Carrying on the Work of the Gospel Part 1

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Carrying on the Work of the Gospel Part 1. He will be reading out of Acts 20:17-24

We need humility because in a world that is so filled with pride, in a world where people are boasting so much about their accomplishments, How much more do the people of God need to be a people who are humble? Hello. This is pastor Mike Sanders, and we wanna welcome you to Hopeworth Having Ministries. We are looking forward to sharing our hope that we have in Jesus Christ. And today, we’re going to be in Acts chapter 20 verse 17 through 24, and we’re gonna talk about carrying on the work of the gospel.

You know, we have this great work of sharing the gospel, and we wanna be a part of what God is doing around the world. So let’s look into this passage, and let’s learn how to carry on the work of the gospel. Acts chapter 20 verse 17 through 24. I wanna talk to you this morning about carrying on the work of the gospel. We have been studying the book of acts, going through a chapter by chapter, and we’ve already come to acts 20 and we’ve covered the first sixteen verses that are revealing to us the third missionary journey of the apostle Paul and his team.

And now they have left the city of Ephesus. We find the apostle in a town called Miletus, which is about 30 miles south of Ephesus. Maybe some of you might be thinking a little bit about Chambersburg and how Hagerstown’s about 30 miles south. So that’s where the apostle is, 30 miles south of Ephesus, and he calls the leaders of the church together. And he wants to talk to them.

He wants to make sure that they’re gonna be able to carry out the work of the gospel in the city of Ephesus, because this would become a very critical and dynamic church that would help proclaim the message of the gospel throughout Asia and into other parts of the world. And so the apostle wants to take this opportunity to share with them. We pick up in verse 17 of Acts chapter 20, and the bible says, from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and he called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you. Serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews.

How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. I want you to get this key verse. I want you to highlight it in your bible.

I want you to put a star by however you like to. I know some of you don’t like to mark in your bibles, and I get that. But if you do, just bring your attention here. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy. And the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Ernest Shackleton, he led a daring expedition in 1914 to reach the Antarctica. A Year earlier, a lesser known Canadian led an expedition that was headed in the other direction to explore the North Pole. Both ships, the Carluk in the North and the Endurance in the South found themselves trapped by solid ice packs. Each crew was faced with a fight for survival, but the outcome of the two expeditions couldn’t have been more different. In the North, the crew members from the Carluk led by Biljamar, Stephanasen degenerated into a band of selfish, mean spirited, cutthroat individuals ending in the death of all 11 crew members.

In the South, Shackleton’s crew faced the same problems. Cold, food shortages, stress, and anxiety. But his crew responded with teamwork, self sacrifice, and astonishing good cheer and joy. In the end, each leader stayed true to his core values. Stepheson valued success above caring for people.

He consistently communicated his ultimate objective, get to the North Pole. Stefansson’s words, this meant that even the lives of the crew are secondary to the accomplishment of the work. To the very end, Stefansson denied that his drive for success led to a tragedy for himself as well as his crew. In sharp contrast, Shackleton’s leadership focused on the value and the dignity of his teammates. At one of the lowest points of the trip, Shackleton wrote, and I quote, the task was now to secure the safety of the party, end of quote.

The well-being of his team drove him to put others first. Shackleton even gave away his mittens, his boots and volunteered for the longest night watches. By valuing each person, Shackleton forged a team that was willing to share their rations with each other, even on the brink of starvation. Through his example and his sacrificial leadership, Shackleton was able to accomplish his ultimate objective, saving the lives of his crew members. When we come to Acts chapter 20, we are again introduced to a great leader, a dynamic leader.

His name is the apostle Paul. And he sets like Shackleton a great example for us. And what he leaves behind to the church at Ephesus and to the leaders there is an exemplary servant leadership style that will help them to carry on the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This morning, I want us to look at that example that we see narrated by Luke, who wrote this book called the book of acts under the inspiration of the spirit of God, but helps us to see the qualities and the characteristics that we’re able to help him as the apostle to be able to help others carry on the work. When you and I think about our lives, and we think about what God wants to do in us and through us, certainly one of those objectives has to be that we want to see the work of Christ and the gospel to march on.

