Hi, I'm David Bercot. And tonight, I want to challenge you with a message. The message is entitled " Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for the kingdom. " I think that's the longest title I've ever given a message, but there's a reason for it. Over a hundred years ago, the famous educator Horace Mann wrote, " Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. " And that's where I got the title for tonight's message, but I've changed this quote a bit.
" As Christians, we're not so interested in winning a victory for humanity, as we are winning a victory for Christ in His kingdom. " And that's why I've entitled the message: " Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for the kingdom. " I recently read a book by Gary Miller entitled " Going till you're gone. " The book challenged me a lot. I want to begin tonight's message by reading you a short passage from that book.
It reads, " Harold Kushner, a Jewish rabbi and author, in his book, When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, " has described an aspect and problem with living for ourselves. He writes, " I am convinced that it is not the fear of death of our lives ending that haunts our sleep so much, as the fear that our lives will not have mattered, that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well as never have lived. " What we miss in our lives, no matter how much we have, is that sense of meaning.
" Gary continues, " aimless, meaningless living, just meandering on out of life without purposeful vision or life focus. " We see this around us daily, and in an unbelieving, self-centered world, we would expect it. But when these same attitudes manifest themselves among people professing to be followers of Jesus, it is alarming. When people who claim allegiance to the Lord have no greater vision than the unbelievers who surround them, it becomes discouraging.
" So we're going to be talking about how we can make our life meaningful, what we can do for the kingdom of God, how we can have a focus to our entire life. Our prime text for tonight's message is Matthew 25:14 through 30, which is Jesus ' parable of the talents. Let's read that parable together. It says this, beginning with verse 14 of Matthew 25, " For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord's money. After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, " Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them. " His Lord said to him, " Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. " Enter into the joy of your Lord. He also who had received two talents came and said, " Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents beside them.
" His Lord said to him, " Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. " Then he who had received the one talent came and said, " Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. " Look, there you have what is yours.
But his Lord answered and said to him, " You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore, take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What were the talents that Jesus distributed to his followers? Today, in our English language, the word " talent " normally refers to a natural ability or aptitude. As a result, a lot of people have misunderstood the parable of the talents.
They think Jesus is saying that if you are born with a certain natural ability, such as being musically gifted or unusually athletic, Christ wants you to have a career using those talents. To waste those talents would be a sin. But Jesus isn't talking about natural abilities. In Jesus ' day, a talent was a monetary unit. It was also a unit of weight. It represented about 50 to 70 pounds of either silver or gold.
So the worth of a silver talent in the first century would be equivalent today to anywhere from $25,000 to $300,000. And if it was a talent of gold, it would be worth far, far more than even that. So this was no small sum of money. Interestingly, Jesus gave a similar parable on another occasion, but in this other parable, he used minas instead of talents. A mina was also a unit of both money and weight, but it was worth considerably less than a talent.
That second parable is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, verses 12 through 17. But in both parables, he's talking about money, not natural abilities. So what do these talents represent? Interestingly, Jesus never said. Or if He did explain it to His disciples in private, it's not recorded in the Scriptures. But in both parables, the parable of the talents and the one about the Minas, Jesus begins by talking about the kingdom. So the talents and Minas represent something to do with Christ's kingdom.
We'll call them kingdom interests. Do natural abilities entered into this parable at all? Well, perhaps Jesus did say, " For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. So the number of talents entrusted to us is based on our own ability. However, this still may not be referring to our natural abilities.
It may be referring primarily to our spiritual abilities. The reason I say that is from looking at the 12 apostles. Jesus doesn't seem to have picked the 12 based on any natural abilities or gifts they had. They were simple fishermen, at least many of them were. The rulers of the Sanhedrin referred to them as uneducated and untrained men. Yet, look at the enormous responsibility and authority Jesus gave to them. But although these men were uneducated, they were men of faith.
They were men who were willing to leave all behind in order to follow Jesus. They were men who loved Jesus with their whole heart and mind. So perhaps their ability was their faith and their love. I'm not going to say that various abilities we're born with don't play any role in this, but I don't think they are the primary thing. Jesus can give spiritual gifts to those who have faith and who love him with all of their heart, soul, and mind.
