 First Timothy chapter 4. We're going to be looking today at verses 6 through 10 as we continue our verse by verse study here in the book of First Timothy. So allow me to read to you from verses 6 through 10 and we'll get into our study. And what we're looking at, the topic heading would be the good minister, because that's what Paul is speaking about in these verses, and it's the good minister part one because we'll pick up next time we're together and continue to see other elements that he's outlining for Timothy. So beginning at verse 6, reading to verse 10, First Timothy chapter 4, Paul writes, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Now as we're going through our study in First Timothy, let me remind you that Paul had instructed Timothy concerning doctrine, teaching, that has been taught by false teachers. And he was pointing out that in the last days, error would grow and people would continue to be deceived. What was existing in the early days of the church would continue throughout its history. And Paul was saying that it will grow until it infects even those who once professed agreement with the truth of the gospel. You see, what began as a seed will grow into a tree that is filled with false believers. And that lines up with what Jesus taught concerning the atmosphere of the last days. Now remember Paul in verse one had said, the spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith. And that lines up with what Jesus Christ taught concerning the last days and its conditions. In Matthew chapter 13, let me refresh your memory by pointing to Matthew 13 and reminding you that in chapter 13 of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gave a series of parables. And he spoke concerning various things in those parables, but three of the parables spoke of the invasion of evil into the church. So you see him giving the parable of the tears. You see him giving the parable of the mustard seed and you see him speaking concerning the parable of leaven. When you look at the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the mustard seed actually gives us insight into what Paul is writing of because in Matthew 13 verses 31 and 32, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took, sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree. Notice so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Now he says the mustard seed was the least of the seeds that would be planted in Israel. So the point Jesus is making is how large the seed grows and what was the result. So he uses the mustard seed as an illustration that helps us to understand that he's speaking of growth. He's speaking of the growth of what would be referred to as the external kingdom. You know, there are those who say this speaks of the church starting out small and growing larger over time. There are commentators who will look at that particular parable and say, see it began in a small way, but eventually it grows into something massive and to some degree that would be true in that from a small group, it grew larger over time. I was reading recently something that was put out by the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC and this particular center gave an estimate of Christians worldwide. And they write as of 2015, Christianity was by far the world's largest religion with an estimated 2.3 billion adherents. Nearly a third, 31% of all 7.3 billion people on earth. And so according to the Pew Research Center, 31% of all people living on the face of the earth are Christians. So from 11 men, there are now 2.3 billion Christians worldwide. The question has to be asked, is that an accurate figure? Are there really 2.3 billion solid born again believers? And is that what Jesus is referring to? That there'll be an incredible growth over time and that the world is going to be incredibly impacted by all of these sincere born again people. When you look more closely at that, you realize of course that many people in the United States to this day when asked what is your religious preference will say they're Christian. But the fact is, is we know that they're just saying that they're Christian. We'll look at that in just a moment, but in reality, aren't born again. When we look at this a little bit closer, when you look at the parable that Jesus gave, you can actually get a different picture because he speaks concerning birds. If you look at, for example, if you look at his first parable that he gives, a parable of the sower and the seed, he speaks concerning the seed that falls on the wayside. If you remember in that parable of the seed that fell on the wayside, Jesus said that the birds came and they took the seed. So it didn't have a chance to actually produce any fruit. And he pointed to the fact that these birds, when later he gave the interpretation, he pointed to the fact that the birds were evil, that they devoured the seed, they snatched away what was sown in hearts. And so in that parable, birds were used to symbolize the wicked one who undermines the word of God. So we have to keep that in mind. The second thing is Jesus spoke of the mustard seed. He said, when it grows, it becomes greater than the herbs and becomes a tree. That would be a picture of inordinate growth, something that was massive but was not normal. So there are those when you interpret this parable who will say that this is a picture of what is called, and I want to develop this with you for a moment, a layer