We have the objective of wanting to reach out and connect and help others to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. What are the qualities that are gonna be necessary in order for us to do that? I want you to first note it is humility. I want you to look at verse 19 of chapter 20 again. And as Luke is narrating what the apostle said, I don’t want you to misunderstand what the apostle is saying.

You might think he’s very arrogant and, you know, who goes around claiming that they’re humble, right? Certainly not the humble, but Luke is only trying to show us the leadership of the apostle, and how it is that you and I can learn from that leadership, and we can exemplify it in a way to accomplish the work of the gospel. So verse 19, serving the lord with all humility. Jump down to verse 34 of the chapter. We see here again, the bible says, yes, you yourselves know that these hands, referring to the apostle’s hands, have provided my necessities and for those who were with me.

The apostle was not one who was too good to work with his hands. He was not above working hard and making a strong effort to do what it takes to not be a burden on these new churches that were being planted into these cultures and communities where they had never heard the gospel before. The small band of believers that were coming together and understanding for the first time what it meant to be in a fellowship and a community of believers together. The apostle did not want to overwhelm them or overburden them. And so he often would work and he would keep the expenses and the cost down, which is just a reflection of his humbleness.

He served the Lord, in verse 19, with all humility. This is the key to us being able to extend the gospel to the regions beyond. And you say humility, Mike? Is that really what we need? Yes.

We need humility because in a world that is so filled with pride, in a world where people are boasting so much about their accomplishments and hiring PR companies to help promote their achievements, how much more do the people of God need to be a people who are humble? Now humility simply means that I’m willing to admit that I need God. I’m willing to come to the understanding that I can’t do it myself, self. That I can’t not only be saved by my works, it has to be through the work of Christ, but that even as I am serving God, that I’m totally reliant and I am totally dependent upon him. The book of Proverbs verse chapter 15 verse 33 says the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is what?

Humility. That’s the way God works. We are exhorted to be a humble people. We remember that Peter taught us in chapter five verse six to humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. Here’s what I want you to know about humility, that humility is an essential virtue for the victorious Christian.

That you cannot be exalted and you cannot be honored as a believer apart from humility. This honoring and this exaltation does not be somehow that you’re gonna be famous on social media. It doesn’t mean that somehow you’re going to be well known and wealthy and never have any problems in your life. But what it does mean is that as we submit humbly our lives under the mighty hand of God, that he will exalt us in due time, that he will help us to be victorious in our efforts for him. He will help us to be victorious in our walk with him.

He will help us to be victorious over all the trials and all the temptations and all the struggles in life that as we humble ourselves before god, that he brings victory to our heart. Note that Peter said that we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. I think that’s an important phrase. The mighty hand of God often used in the scriptures to not just reference to the power of God, but to the sovereignty of God. That God is in charge and God is in control.

When we use that word sovereignty, that’s what we mean. He is in control of all of our circumstances. He is in charge of everything, the good, the bad and the ugly in our life. He is in charge, but we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. I think sometimes to understand humility, maybe we might consider the contrast.

That sometimes when things happen in our lives, we argue with God. That we are defiant towards God. Rather than humbling ourselves and saying, Lord, we submit to your perfect will. God says, I’ll give you victory. I’ll give you victory in the journey.

I’ll give you victory in the Christian life. I’ll give you victory in all that you are encountering and all that you are dealing with whether it’s internally in your emotions or your mind or your thoughts or whether it’s externally in the pressures and the sorrow and the struggles of life, God says, humble yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. We are not only called to humble ourselves, but we’re called to put on humility. Colossians three twelve says, therefore, as the elect of God, holy, beloved, put on.

Put on tender mercies, kindness. There’s that word, church. Are you awake? Can you say it to me? Humility.

Thank you. The more you talk to me, the shorter my sermon gets. But he says, humility, meekness and long suffering. These are things we’re to put on. It’s kinda like you get up in the morning and I know how you ladies are, you go look at your closet and you say, I don’t got anything to wear.

Not that I’m personally experiencing this, I’m just telling you that I don’t understand it, I can’t comprehend it. You know? I don’t wanna get into anything personal here, but like I have all my clothing. I tell my wife, if you just put your clothes in order, then you already know what you’re wearing tomorrow. You already know what you’re wearing five days from now.

