From A Friend!
When we leave an area, I wonder about those who we will be leaving behind, and how they will fare in the care of the local Church and the shepherds that tend the flock of Jesus Christ. Will they find Christians who want to just be among their circle of friends, or will they find Christians who will be anxious to go in the midst of the enemy, and draw the sword to lay their lives down for those for whom Christ died, rescuing them from the snare and the pitfalls that stand in their way, showing compassion to those who know no compassion? Will they find pastors who are interested in enlarging the flock for the wages and the prestige they may receive for their eloquence of speech and their plush sanctuaries, or will they find shepherds who will truly leave the 99 to get that one scrawny runt of a misfit lamb that is more of a challenge than any of the 99 who prefer to remain in the fold?
I believe the Lord showed me that although there are ministers of the gospel who are more interested in building their own kingdoms there are some pastors (even among those who do the "office hours" type of ministry that I have picked on so much) who are reluctant to be a part of a real move for unity in the Church because they are genuinely concerned for the flock that the Lord has entrusted to them. They labor in love for the flock that the Lord has given to them, are aware of the false doctrines that are so prevalent in the Church, and they jealously guard their congregation from what they believe are wolves. If we are to have a true revival in this land, we need to learn to trust the Father with those souls He has committed to us. We can’t afford to be jealous of our pulpits. Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by the LOVE we have one for another. If we have been effective in discipling those who the Father has entrusted to us, we can have confidence that they will remain in Him.
Jesus spent three years with the disciples. He taught them through practical application of the Word and through his lifestyle how they should live their lives. In that period of time, He instructed them in the WAY of God. He poured His Life into them, and then He poured out His Life for them. When it was time to release them (and I believe if we are about equipping the saints, there will come a time when we must release them into ministry - see verse 18 below), He could rest in the fact that He had done what was required to disciple those whom the Father had given to them. And release them He did. He released them into the care of the Father, and He prayed that they would be ONE as He and the Father were ONE. If we live a life of authentic Christianity and teach the Word of God with a mind to equip those that the Lord has given us, they will be able to have their eyes wide open and they will be able to discern the false from the True. Our job is to make disciples, to baptize them, and to teach them (by word and example) to obey ALL that the Lord has commanded us. One of the things He commanded us was to GO and preach the Gospel.
If we have taught them not only in word, but by our lifestyle to Love the Lord God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their might and all their mind, then we have taught them the importance of service to God. If we have taught them not only in word, but by our lifestyle to love their neighbor as themselves, then we have taught them the importance of ministry to others. Then when it is time to release them into the world as ministers of the gospel, we can release them with confidence to the Father. As I reflected on his, the Lord brought to my mind many people who I have ministered to over the years in one way or another, and How He has kept MOST of them in His Way (Jesus had Judas). He’ll lead them to the right shepherds. And I will always be just a phone call away if they need to talk. If there are members in your church who have been there for years and they are still not in active ministry, then the pastor and the other ministers of the church have missed the Purpose of God, which is to equip the saints for ministry. It was when the disciples were in ONE ACCORD that the Holy Spirit fell. I have no doubt that every one of those disciples had been equipped for ministry. Pastors, equip your people and send them out. Teach them to Love God. Teach them to love their brothers in sisters in the Lord, regardless of their denomination. Trust the Lord to keep them. He will.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
J….!
When we leave an area, I wonder about those who we will be leaving behind, and how they will fare in the care of the local Church and the shepherds that tend the flock of Jesus Christ. Will they find Christians who want to just be among their circle of friends, or will they find Christians who will be anxious to go in the midst of the enemy, and draw the sword to lay their lives down for those for whom Christ died, rescuing them from the snare and the pitfalls that stand in their way, showing compassion to those who know no compassion? Will they find pastors who are interested in enlarging the flock for the wages and the prestige they may receive for their eloquence of speech and their plush sanctuaries, or will they find shepherds who will truly leave the 99 to get that one scrawny runt of a misfit lamb that is more of a challenge than any of the 99 who prefer to remain in the fold?
I believe the Lord showed me that although there are ministers of the gospel who are more interested in building their own kingdoms there are some pastors (even among those who do the "office hours" type of ministry that I have picked on so much) who are reluctant to be a part of a real move for unity in the Church because they are genuinely concerned for the flock that the Lord has entrusted to them. They labor in love for the flock that the Lord has given to them, are aware of the false doctrines that are so prevalent in the Church, and they jealously guard their congregation from what they believe are wolves. If we are to have a true revival in this land, we need to learn to trust the Father with those souls He has committed to us. We can’t afford to be jealous of our pulpits. Jesus said the world would know we are His disciples by the LOVE we have one for another. If we have been effective in discipling those who the Father has entrusted to us, we can have confidence that they will remain in Him.
Jesus spent three years with the disciples. He taught them through practical application of the Word and through his lifestyle how they should live their lives. In that period of time, He instructed them in the WAY of God. He poured His Life into them, and then He poured out His Life for them. When it was time to release them (and I believe if we are about equipping the saints, there will come a time when we must release them into ministry - see verse 18 below), He could rest in the fact that He had done what was required to disciple those whom the Father had given to them. And release them He did. He released them into the care of the Father, and He prayed that they would be ONE as He and the Father were ONE. If we live a life of authentic Christianity and teach the Word of God with a mind to equip those that the Lord has given us, they will be able to have their eyes wide open and they will be able to discern the false from the True. Our job is to make disciples, to baptize them, and to teach them (by word and example) to obey ALL that the Lord has commanded us. One of the things He commanded us was to GO and preach the Gospel.
If we have taught them not only in word, but by our lifestyle to Love the Lord God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their might and all their mind, then we have taught them the importance of service to God. If we have taught them not only in word, but by our lifestyle to love their neighbor as themselves, then we have taught them the importance of ministry to others. Then when it is time to release them into the world as ministers of the gospel, we can release them with confidence to the Father. As I reflected on his, the Lord brought to my mind many people who I have ministered to over the years in one way or another, and How He has kept MOST of them in His Way (Jesus had Judas). He’ll lead them to the right shepherds. And I will always be just a phone call away if they need to talk. If there are members in your church who have been there for years and they are still not in active ministry, then the pastor and the other ministers of the church have missed the Purpose of God, which is to equip the saints for ministry. It was when the disciples were in ONE ACCORD that the Holy Spirit fell. I have no doubt that every one of those disciples had been equipped for ministry. Pastors, equip your people and send them out. Teach them to Love God. Teach them to love their brothers in sisters in the Lord, regardless of their denomination. Trust the Lord to keep them. He will.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
J….!
posted by Pastor Don Eskine at 11:18 AM
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