foundation, it's called the visible church. Now over the years, theologians have developed phrases that refer to what we call the church. Normally when somebody's talking about church, they'll say, well, I'm gonna go to church or I was at church. But when you begin to look at the way the word church is used and you begin to look at scriptures that relate to the body of Christ, the church, you'll see that the word church is used to really speak of various things. So theologians have developed through what is called a systematic theology. They've developed a way to look at the church and to define certain aspects of it. So you have what is called the church universal. The church universal speaks of the body of Christ throughout the world. So there's a believer here in the city of Chino and there's another believer that's somewhere in China, there's another believer somewhere, we'll say in England and all. So there are churches, believers throughout the world and it's called the church universal. Then there's the church local. That speaks of individual congregations that meet in certain locations. Again, here in the city of Chino we have church meeting here but there are many churches throughout the area that are gathering together. They're referred to as the local or the church local. The church invisible speaks of true Christians who are recognized by God as genuine. You have the church triumphant and that speaks of believers who have died. They've gone to heaven. It's called the church triumphant. And then you have what is referred to and I wanna develop this a little bit. For a moment you have what is called the church visible and the church visible speaks of those who are the visible community of Christians but there's something important about that phrase because the visible church is visible but it isn't always made up of genuine believers. You see church services always have genuine Christians and others who are present who are unsaved. They're simply there in the services. Obviously unsaved individuals are welcome because we want them to hear the message that we desire to give but though they are present in the service they're not part of the invisible church. The world calls them Christians because they attend church services. And with that said, the church as described in this parable is referred to as being large and it is said to have birds nesting in its branches and that describes evil being at home in the church. So the point is the church is numerically large because the church is infiltrated by unbelievers. Birds nesting in the branches simply signify that unbelievers are at home in the church and the church is infected with evil and that would be what Paul is instructing Timothy about he's saying in the latter times the doctrines of demons will find a home in the church and the doctrines will infect people, they will be deceived, they will embrace demonic error and the fruit of this doctrine is that people begin to depart from faith. So Timothy is to faithfully warn believers concerning the danger of bad doctrine. Why is that? Because to fail to instruct the people properly is to allow them to be deceived. Failure to teach them God's word leads to the church becoming weak and confused and to stand against demonic error filtering in requires them to be strong in scripture. We had a ministry morning yesterday, one of the questions that was asked of me is what do I think is the present danger in churches are not only ours of course but what would be a present danger? What is something I'm concerned about? And I answered very quickly the fact that there is error that creeps into churches and that part of the reason that the error is accepted as doctrine is because the members of the churches are not studying and reading the Bible themselves. And because we're not equipping ourselves through the word of God, simply because somebody opens a Bible and speaks from it, we have a tendency of trusting that they are giving us the truth when in fact we aren't studying the word ourselves in order to be equipped in order that we might have discernment. I'm concerned about that. To stand against demonic error filtering in requires you to be strong in the word of God. So he's saying as a genuine teacher you are to continually nourish and equip them with God's word because God inspired his word, the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation even as Psalm 119, 160 says the entirety of your word is truth. In 2 Timothy 3, 16 Paul said all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And so by giving them the word of God he's to safeguard them from spiritual loss through error. And that is the purpose of teaching the whole counsel of God. And Psalm 119 verses 2 and 3, blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways. And so Paul is speaking to Timothy as a pastor of the church of Ephesus and he's saying you need to instruct the brethren. And in verse six he says if you instruct the brethren in these things notice you will be a good minister. So the statement that ties the verses together is the phrase you will be a good minister. So learning to be a good minister is one of the cheap purposes of this letter. This is really what we all should desire to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. So his point is Timothy your responsibility is to instruct the church in the things of God and by doing so you'll be a good minister. The word good is a Greek word that