Who cares about the weather? Just have it all lined up and then it’s there. You just pick it up and let’s get going. That’s the way I am. Not too concerned.

Everything is in rotation. If you wanna know which jacket or which suit pastor Mike’s wearing, just look at my closet and you say, yep, on that Sunday, that’s he’ll be wearing the next thing that’s in line. Doesn’t matter. We could have a hurricane and snowstorm, I’m still gonna wear it. But like our clothes, we’re to put on humility.

You go to your spiritual closet and believe it or not, there’s humility. And God says, put it on. Now the problem is that unlike our clothes, sometimes we’re not always wearing humility and it’s very difficult when we find ourselves in the moment of confrontation or in the moment of a sorrow or struggle in our life for us to put on humility. But God says put on humility. In first Peter five five, he tells us to be clothed with humility.

So, you know, one of the things I’m learning is that it’s something that you just can’t do once and then be done with it. But I think it’s an everyday, in every moment, in every circumstance, we’re always asking the Lord to help us to be clothed in humility. To be clothed with humility that we might walk humbly before our God. Ephesians four teaches us that we are to walk with all, meaning all of God’s people, humility. We’re to be humble with them.

We’re to be humble with God’s people. What do we do when we disagree as God’s people? I know that’s a shocker, but God’s people don’t always agree. That’s the first thing I learned as a pastor. I thought everybody would agree.

I thought everybody would love every idea I had. I soon found out, buddy, that’s not true. But you say, how do we handle our disagreements, pastor? Well, the same way you do at home. Be humble.

You don’t have to always be right. You don’t always have to have the last word my mother used to say to me. Well, that’s good advice in the church too is that it’s okay that we might disagree. Some of you are very upset. It’s too cold in here.

What we gonna do about it? Well, just let the pastor start preaching. It’ll warm up. We’ll be okay. It’s not the end of the world.

Let’s just give him to God and tell the Lord to straighten him out. We walk with humility. In all your relationships, are you humble? In all of our relationships, are we willing to be humble to God and are we willing to say, Lord, I may not always understand and I may not always understand and I may not always agree, but I certainly don’t wanna be prideful, arrogant, unteachable, and unwilling to work together as a team. I think what made the apostle so effective for God is his humbleness before God.

As he served with the elders, as he served with the churches, as he worked within the different people of God, that he was able to walk in humility with God’s people. The second characteristic on helping us to carry out the work of the gospel is compassion. I’m back in verse 19. And we note in chapter 20 of verse 19, he says, serving the lord not only with all humility, but with many tears and trials. Serving the lord with many tears, we jump down to chapter 20 verse 31 and you see he says, therefore, watch and remember for three years, I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with what?

Tears. You served with many tears. Let me tell you what’ll happen as you’re serving God, as you go through life, it’s easy to become apathetic, it’s easy to become indifferent. Towards others, towards God, the challenges, the problems of life can make you to where you don’t wanna have a tender heart. That you wanna build as many walls as you can in your heart and protect yourself from the pain and the hurts.

The apostle says, no. I wanna be different. I want you to know that I was a man who served the lord with many tears. Now that’s not a quality we’re all looking and desiring, but it’s a reflection of his heart that he was compassionate. It was the compassion that the apostle had that drove him to minister night and day.

You saw that in verse 31. Night and day, he was very compassionate. You can tell a lot about a person by what they celebrate over and what they cry over. Are you with me? Because those emotions, we could call them the extremes of emotions, reflect our heart.

What is it that we celebrate over? Some people get super excited over the fact that their tomatoes are growing in their garden. Some people might get super excited about a sports team winning, and I’m not against any of that, don’t misunderstand me. But what do you celebrate? Do you celebrate when people come to Christ?

Do you get excited when people are growing in their faith? Are you more touched in your heart with tears of joy about the fact that God is working in the heart of your children or your grandchildren or that someone is dedicating their life to full time ministry. These are tears of joy. We don’t know. Paul didn’t tell us whether they were tears of joy or tears of sadness, but we do know that he served with many tears.