But he doesn't normally give spiritual gifts to people who have no love or faith, regardless of how many natural abilities they have or how much education they have. But some of you will say, but what about Paul? God was able to use him in a special way because of his education. I certainly agree that God used Paul in a special way, and Paul was an educated person. But God didn't use him primarily because of his education. No, it was because of Paul's faith and his love.
There are a couple of reasons why I say that. First, Paul's higher education was primarily in rabbinical studies. He studied under one of the most esteemed Jewish rabbis of his day, Gamaliel. So Paul was well trained in the rabbinical understanding of the law with all of the traditions the scribes and Pharisees had added to the law. Furthermore, because of these studies, Paul probably could read and write Hebrew in addition to Aramaic and Greek.
In fact, Paul may have been the only apostle who could read Hebrew as distinguished from Aramaic. You need to understand that in New Testament times, people commonly referred to Aramaic as the Hebrew tongue, since it was the language most Eastern Jews spoke in the first century. However, to whom did Christ send Paul to the Jews? No, He sent Paul to the Gentiles, and Paul's rabbinical learning was of little use in preaching to the Gentiles.
Moreover, the message Paul was proclaiming to both Jews and Gentiles was that believers in Christ are not under the Mosaic Law. So all of his knowledge about the various interpretations of the law was practically worthless. In addition, Paul himself made it clear that God doesn't need human wisdom in order to spread the good news of the kingdom. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1, " For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. " Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
So let no one imagine that Paul was used in such a special way because of his learning, or that it was because of his learning that he was so effective in reaching the Gentiles. No, he said, " I didn't come to you with words of human wisdom. " I mentioned earlier that he may have been the only apostle who could actually read ancient Hebrew. But look, what language did Paul write his epistles in? He wrote in Greek. And the Greek he wrote in was just common everyday Greek known as koine Greek.
And Paul's Greek in his letters is not particularly impressive from a human standpoint. Perhaps he had the ability to write in better Greek than he did. But the early Christians comment that Paul's Greek is not as good as, say, the Greek used by Luke. Incidentally, it was probably from this parable that the word " talent " came into the English language. We know that the word came into the English language from the Greek by way of Latin.
The thought is that over time, people in the West lost all knowledge about what a talent was. Not knowing it was an ancient monetary unit, they imagined that it was our natural abilities, so they began referring to our natural abilities as talents. Well, I don't want to spend any more time discussing what the talents were that Jesus entrusted to His disciples. The point of the parable is that two of the servants worked on behalf of their master, and one of them didn't.
He buried the kingdom interests entrusted to him. So what is the kingdom work our Lord wants us to do on his behalf? Usually the undertaking that people think of first is evangelism and missionary work. In fact, we've given those things the name " The Great Commission. " To be sure, evangelism is an extremely important work, and one that Jesus did commission. But I'm going to be a bit bold here and say that evangelism is not the most important kingdom work.
The most important kingdom work are the things Jesus enumerated in Matthew 25:31 through 40. Let's read those. He said, " When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the king will say to those on his right hand, " Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, " Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. " These things that Jesus enumerates in this passage are what I call Matthew 25 ministries.
They are: One, feeding the hungry, two, providing water for the thirsty, three, providing clothing for the needy, four, giving shelter to someone who needs it. Five, visiting the sick, and finally, visiting the ones in prison. Why do I say that these things are the most important kind of kingdom work? For one thing, this discussion of separating the sheep from the goats immediately follows the parable of the talents.
That would lead me to believe that the kingdom activity Jesus is talking about in that parable are these very things he enumerates right after the parable. Second, Jesus tells us that these things will affect our salvation. His exact words are: " Then the king will say to those on his right hand, " Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for, " meaning " because I was hungry and you gave me food.
" So Jesus told them that they were inheriting the kingdom because they had done these various acts of love. In case there was any doubt about that, Jesus ended the discussion of Judgment Day by saying this: " Then He will also say to those on the left hand, " Depart from me, you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in. Naked and you did not clothe me.
Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, " Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? " Then he will answer them, saying, " Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. " And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. So, these Matthew 25 ministries are not optional.
Our eternal life will be determined by them. Now, Jesus never says that about evangelism, but he does say it about these ministries of love, and that's why I say they are the most important kind of ministry. I realize, of course, that in saying what he did, Jesus directly contradicted Martin Luther, who said that our Christian deeds play no role in our salvation. And a lot of people feel that Jesus was out of his place in daring to contradict Martin Luther.
Or since this was before the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, maybe Jesus didn't have a complete understanding of salvation yet. And therefore, we shouldn't quote him or teach what he said there in Matthew 25, since he didn't fully understand how things were going to work on Judgment Day. Well, all I can say is, on Judgment Day, I'm going to be standing in front of Jesus Christ, not Martin Luther. So I, for one, believe Jesus, not Martin Luther.
And I take Jesus ' words very seriously, and I would encourage you to do the same. Jesus ' discussion about separating the sheep from the goats also parallels his parable about the talents, in that the outcome is the same both times. The servants who used the talents entrusted to them to enlarge their master's kingdom were told that they would be made rulers in his kingdom.
In contrast, Jesus says about the lazy servant, " And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. " So in both the parable of the talents and in Jesus ' Discussion of Judgment Day, what we do affects our salvation. Does this mean that salvation isn't a gift after all? Does this mean that we're not saved by grace? Of course not. Do you think the faithful servant who worked on behalf of his master expected to be made a co-ruler in his master's kingdom?
Did he earn the right to be co-ruler? Not in the least. That was a gift. But the master chose to give this gift only to the servants who demonstrated their loyalty and industriousness on behalf of their master. It would be similar today if you're an employee of a corporation and you're faithfully doing the job you're supposed to do while the president of the corporation is away.
Now suppose when the president returns, he not only praises you for a job well done, but he appoints you to the board of directors and gives you a significant ownership interest in the corporation. Now, would you imagine that you earned all of that just by doing the job you're supposed to do? Of course not. You would recognize it as a gift coming from the President. Salvation is the same way. We don't earn our salvation by doing what a child of the kingdom should be doing.
It's an unbelievable gift flowing from God's generosity. But if we do nothing for our fellow man, he won't bestow this generous gift on us. When we combine the inspired teaching in 1 Corinthians 13 with Jesus ' words in Matthew 25, we learn that even if we take part in various Matthew 25 kind of ministries, unless we do these things for our fellow man because we love him, it won't profit us at all. There is no salvation without love for God and love for our fellow man.
In making these ministries the primary kingdom touchstone, Jesus demonstrated His fairness. I say that because none of these ministries depend upon our having certain natural abilities or gift. These ministries are open equally to men and women, young and old, rich and poor, gifted and ungifted, educated and uneducated alike. Some sisters complain because Christ has barred them from certain ministries like pastoring a church or teaching in the open congregation.
But rather than being unfair to sisters, Jesus is actually giving them an advantage. They are usually freer than men to devote more time to these essential Matthew 25 ministries. Let's look again at the six things that Jesus enumerated. They were feeding the hungry, providing water for the thirsty, providing clothing for the needy, giving shelter to somebody who needs it, visiting the sick, and visiting the ones in prison. Now, are any of those ministries more open to brothers than to sisters? Not at all.
Sisters can provide food and water for the hungry and clothing and shelter for the needy. They can visit the sick just like a brother can. They can visit men and women in prison. In fact, as I've mentioned, typically women have more free time to engage in these ministries than men do. Furthermore, an uneducated person can share in these ministries, the same as an educated one.
Someone with no native abilities and no skills can still share in these ministries as much as someone who's born with a lot of abilities and gifts. And even the young and elderly can engage in these ministries. If you're a young child, you can save your nickels and dimes to help feed the hungry clothe and house the needy through organizations like Christian Aid Ministries. Depending on where you live, you might be able to visit a neighbor who is sick or perhaps help them in some way.
Likewise, even if you're elderly, these ministries are open to you. Many things that you can do in regard to any of these six things that Jesus enumerated. Let's now talk about what is perhaps the second most important kingdom work, that is, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus talked about this ministry several times, but he never tied it to salvation. Let me read to you some of his references to this ministry.