can say genuine or noble. The word minister is a Greek word that means servant. You will be a genuine, you will be a noble servant of God. So Paul's giving to us qualities that make up the excellent minister and the verses before us summarize the qualities of this noble minister. So notice what he's to do if he's going to be caring for the church the way that God calls the minister, the pastor to care for the church. Let's look at that together. He says Paul you're to consistently teach and live out the truth. Paul says that to Timothy you're to consistently teach and live out the truth. He said in verse six if you instruct the brethren in these things you'll be a good minister of Jesus. So Timothy instruct the brethren. The word instruct means point things out. That very often includes repetition and very often you will include the repetition of certain basic foundational truths. It's so that people will hear it over and over again and embrace it. Repetition is the way that we normally learn. I learned what my name was because my mom kept calling me by a certain thing. She kept calling me David. She did it for over a year until I realized she's talking to me. That's how you learn your name. She called me other names but I knew that my name David was my given name. So we learn things through repetition and that's how you learn foundational truths. The first time I've heard something doesn't mean that I really understand it. It simply means a layer has been added to my life that gives me a certain dimension of understanding. And so what happens is truth is repeated over and over again in various ways so that it becomes who we are. In second Peter in chapter one verses 12 through 14 the apostle said I will always remind you of these things even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body because I know that I will soon put it aside as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. So he said, I will always remind you. He said, I think it is right to refresh your memory because that's how we learn by being reminded and by being refreshed. So the heart of a genuine minister is to faithfully and thoroughly teach the word of God. That's because we received a sacred trust and that's because we need to value it and that means that we as ministers are to honorably discharge that. It's like what he said to Timothy in second Timothy one verses 13 and 14 when he said, what you heard from me keep as a pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ Jesus guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. He said, I have laid the pattern out for you hold to the outline of healthy teaching. He said, guard the gospel. Timothy you have the responsibility of transmitting healthy teaching and according to Deuteronomy chapter four verse two do not add to what I command you do not subtract from it but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you or chapter 12 verse 32 of Deuteronomy see that you do all I command you do not add to it or take away from it. So make sure that that which has been entrusted to you is faithfully given and not changed. And many say it doesn't really matter what you believe about Jesus as long as you're sincere but the Bible says otherwise. What you believe about Jesus is of infinite and eternal importance. It is not to be changed. The word of God is to be embraced as it is. When Paul was writing to the Galatians in chapter one verses eight and nine he said this. He said, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be eternally condemned as we have already said. So now I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let him be eternally condemned. Does truth matter? Absolutely. So our motive is faith. Our motive is love for Christ. We are to love people and we're to tell them the truth. We are to guard the gospel through the Holy Spirit. And that occurs in other words is guardian of the gospel through the guidance of the spirit. We need spiritual strength because of the spiritual attacks that come when we hold fast. Again, remember in verse one Paul had just stated that in latter time someone reject the Christian faith. And because of this Paul is exhorting Timothy to communicate the truth clearly and in doing so he's safeguarding the sheep from deception. You see the neglect of teaching the word of God thoroughly as resulted in an anemic church. Error has crept in and is regarded as true Bible teaching. So he's making sure as he's sharing with him to instruct the brethren in these things, nourish them properly. He says a good minister of Jesus Christ is nourished in the words of faith. He's nourished. That word nourished means to be sustained or fed spiritually. A good minister is fed spiritually by God's word because he knows God. So to be a good minister one must be committed to the personal study of the word of God. There are those who simply memorize messages that are given by people they would like to be like. So instead of studying the Bible and meditating on the word they simply become parrots and they repeat the things that they were memorized in on somebody's CDs. A good minister is the one who loves the word and he enjoys studying. He sees the need of the word of God. It's like what Job 2312 says, I have not departed from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. It's what Jeremiah was saying in chapter 15 verse 16 when he said, your words were found and I ate them. Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. In Psalm 19 verses seven through 11, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, they are than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward. A third thing he says in verse six is he's to carefully follow and apply the word of faith. He's supposed to live out what he gives out. You see a life transforming message is best given by those who have been transformed by it. When God has grabbed hold of your life and transformed you, there's a certain credibility that you have as you communicate it. You're not telling people to do what you say, you're saying do what I say, of course because that comes from the Lord but also do as I do. I'm not telling you to do what I don't do myself. In other words, that's why Paul in first Corinthians 11 verse one could say imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. He could point to himself as a model. In Philippians 3.17 he said, brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us as a pattern. In Philippians 4 verse nine, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do and the God of peace will be with you. So when you're sharing your faith with people it's great if you're living that faith out before you're giving that faith out. It establishes credibility because they'll look at you and they'll say you're living what you're giving and that's what he does. He carefully follows and applies the words of faith. A pastor is not supposed to be up in a pulpit like I am right now saying and acting in a certain way and then an entirely different person when I'm not up here. Your life is to be consistent Timothy, live out what you give out. You're to be nourished in the word of God and you're to carefully apply those words to your own life. He says in verse seven, but reject profane and old wives fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. A good minister rejects profane teaching. The word profane speaks of that which is unholy or ungodly and that's how Paul would describe the Jewish legends of his day. You see the best way to recognize unhealthy teaching is to be acquainted with the truth. Being nourished in God's word and avoiding error produces health and discernment. So in a time when deception is on the increase God's word will protect you. And Psalm 119, 104, through your precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way. So he says reject these false things. In verse seven of fifth thing, reject it and exercise yourself toward godliness. Now godliness, godliness conveys the idea of a personal attitude toward god that results in actions that are pleasing. Generally the church reflects the ministry of the pastor. It's been said like shepherd, like sheep. And so the church has a tendency of embracing the things that the pastor presents. And every pastor has a different personality that God uses and that personality is part of the presentation. But there are things that are within that pastor that the members if they remain begin to embrace and to live out. And that pastor has a way of provoking within people certain senses when the teaching of the word goes forth. I was sharing this at a pastors conference 25 years ago or so now. And I was sharing how that if you listen to certain pastors that they actually provoke certain things within you. And I was saying for example when I hear Pastor Chuck Smith, as the pastor Chuck provokes me as I'm listening to him, to wanna walk in faith and to love the word of God. He provokes that in me. When I listen to John Corson. John Corson is like a big brother kind of hanging over a fence, kind of visiting with you. He has that feel to him. That provokes that relationship with him. When I hear Greg Laurie, when Greg Laurie is preaching that there's a sense of need, urgency. You need to get right with God. That's Greg Laurie. When I hear Rawl speak, I want Mexican food. So I, there's certain things. There's certain things that the teacher provokes in you. And there is a saying amongst pastors like shepherd, like sheep. And so Paul is making it very clear that you are to apply the word of the Lord. You're to reject profane teachings and you're to exercise yourself towards godliness because that'll be an influence on the church. Now, that word exercise in the original language is from the word that we derive gymnastics or gymnasium from. Exercise speaks of the rigorous training that every athlete endures if they will compete well. So we are to maintain an unrelenting and persevering effort toward the goal of godliness. Paul says that exercising oneself to godliness is strenuous and ongoing. But the result is godliness, godliness which is virtue is also regarded as a holy and reverent lifestyle. It's revealed by the fear of God, the love of God. It speaks of a lifestyle that is focusing on God and growing in godliness is the result of personal choices as well as disciplines. In Luke 9.23 Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. So living a godly life isn't an option for a select few. It is for all believers. Listen, you don't wake up in the morning just a godly person. It doesn't happen that way. It is something that you exercise yourself towards. It is something that requires the power of the spirit but also a disciplined life. And it's one of the things that we need to understand. You see, on one hand godliness is pursued and is going to be the fruit of spiritual discipline. When I was 20 years old, I went into the military and I was serving