True Ministry: Serving God Beyond Activities

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Let us be quite Frank work for the Lord undoubtedly has its attractions for the flesh you may be thrilled when crowds gather to hear you preach and when numbers of souls are saved if you have to stay at home occupied from morning to night with mundane matters then you think how meaningless life is. [00:00:34]

The thing I fear most is that many of you will go out and win Sinners to the Lord and build up Believers without ministering to the Lord himself much so-called service for him is simply following our natural inclinations we have such active disposition s that we cannot bear to stay at home so we run around for our own relief. [00:02:40]

The conditions basic to all Ministry that can truly be called Ministry to the Lord are drawing near to him and standing before him but how hard we often find it to drag ourselves into his presence we shrink from the Solitude and even when we do detach ourselves physically our thoughts still keep wandering outside. [00:04:39]

To come into the presence of God and kneel before him for an hour demands all the strength we possess we have to be violent to hold that ground but everyone who serves the Lord knows the preciousness of such times the sweetness of waking at midnight and spending an hour in prayer or Waking very early in the morning. [00:05:16]

There is only one place where Ministry to him is possible and that is in the Holy place in the outer Court you approach the people in the Holy place you approach the Lord the passage we have quoted emphasizes not only our need to draw near to God it also speaks of standing before him to minister. [00:06:01]

There are only two types of sin before God one is the sin of refusing to obey when he issues orders the other is the sin of going ahead when the Lord has not issued orders the one is rebellion the other is presumption the one is not doing what the Lord has required the other is doing what the Lord has not required. [00:07:16]

Let me tell you that nothing so damages the Lord's interests as a good thing good things are the greatest hindrance to the accomplishment of his will the moment we are faced with anything Wicked or unclean we immediately recognize it as something a Christian ought to avoid and for that reason things which are positively evil. [00:08:10]

In the outer Court it is human need that governs just let someone come along to sacrifice an ox or a sheep and there is work for you to do but in the holiest place there is utter Solitude not a soul comes in no brother or sister governs us here nor does any committee determine our affairs. [00:09:35]

All work that produces sweat is positively prohibited to those who minister to the Lord yet today what an expenditure of energy there is in work for him few Christians can do any work today without sweating over it their work involves planning and scheming exhorting and urging and very much running around. [00:12:59]

Spiritual work is God's work and when God works man does not need to expend so much effort that he sweats over it let us in utter honesty examine ourselves before God today let us ask him am I serving you or am I merely serving the work is my Ministry truly unto you Lord or is it only Ministry to your house. [00:14:43]

The sons of zadok God cannot secure everyone for service to himself for many of his own are reluctant to leave the thrill and excitement of the outer Court they are bent on serving the people but what about us oh that today we might say to the Lord I am willing to forsake things I am willing to forsake the work. [00:15:37]

Serving the lord does not mean that we do not serve people but it does mean that all service to people has service to the Lord as its basis it is service godward that urges us out manward Luke 17 7-10 tells us clearly what the Lord is after these are two kinds of work referred to here plowing the field and tending the flock. [00:18:23]

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