthen the Christians in Colossae and of course all the rest of us through the ages. What the apostle Paul had to say to the first century church is vital for us today. In fact, I can't think of anything more important for a believer's sanctification than to understand what it means to be complete in Christ, knowing the riches available to you in this life.

That's right. And friend, as you stay with us over the next three weeks, you're going to see how your heavenly riches equip you for every decision, strengthen you through every trial, undergird every relationship, and make you more useful for spiritual service. So stay here as John MacArthur shows you what it means to be complete in Christ. I'd like to have you turn in your Bible to the first chapter of Colossians. This little book, it isn't very long, it's only four chapters, was a letter written by the apostle Paul who wrote 13 of the New Testament books. It was written to a group of believers in a city called Colossae, not a city of tremendous importance, but nevertheless a city of some significance. And in that particular city there was founded a little church.

The man responsible was a man named Epaphras, and apparently he was the initial pastor of that small congregation in that city, a city that was in a triad of cities including Laodicea and Hierapolis as well as Colossae in the Lycus Valley. The apostle Paul is writing to them because they're undergoing some problems. The church is being confronted with some people who are teaching false doctrine about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it's very important that the apostle Paul write this letter to straighten them out. Now you'll notice that verse 23 ends with the word minister. Paul has said that regarding this truth about Christ that he has just spoken, he was made a minister. The term minister then triggers Paul's thoughts for the next section because in verses 24 to 29 he describes his ministry. He says, I am made a minister and then he launches into a description of what that ministry involves and it is a ministry to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. Frequently in Paul's letters, and I'm sure you've come across it time and time again as we have in our studies, frequently in his letters he stops to discuss his ministry.

Paul frequently says, I am an apostle. I do this. I do this this way. This is how I operate.

This is how I function. And he makes a very, very strong point again and again and again and again of the style and type and approach of his ministry. He does it for many reasons. He does it for one reason, to defend his right to speak for God. He says from time to time, I am a sent one from God. At the end of 23 he says, I am made a minister.

I didn't choose this, I was made a minister. And this should give him some credibility. This should give him some punch in speaking to them. He says it then to defend his right to speak for God or to establish his authority. He says it also to express the wonder that he has in his mind that God called him. He continually reiterates the truth of his ministry because it is such a thrill to him.

It's more than just a defense, it's also something that is exciting to him. And he wants the people to hear him, not as a self-styled, self-appointed, non-credentialed false teacher like so many that existed in the world, but he wants them to hear him as the spokesman for God. And so he repeatedly accredits his ministry. Now as I began to look at this passage, I kind of keyed in on the statement at the end of verse 27, Christ in you the hope of glory. And I thought, well I'm going to build around that theme.

And so I got that in my mind, I began a study. And several hours of study went by in my mind and I realized that that is really not the theme of what he's saying. That is a theme in what he says, but it is not the theme. The theme that he has in mind through all of these verses is simply to present a detailed look at his ministry. And what I learned out of this passage was so exciting to me because really you have here eight different aspects of the ministry of the servant of God. Eight different aspects that should characterize the life of anybody who serves the Lord Jesus Christ, anybody who is called to teach or preach or minister within the framework of Christianity. There are eight of these and when it all comes together, you're going to get a beautiful pattern of the ministry as Paul views it. It's a tremendous portion of Scripture because this is what he carefully does in these verses. Now to begin with, point number one, the source of the ministry. As Paul looks at his ministry, he wants to talk about the source of it. And that you see in verse 23, closing out the last portion in verse 25 as well. Notice the end of verse 23, that statement, of which I, Paul, and of which in reference to the gospel back in the verse, in the middle of the verse, the gospel which you have heard which was preached to every creature under heaven of which I, Paul, am made a minister. The word minister is not a highfalutin word, it's not an elevated term.

It's a very, very low term. It's the word diakonos which means servant. I am made a servant. Now how was Paul made a minister?

How was he made a servant? Go back to the 26th chapter of Acts and I want to show you something. Notice Acts 26 13, at midday, O king, and here he's telling Agrippa how it all happened.

He's giving his personal testimony. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven. I'm walking to Damascus, I saw a light from heaven.