Matthew 9:35 through 38 says, " Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. " But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, " The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
" Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. So Jesus made this perhaps his main activity of traveling and preaching the gospel, and this is also something that his disciples and apostles did. In Matthew 24:14, when he was talking about the signs leading up to the end of the age, he said, " And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. " Matthew 28:18-20. It says, " And Jesus came and spoke to them.
These were the 11 apostles, saying, " All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
" Although those words were spoken directly to the apostles, all of us can share in that work, Jesus definitely indicated that this work of making disciples would extend past the lives of the apostles when he said, " Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. " It certainly indicated that going out and making disciples would last until the end of the age. Jesus also prophesied that His kingdom would start off tiny like a mustard seed, but would grow and fill the earth.
But how is this kingdom going to grow if no one hears about it? So spreading the message of the gospel is the second great kingdom work. When I said it's not tied to our salvation, I meant that Jesus never says that our personal salvation is tied to whether or not we're involved in spreading the gospel of the kingdom. But it certainly is tied to the salvation of a lot of other people. If they don't hear the gospel, how can they be saved, as Paul said?
And like the first ministry, the Matthew 25 ministries, this ministry, too, is open to both men and women, young and old, rich and poor. To be sure, Jesus didn't send out women to plant churches or to be the primary preachers of the gospel. But women were actively involved in providing support for Jesus ' work and assisting the apostles in their work.
One of the primary ways the early Christians spread the gospel, and one of the primary ways it is still spread today, is through informal witnessing to people with whom Christians come into contact. And this form of evangelism, again, is equally open to sisters and brothers alike. And I think from the beginning, sisters have always been very active in this important method of spreading the gospel. Informal witnessing is also open to children and teenagers.
I know I used to witness to my classmates when I was only nine or ten years old. And I did it a lot when I was in high school. And I know of many young people who do the same thing today. Now, perhaps you feel that you're not good at witnessing, so that ministry just isn't open to you. And certainly not everyone is equally adept at witnessing, and not everyone is called to be an evangelist. A person who's naturally outgoing and gregarious is normally going to find witnessing easier than someone who's quiet and shy.
However, don't be too quick to count yourself out of this important ministry. Many witnessing techniques can be learned, even if they don't come naturally. Most people can learn how to give a simple witness with practice. And never rule out what the Holy Spirit can do in you. I've met Christians who are outstanding at witnessing and evangelizing, and some of them have told me that before they were born again, they were very shy and afraid to talk to strangers.
But the Holy Spirit has now given them the ability and the desire to witness to others. Furthermore, there's a lot you can do to help spread the gospel without ever personally preaching or witnessing to anyone. And that is by supporting others who are actively engaged in evangelism. The four gospels all mention women who followed Jesus and ministered to Him, probably meaning providing food and other provisions.
You know, it's always interesting to read the closing chapters of Paul's epistles, for he usually extends greetings to various persons involved in spreading the gospel in some way, usually by being part of the " support staff. " Here are just a few examples from both closing chapters and other parts of his epistles. In the closing of Romans, Romans 16:6, he says, " Greet Mary who labored much for us. " We don't know what she did. She may have helped in witnessing to women.
She may have cooked for Paul, may have done shopping for him. We don't know, but she labored much for him, and her name is preserved in the New Testament as a result. Romans 16:22, " I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. " Tertius is not the author of the epistle to the Romans, but he was the scribe who penned it. Romans 16:23, Paul says, " Gaius, my host, and the host of the whole church greets you. " So evidently, Paul was staying at the home of Gaius, and also the church was meeting there.
Moving to some of the other epistles, 1 Corinthians 16:19. Paul writes, " Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. " So they made their home open to a church meeting there, and we also know that they were actively involved in witnessing to others. Philippians 4, verses 13 through 18, Paul wrote, " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress.
" Now, you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus, the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.
So the Philippians supported Paul in his evangelism in other parts of the earth, sending him evidently money and perhaps clothing and food. Colossians 4, verses 11 and 12. Paul writes, " And Jesus who is called Justus, " These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision. They have proved to be a comfort to me.
" Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. So when Paul carried on his missionary and evangelism activities, he wasn't alone. There were a few times that he was, but he had a large support staff who assisted him in many places. As we saw, various churches and individuals helped to materially support him.
Sometimes he supported himself materially, but I don't think he did so most of the time. People opened up their homes so he could stay with them when he was traveling. Others opened up their houses to be used as meeting places. Some people like we saw like Tertius, they served as scribes for Paul, allowing him to dictate his letters while they wrote his words down. Others acted as messengers, such as Epaphroditus, who brought supplies to Paul and perhaps carried letters from him to the various congregations.
And it's the same way today. Those of us who aren't on the front lines of evangelism can do a lot to help spread the gospel. We can provide financial support for missionaries and for organizations that publish Christian literature and who train missionaries. We can host missionaries in our homes when they come back to visit from the mission field. We can send letters of encouragement to missionaries. We can be part of the support staff who help with local evangelistic meetings.
Whether it's cleaning a building, cooking, serving food, or acting as an usher. Regardless of whether we have a lot of natural talents and abilities or very few, there's always something that we can do to help spread the gospel, even if it's by supporting other people who are on the front line. An example that will stick with me, I'm sure, my whole life, some friends of Deborah and mine that we met. This was back when I was in my 30s, and they were in their late 50s, maybe early 60s.
Their names were Morgan and Nelder Freiman. And they both had just retired. He had been in the United States Postal Service for a number of years, had been a letter carrier, and she had been a schoolteacher. And they both had worked long enough, however many years it was 20 or 30, and had retired. They didn't have a lot of money, but they decided that they would go overseas and serve as support staff for missionaries who are over there.
Now, you don't necessarily have to go overseas to do that, but what they did was fairly special, and it was something they could only do overseas. And that was first, they moved to Cyprus and then later Egypt. And in both places, they operated a missionary relaxation house, you might call it. They lived there and they rented a house large enough to host other people.
And missionaries who needed a rest from the field but weren't in a position financially or perhaps time-wise to return to the United States, could go to their house in Cyprus or in Egypt and relax there. They tried to be a mom and dad to whoever was there, cook for them, wash their clothes, et cetera. Just stay out of the way and let them relax, be good listeners if people needed to unload on them.
They had different board games and things like that that they could play with people, whatever they could do to just encourage and refresh these hardworking missionaries. And they stayed in the Middle East for quite a number of years before eventually returning to the states as they got older. I can tell you that they were certainly an inspiration for me. They showed me that our senior years can be a special time to win a meaningful victory for the kingdom of God.
And like other ministries, children can play a role in this. I think many times about the boy who had the fish that he offered to Jesus, that Jesus then blessed and multiplied to feed the multitude. It was a small thing that a boy could do, and yet it had great significance. I think a lot about the servant girl, who told Naaman about the prophet Elisha. And as a result, Naaman traveled there and was healed of his leprosy, and became converted to the one true God.
So whether you're elderly or young, male or female, whatever your circumstances, you can help in spreading the gospel, even if you're not on the front lines of evangelism. Up to this point, we've talked about two different kinds of kingdom ministries. One, the Matthew 25 kind of ministries, and two, evangelism and missionary work. And there are many different ways and many different levels to be involved in those ministries.
I now want to talk about a third kind of kingdom work, and that is congregational ministries. And once again, there are so many levels of participation here. There are those who labor on our behalf as pastors and elders and deacons. Now, you may think of those offices as glory positions, as positions of power. And in some churches, they may be. However, in most situations, they are plain hard work, labors of love. In fact, often they are thankless positions.
In the circles where I fellowship, ministers usually work without pay or with only supplemental financial support. Yet they carry a heavy load that takes time away from their family, from their jobs, and from their rest. And often in this life, the only reward they get is a lot of criticism and stress. So if you want to do something for the kingdom, take time to thank your pastor and other ministers for the work that they do, and thank them on a regular basis.