What were the things that he was compassionate about? Well, we know in Romans nine that Paul wept over the lost. He was broken to tears over those who did not know Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. When is the last time in your prayers to God praying for the unchurched, praying for those who do not know Christ, that tears stream down your cheeks because you were so burdened that they would be saved? When is the last time that when you rose from your kneeling of praying for your loved ones or your neighbor that does not know Christ, that there were drops of tears left on the floor or on your pillow.

When is the last time that you were so burdened to see people come to Christ that you wept with many tears? There are many things that we might weep about, but certainly shouldn’t God’s people weep for the lost? We need a revival and what we need a revival in is God’s people praying and weeping with many tears. Not only did the apostle weep for the lost, but he, according to first Corinthians two four, he wept for the immature. He was so burdened about those who were not growing in their faith.

They had come to Christ. They believed in Christ, but yet they had put a lid on their spiritual growth and therefore their spiritual formation was kind of just stalled. Maybe perhaps they were even backsliding or getting involved in things that were hurting their walk with Christ. And he was burden for the immature. I want to challenge you and to encourage you to be a person that as we survey our church family, as we look and say, where are our brothers and sisters in Christ?

That if we sense that maybe they have become apathetic or indifferent to the gospel or to one another or even to the lord, that we would have a burden for them, that we would pray them back into fellowship with God’s people. Amen? That many tears would be shed, that they would come and rededicate and that their hearts would be revived and they would be spiritually awakened anew in their passion for Jesus Christ. Paul not only prayed for the lost and he not only prayed for the immature, but he prayed for the church that was endangered by false teachers. We see that.

You could take time to read on your own, but in verse 29 through 31, he was deeply disturbed. He warned everyone night and day with tears. You did not want God’s people to be led astray. How do you know that you have good leaders in the church? Is they out of great compassion for your spiritual maturity and for your spiritual protection that they warn you of false teachers.

I know that we don’t like confrontation and we don’t like disagreements, and so we just rather stay away from all that. We’d rather just say, hey. Let’s just not get into the weeds or the details and let’s just love everybody. And that’s true, we should love everybody. But I want to remind you, we have to have compassion, but we must have a compassion that is based upon the truth of God’s word.

Sometimes the most loving thing you can do for someone is to tell them the truth. Now in Philippians chapter three verse 18, it says, for many walk of whom I have told you often. And I now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. There are false teachers out there, church. They’re sucking you into their false theology and they’re leading you astray and they’re giving you a pseudo religion that in the end, not only will it not save your soul, but it will wreck your faith.

And I want you to keep that in mind. It’s not that pastor’s up here and he’s a hate monger and he’s against everybody. I’m a kingdom guy. I’m for everybody that’s preaching the gospel. I’m for those that are lifting up Christ and teaching that Christ is the only way to heaven.

Alright. First is humility. Second is compassion. But third is faithfulness. I want you to go to verse 20 and verse 21.

And he says, I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. Verse 21, testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Jump down to verse 27. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. First, I want you to know that the apostle was faithful to God.

He was faithful to the calling that God had upon his life. He was faithful. He would not back down, but he was also faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He did not dilute the gospel. He did not make it more palatable.

He did not in any way change the gospel. He taught the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and he taught that our response to the gospel is repentance and faith. That we are to turn away from our sin and we are to turn towards God. I want you to see that he was faithful to the word of God. Verse 27, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

You see, the apostle did not get up there and say, I just wanna give you the good stuff and leave out the bad stuff. We’ll always remember that the good news is not as good without the bad news. The work of the gospel takes many shapes and sizes, and it impacts people in different ways. But our job is to keep the gospel going forward. There are a lot of things going on in this world, but the one thing we cannot retreat from is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and continuing to minister.

The apostle Paul sets that example for us. Even though he faced opposition and he had pushed back, he would not quit, and he kept carrying on the work of the gospel. And so I hope that’ll be true in your life. I want to encourage you to check us out on Facebook. Take advantage of that and learn more about hope worth having.

And when you go to Facebook, like us on the page, and also you can keep up with different posts as we share different things that are going on in the ministry. This is pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.