in the army. I was going through basic training. As we're going through basic training, a recruiter showed up and invited those of us in our, you know, who are going through training together, invited us to meet with him and he wanted to talk to us about going airborne. And so I went to the meeting and there he was with his jump boots all polished, spit-shined and his starched fatigues and his jump wings and all of that and he stood there and I still remember as he was speaking to us saying, you go through training and you'll get $55 a month for jumping out of planes. Now, at that time, I wasn't making very much going through basic training. $55 was a lot of money and I thought, I could make $55 just jumping out of a plane sounds good to me. And so I signed up for airborne training and so I'd only been on a plane one time in my life. I had flown from LA to San Jose. That was it and now I'm placed on a plane flying from LA to Fort Benning, Georgia all the way across the United States. I arrive, it's June, I arrive and they put us into airborne training. It's over 100 degrees every day and we do physical training four hours in the morning. They get you up right and early and everywhere you go, you run. We start training with a three mile run and then the rest of the day you run wherever it is you go and you have physical training the different kinds of push ups and sit ups and you name it, all of that's continual. Then they take you to learn how to land and to roll and eventually you go on to the mock tower or 34 foot tower you jump out of and then you go on a 200 foot drop and you do all of these things in order to get yourself conditioned and ready to jump out of planes. And so you have to learn how to hit. You need to learn how to roll because when you jump out of a plane it's not just like you see on TV where you just kind of come down nice and soft and you land on a pillow. It's not like that at all. It's equivalent to standing on your roof and running and just jumping and then you hit. That's how hard you're hitting. You're coming two thirds the speed of gravity. So it's not like you're just floating, you better know how to land. So you go through all of this training and you finally make it through your second week and now you're in your third week and your third week they put you in a C141 jet. They take you 1200 feet, 1250 up in the air. You're standing with all of these guys in this jet and well actually you're seated and there is what they call a jump master and he's standing next to the door. I was the third man in what they call a stick. I was the third man from the stick. I was in the stick. I was the third man out the door. So I'm sitting there looking at the jump master, a black cat we called him and he's standing next to a door with a red light and a green light. And at certain point, the plane begins to slow a bit. They open up that door and you have a wind foil and the wind foil is perforated and they say stand up and you're looking at the red light, stand up. They say hook up and you hook up your jump line, your static line. Then they say, check your buddy's equipment. What do we know? We don't know what we're looking for so we pat each other down. I took the guy's wallet. I said, you won't need this. So you check your equipment. You check your buddy's equipment. Then you tighten up. You just, you're right next to each other. There's two rows of guys on each side of the plane and you're watching the black hat and you're looking at a red light and you're looking at a green light. My eye is fixated on the red light but you're listening to the black hat and then the light turns green. That means go and he screams, go. Even if you don't want to, you're going because the guy's behind you starts shoving you out the door. So you can be going, mommy, but you're going out that door. That's a fact. My very first jump, third man in the stick, I landed on top of the parachute of the guy who jumped out before me. I was sitting on it and I was in shock. I was thinking, I'm going to die and he starts screaming at me. He starts screaming, get off, get off my shoot. So I shove off and it's like coming off on a slide and you're moving and you pull slips to try and slow yourself down, to direct yourself, that's what you do but when you're coming down, you don't know where you're going to hit. You don't know if you're going to hit to the left. You don't know if you're going to go straight. If you're going to come in backwards, sideways, you can come any way. So you'd better know how to land. And our first jump, 14 guys broke their legs and their ankles. It's not easy. You watch the movies, oh, I can do that. It's your little couch potato with your Game Boy. World at war, I could do that. No, you can't. You think you can and maybe you can, but you can't until you're trained. And you have to have the want to. You have to want to. I want to jump out of this plane. I want to run three miles. I want to do physical training four hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon. I want to jump out of a 34 foot mock tower. I want to jump out of a 200 foot tower. I want to do that. I want to stand in this line, but I have to discipline myself to do it. See, it's one thing for me to say I want to be a ranger. I want to be a green beret. I want to be a Navy SEAL Delta Force. You can say how you want, that's fine, but you have to train yourself to it. It's not that you can't, maybe you can't. Maybe I have, I'm sure I do. I have vets in here who know exactly what I'm talking about. But when you're just kind of sitting around thinking I can do that, it's one thing to say I can, it's another thing to do. And in order to succeed requires a desire and discipline. And if you want to be a godly person, it's not going to come with you laying down on the couch, thinking that God is going to unscrew your head and drop in all kinds of knowledge and maturity, then you wake up the next morning and they say, super Christian woke up. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. It comes through exercising yourself to godliness. There needs to be the sense that this is what I want. It's like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, 24 through 27. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Godliness. There's a discipline. Godliness can be the fruit of the walk that you have with the Lord. So you read God's word, you apply God's word. You learn to worship God in spirit and truth. You spend time and prayer communing with Him, fellowship with those who love Him. You serve Him. You give your gifts to Him. You receive baptism. You receive communion. You learn to share your faith. These are all outward evidences of a commitment to the Lord and it reveals a godly life. Again, it's not the result of self-effort alone. It is made possible by the Spirit of God. In 2 Peter chapter one, verse three, the apostle says his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. And so reject profane and old wives' fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness. Verse eight, for bodily exercise profits a little. The godliness is profitable for all things. Having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Now remember with me a moment before Paul had referred to the practice of false teachers. They had been promoting remaining unmarried and abstaining from certain foods. Here it seems that they're promoting certain exercises that promise spiritual enlightenment. There are to this day groups of people who will say to you that you shouldn't marry, that you should eat certain foods and that you should exercise and have certain positions and all of exercise in your body and that you can be spiritually enlightened. That's not a brand new thing and Paul was addressing that. And he's pointing out that bodily exercise profits. It does, but for a short time because ultimately we all die. You can work out and you can be powerful and I'm not saying that you shouldn't. I think that working out is good and it's healthy. God gave to you a horse. God gave to you a message. Take care of the horse so you can deliver the message. That makes sense to me. At the same time, we need to understand that no matter how hard we work out, ultimately we all die. That's just the fact. So a good minister pursues the eternal because godliness is eternally profitable. Someone once said a godly life is always the best advertisement for Christianity. So he says, remember that there are certain things you can do but those are temporary. Seek out the thing that lasts. And then finally he says in verse 10, for to this end we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. And so a good minister knows that ministry is labor and is often filled with hardship. In Hebrews 6 verse 10, 10, God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown towards his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. Notice that he speaks of your work and labor. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 12, we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. So he's saying, listen Timothy, a minister is not lazy. A minister will work for long hours as he ministers the word. It's not what we would today refer to as a nine to five kind of lifestyle. It's what you are, always. I was at a restaurant a while back now. I have a friend of mine I hadn't seen since we're in Bible college. And we're in Bible college and I hadn't seen him and now he's ministering in Pomona. And so we hooked up, he and his wife and Maria and I and we went out for an early dinner. And we were in a restaurant in the city of Claremont. And as we were talking, we're in these booths that are separated so it's like a booth and then next to us is like a, you know, just some, I don't even know what to refer to. It's just like three feet high and separates the booths and then there's booths on the other side, just a separation. And as we're seated there, somebody stands from the other side who's in the table next to us, stands up and looks over to where we're at. And he says, Pastor David, and I look up and I said, yeah, yeah, he says, yeah, I recognize your voice. I said, you did? No, I said, really? I said, oh, and he goes, yeah, he says, you know, I have a situation. And I said, oh, so I get up and I just walk around and I come in and sit with them at his table and what's your problem? And he says, this and that, whatever it may be and we spend some time together and I pray for him and I leave my bill and I walk out and I said, be generous with your tip. No, I visit with him, I pray with him, that's what I do and I come and I sit down and my friend who's also a minister says to me, does that happen very often? I said, it happens all the time, all the time. Really? I said, oh yeah, and you know what, I love it. I love it. That's why I'm alive. That's my ministry. It doesn't matter if it's standing up here. If I run across people