It was brighter than the sun shining around about me and them who journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to earth, the whole entourage went down, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the thorns or the goads. When they used to have an ox working in a field, in order to keep the ox going the right direction and not kick, they put pointed goads right against the heels of the ox. And if the ox kicked, too bad.

So the ox learned don't kick. And the Lord says, it's hard for you to fight against it, to resist me, to kick against me. And I said, who are you Lord? He recognized that it was the Lord, one of the more specific title. He said, I'm Jesus whom you persecute, but rise and stand on your feet for I have appeared unto you for this purpose.

Now watch this next word, to what? To make you a minister. Now Paul did not choose to be a minister, he was made a minister and a witness of the things which you have seen, those things in which I would appear unto you, delivering you from the people, from the Gentiles unto whom now I send you. Paul, I have chosen you to go to the Gentiles. You are now hereby made a minister.

Now I'll tell you people, that's a pretty strong state. And I can relate to that as you know. That's exactly what the Lord did to me. Threw me out of a car, going about 75 miles an hour, skidded me all over the place, woke me up when it was all done and spoke to my heart and said, MacArthur, you are now in the ministry. And I said, right! Whatever you say, you're going to fight like this, I quit.

And that's precisely what happened and I had three months in bed to let that decision sink into my heart. The Lord makes ministers. His ministers are those who are called. He's done it throughout the Old Testament. Read the story of the prophets. You have no self-styled, self-appointed prophets.

They're called of God. Now Paul makes this clear again and again in his ministry. In the 15th chapter of Romans in the 15th verse, Nevertheless, brethren, Romans 15, 15, I have written the more boldly unto you to remind you because of the grace that is given to me of God that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. The reason I'm so bold in writing to you Gentiles is because the Lord has made me a servant to you Gentiles. I'm only carrying out my ministry.

I'm only doing that which God has called me to do. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 4, we read again, And such trust have we through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, our sufficiency is of God, not that I'm self-confident, he says. In other words, my confidence and my trust comes because my sufficiency comes from God.

That's what he's saying. God has called me into this and God has equipped me for this. I would say this, you don't choose the ministry that God desires for you. God chooses it.

You are either obedient or disobedient. In 1 Timothy we find in chapter 1 verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, listen, in that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Paul says I'm here because He put me here. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5, There is one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Listen, For this I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles. It's been ordained of God.

This isn't something that I whimsically chose. In 2 Timothy 1.11 it says, Under which I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles, repeating the same three terms. Now, who made Paul a minister? God. Who is the source then of ministry?

God. Whatever gifts you have received to operate within the body of Christ, who gave you those gifts? According to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, the Holy Spirit gives to all men severally as He will. It is the Spirit of God who manifests Himself in the gifts of the Spirit in order that we might minister. It is God who calls us. It is God who puts us in the ministry.

It isn't something we choose. Notice again, Colossians chapter 1, verse 25, because you have it again in the same terms. Colossians 1, 25 says, Of which I am made a minister.

Here it is again, the same statement. I am made a minister according to the dispensation, or the stewardship of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the Word of God. Notice this, I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me.

Stop there. The word dispensation, oika namian, namos is law or rule, oikos is house. It means to rule a house. It means to be a steward of somebody else's possessions, to be the one who rules for the house owner, refers to somebody given great responsibility.

The steward doesn't own anything. He manages something for somebody else. The house owner would have a steward in those days who would manage his whole house. And this was when he had a large estate, and so that the house owner could go anywhere he wanted, the steward would take care of everything, employment, wages, taking care of the supplies in the house, making sure everything was carried out, a very great responsibility. God owns His church. It's His house.

It's His temple. And God says, I want to appoint you to rule on my behalf in my church. It suggests being given a great estate to manage, the word does. Of which I am made a servant according to the stewardship, or if you want a good word for that, according to the God-given responsibility, according to the God-given responsibility which I have received. It's a divine office, Paul says. It's God's plan. It's God's church. It's God's gospel. It's God's Christ. It's God's message. It's God's truth.

It's God's Word. And he says, look, Paul, will you manage it for me? I'm in the ministry because God has put me there.