in Costco, I run across people in restaurants, I run across people on planes. I run across people who are waiting on us at airports. You name it, I mean, we run across people everywhere. Marie and I have run across people where we've been flying to the East Coast and stopped into Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas and somebody walks up, hi pastor, I go to your church, I'm in the military, I'm stationed in such and so place, I'm working with the Pentagon and I'm on my way to the Middle East. Can you pray for me? I'm on my way. I can't tell you what I do, but I need your prayer. It happens all the time and I love it. Listen, a minister is not a nine to five. A minister is a life. It's what you do with your life and he's reminding him. He says it's labor and it is labor but it's the labor with eternal dividends and he says remember that but he also speaks concerning reproach, the reproach. On the one hand you have those who do not share your faith in Christ and they do say things about you and some of the things can be so vicious. All you need to do is read the newspaper and look at how people speak of believers and it's very common and becoming even more so. There's a lot of reproach that relates to it. They don't share your faith in Jesus so you work hard and sometimes you are reproached and not only by the people on the outside but there can be a reproach from those who are even on the inside just the other day. I was sharing with somebody who approached me very openly, spoke honestly to me and said I need to ask you a question two weeks ago. I need to ask you a question. I said sure, of course, what do you need to ask? Do you drive three Mercedes-Benz's? I said not at the same time. No, I said, I said what, what? Do you drive three Mercedes-Benz's? Because I was told that you have three Mercedes-Benz's and you live in a three-story house. I started laughing. I said no, I don't. I have a two-story track home that I've lived in for 22 years and I paid it off. I also have a TLX. I said if you want, you can go into the back. It's right here by my office and you can look at it if you want. You can wash it too if you need to wash. But, no, I didn't say I was playing. But you know, those kinds of garbage comments have gone on for almost as long as I've been in ministry, almost as long as I've been in ministry there have been things like that that have been said. It's just unbelievable how people do that reproach. But you live with it, you know why? Because you love the people even though they say things like that, you know why? Because eternity is more important than momentary feelings that we can have. That's how it works. That's what it's supposed to be like. I'm only, I'm telling you this because I don't know, that comment didn't come from somewhere else. It came from here, my church. So if you're here, I'll give you a ride. There's a lot of reproach. There's a lot of things that people say. There's a lot of things that are untrue and people have a tendency of wanting to believe that which is untrue, they just do. But you want to know something? At the end, the Lord has a way of working and He does the right thing. In Hebrews 10, 32 through 35, it says, Recall the former days in which after you were illuminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings. Partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated for you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence which has great reward. When Paul was writing in 2 Corinthians 11, at verse 23, he spoke of his labors, imprisonments, his beatings and his facing death often. So he says, bottom line, he says, verse 10, to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, why? Well, because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men especially of those who believe. Serving the Lord, it does include labor, it does include poor treatment, it does include sorrow, and it does include disappointment. But you keep your eye on the prize and our efforts to serve the Lord are always rewarded. In 2 Corinthians 5, 9 and 10, we make it our aim whether present or absent to be well pleasing to him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. We trust in the living God, the savior of all men, especially those who believe. We will stand before him, thus serve him with all of your heart. Two last things. He says he is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. When it says he is the savior of all men, he is the potential savior for any, potential savior of all men. They're not automatically saved, in other words. He is what is called the potential savior, but it goes on to say especially of those who believe, he is the potential savior for all the actual savior for those who believe. He can save anybody and becomes their actual savior when they say God be merciful to me as sinner, forgive me of my sins, come into my life, forgive me. You're born again. He was your potential in that he could save you. He is now your actual because you've been saved. We take the word of God, we proclaim it, and as he is saying here to be a noble minister, we do so with our eye on the prize. At the end, he will say to us, I pray, well done, my good, my faithful servant, one day we may hear him say it. I look forward to hear him say, enter into the joy of the Lord. That's what serving God is all about, and that's part of what makes up the noble minister. That's the first part. We'll pick this up next time.