I'm a steward. Moreover, 1 Corinthians 4, 2, it is required in the stewards that a man be found...what?...faithful, just carry out the task. So Paul says, God has given me a task. God has given me a divine responsibility and I'm obligated to fulfill it. God is the source of my ministry. First Corinthians 9, 16, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to be proud of.

I have nothing to boast about, nothing to cause self-glory. For necessity is laid on me, yea, woe is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. Paul says, look, don't come up to me and say, oh, Paul, isn't it wonderful you're a minister? Oh, Paul, what a self-sacrificing wonderful human you are.

He'll say to you, look, fella, I was going down the Damascus road minding my own business and I got thrown into this deal. Don't pat me on the back. I didn't ask for it and now it's a situation where if I don't fulfill it, I'm in a lot of trouble. So don't pat me on the back about it.

I had nothing to do with it. It's probably a lot more responsibility than I want anyway. He says in verse 17, if I did it willingly, then I would have a reward. But if against my will, it's strictly a responsibility that's been committed to me.

That's all. It's something given to me and I didn't ask for it, but I'm in a lot of trouble if I don't fulfill it. So don't pat me on the back, pray for me. In Galatians chapter 2 verse 7, Paul says, on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision, or the gospel that goes to the Gentiles, was committed to me...we'll stop right there.

That's all we want is that phrase. He says the gospel to the Gentiles was committed to me. I didn't have any choice. In Ephesians chapter 3 he says, for this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation or if you have heard of the responsibility that God has given me, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery. And then he said in verse 7, of which I was made a minister by His grace. In other words, you must know that God has called me and God has made me a prisoner of Christ. I'm chained to Christ.

I can't get away. I've got this tremendous responsibility to reveal the truth that God gives me, to dispense the mysteries. Those are the truths of God's Word. I was made a minister. God has called us to a tremendous responsibility. And that's why, no matter who you are as a Christian, the Spirit of God has given you certain gifts. And if He's given you those gifts, He's called you to minister those gifts and you need to do that.

It's a serious responsibility. If you possess a gift of the Spirit, then you are a steward of something that belongs to God and you are to minister that. You are to dispense it to those in need of it. 1 Peter 4, 10, as every man, that's all of us, has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Every Christian has received spiritual gifts. Every Christian has received gifts. If you have, then minister them as a good steward.

A steward, you hold that gift but it isn't your own. You're going to use it and manage it for God's glory. If you have a speaking gift, then speak as the oracles of God. If you have a serving gift, then serve with the ability that God gives that God may be glorified. The source of all ministry is God.

We don't choose that. And so what am I saying? I'm saying you had better examine your own heart to see what God has called you to do. You had better search your own heart to see what your spiritual gifts are. There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit, differences of administration but the same Lord, diversities of the operations but as the same God working in all.

There are different gifts here. Every one of you are different but you've been given a stewardship and it's from God and He's the source of that calling and the source of that gift and you better use that thing because you're a steward of it. Someday when you face Jesus Christ, the record of your stewardship is going to be what did you do with the gifts you were given? Are you going to be like the servant who buried it in the ground and said, I knew you were tough to handle so I just buried it and held on to it?

Or are you going to be the kind who multiplied the stewardship? So in any ministry, whatever it is, God calls us, God equips us, God assigns us, maybe not as dramatically as the Damascus Road experience that Paul had but just as truly. So the source of the ministry is God. He says, I am made a minister, verse 23. Verse 25, I am made a minister according to a God-given responsibility. Second, and this is really neat, He not only talks about the source of the ministry but the Spirit of the ministry, the Spirit of the ministry. As we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing God has called us, what should be our attitude? What should be the spirit in which we serve?

Verse 24, watch this. I'm just going to read three words. Who now, what's the third word? Rejoice. What's the spirit of the ministry?

A word with three letters. Joy. The spirit of the ministry is joy. Whatever our ministry is, we are to enjoy it. That's a sad reality, I think, that many ministering Christians don't have the right attitude.

You know that? There just aren't enough joyous Christians. There just aren't enough happy Christians.

Like the little girl who saw the mule and said, with a long face like that, you must be a wonderful Christian. You know, there are a lot of people who have been given a tremendous responsibility by God, but they grudgingly carry it out. What do you do? I'm serving the Lord. It just agonizes. Where's the joy? It's a sad reality that many pastors have lost the joy of the ministry. They don't have the right attitude. They get like Jonah, you know? Even when it goes good, they're angry.

They're hesitant, reluctant, bitter, resentful. You say, yeah, but I got it tough in my ministry. It's hard to have joy.

Oh, think of this one. If you ever think you got it tough in your ministry and you can't find joy, listen to these words. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, what? Endured the cross, despising the shame. Why did He do it? For the joy that was set before Him. Jesus never lost the joy of what He was doing. Never, never.

Why should you? You haven't suffered under blood yet, He says, or you haven't died in your service. Oftentimes you'll talk to somebody and even another pastor and say, oh, I've lost the joy of the ministry. You know what that means?

That doesn't mean to me that they've got bad circumstances. That means to me they've got bad connections, see, because you don't lose the joy unless you lose the Lord. And if you lose the Lord, I've got to redo my theology. See, there's joy in the ministry.

Oh, it's easy to get discouraged with circumstances. Paul was. He said, I have continual sorrow and heaviness of heart concerning my people Israel, but he never lost the internal joy. Paul's joy was generated because of what Christ had done for him, and I'll tell you something else.

Keep this in mind. Humility generates joy. You know something? Humility generates joy in this sense. Paul always thought of himself as so unworthy that even having the privilege of dying for Jesus Christ was cause for joy.

You get that? He always thought of himself as so unworthy that even the privilege of dying for Jesus Christ was a cause for joy because he didn't even think he was worthy of that. When you lose the joy is when you get to thinking you're too good to be suffering what you're suffering or to be having it like you're having it, and that's the wrong perspective. Several Christians are absolutely dramatically effective on the world. Spirit of the ministry is joy. Colossians right there in chapter 2 verse 5.

Paul's in jail in Rome here chained to a Roman soldier. As he writes, he says, for though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Absolutely undaunted was this guy because his joy was always based on the perpendicular. In 1 Thessalonians he writes, I think it's chapter 2 there, verse 19, he says, what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming for you are our glory and joy. Listen, he rejoiced about God and he rejoiced about everybody else and consequently what happened to him didn't matter. Can you say, I don't know, I don't care what I go through, when I see that you know the Lord Jesus Christ and that you're going to be there at the second coming, I'm so happy I could care less about me.

That's what he's saying. When you see somebody without joy in the ministry it's because they're selfish and they think they deserve better than they got and if they really looked at their hearts they don't even deserve what they got, right? That's why Paul kept his joy because anything that came to him, even suffering, was something more than he felt worthy to receive. And I'll tell you something, once the joy is gone you're in trouble.

You're in a lot of trouble because everything you try to do is going to be works, legalism and have little effect. What are the thieves that rob us of joy? What are the thieves that rob you of joy? Circumstances, people. People are thieves, they steal joy.

You know that? If you let them. Things, worry, that's the worst thief. And what are the guards that protect your joy? Humility. Devotion to Christ. Trust in God. This is Grace to You with John McArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John has titled his current study from Colossians 1 and 2, Complete in Christ. And now, friend, we want to help you take in all you can from this practical series, so let me mention the companion study guide that we've created. It takes you deep into each lesson from the Complete in Christ series, giving you detailed outlines plus questions that will enrich your personal or group study. You can order the new Complete in Christ study guide today.

Call our toll-free number, 800-55-GRACE, or go to our website, gty.org. To order a copy of the Complete in Christ study guide for yourself or a few copies for your small group, again call 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org. And if you'd like to download the messages in John's series titled Complete in Christ, go to gty.org, that's our website, and there you will find dozens of other topical studies as well as hundreds of sermons that you've never heard on the radio. In fact, all of John's sermons, more than 53 years' worth, are free to download in audio or transcript format at gty.org. The website is also the place to purchase John's New Testament commentaries and the McArthur Study Bible and the systematic theology book called Biblical Doctrine, and much more.

Our website again, gty.org. Now for John McArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day, and be here tomorrow when John looks at the many reasons you can rejoice in Christ, even during the hardest suffering. John is continuing his study, Complete in Christ, with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.