It will take so little of your time, but means so much to them. But serving as a pastor, elder, or deacon is only one type of congregational ministry. And those ministries aren't open to everyone. They're not open to sisters and to the very young. And only those brothers who meet certain biblical qualifications can be ordained to those positions. However, there are many other congregational ministries that are open to everyone.
These other ministries don't usually have a specific title, but the needs are there, and God recognizes those who engage in them. I'm talking about ministries like cleaning the church building, cooking for funerals, hosting visiting speakers, being a visiting speaker if you're so qualified, mowing the church yard, and doing maintenance and repairs on the church building. And that's just naming a few ministries.
Often, these ministries overlap with the Matthew 25 kind of ministries, like bringing meals to someone in the church who's sick or who has just had a baby. There's a sister in the Bible who is remembered primarily for these kind of ministries I've just mentioned. You can probably guess who I'm talking about. It's Dorcas. We can read about her in Acts chapter 9, verses 36-43. It says, " At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.
This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them.
When he had come, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, " Tabitha, arise. " And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. And so it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner. Well, let's look at all of the things that Dorcas or Tabitha did. It mentioned she was full of good works and charitable deeds. So she was involved in Matthew 25 type of ministries and also in congregational ministries because it mentions the widows who stood there showing the tunics and garments which she had made while she was still alive.
So she was caring for the ones in the congregation. Again, like I say, there's often an overlap between Matthew 25 ministries and congregational ministries. But she was evidently showing acts of love to people on the outside as well as people within the congregation. And she was so well known for this that Peter, as important as he was as an apostle, he made a special trip there just because she had died. And it's interesting it mentioned Simon there the tanner that Peter stayed with him.
Again, another kind of congregational ministry letting visiting speakers stay at your home. Now, the fact that you're active in these kind of ministries doesn't mean that your name will be in the New Testament. It's too late for that. And it's not likely that you'll be resurrected from the dead in this life, that is, before the general resurrection of the saints.
But God takes note of everything we do, and He doesn't forget our services of love, even if few people here on earth take notice of it or even aware of it. When you serve on behalf of your brothers and sisters, you help to make the church you're part of to be able to function. The pastors and other ministers can't do it alone. It takes a lot of people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help make the church function as a church.
And when you make a substantial contribution to the life of a church, you have won a victory for the kingdom of God, because the kingdom of God works through the church to a large degree. But before I leave the subject of church ministries, I want to return to a statement I made a short while ago. I mentioned that often few people take notice of those who do a lot of the manual grunt work that keeps the church going. But you know, it doesn't have to be that way.
I encourage you to make a resolve right now to take notice of those who labor frequently on behalf of the Church and thank them for what they do. I can promise you, it will mean a lot to them. In fact, that's a congregational ministry that's always open to everyone, even small children. I'm talking about being an encourager. People serving in ministry almost always get discouraged at times. So often they're overworked. And it's common that they feel that no one appreciates what they do for the congregation.
But you can be there to give them encouragement. What a difference it would make to those who serve if they would be blessed to serve in a congregation filled with encouragers. Imagine every week someone would thank them or compliment them on something they've done for the congregation. It's not likely that someone who served in a congregation like that would get discouraged and quit very easily.
And by the way, put the pastor and others who labor hard in your church at the top of your list to have over for a meal on a regular basis. That's one of the best ways to show appreciation and to give encouragement. And again, it doesn't matter what age you are. You might be just a ten-year-old girl, but you can be an encourager. I guarantee it it will mean a lot to a speaker if you come up to him after the service and let him know you really appreciated his message.
And then let him know something you learned from his sermon or devotional. I'm saying you can do this if you're just ten years old. You can do it if you're elderly. You might be an 85-year-old brother. You can still do the same thing. It doesn't matter what age you are, what gender you are, how much education you have, or how talented you are. Everybody can be an encourager. A fourth kingdom ministry is being an intercessory prayer warrior. Again, this ministry is open to everyone.
It doesn't matter what age or gender you are. You don't need any special talents or abilities. You just need faith and a lot of love for others. But what a difference you can make in the life of others. What a difference it would make in the life of ministers and missionaries and other full-time kingdom workers if someone was regularly interceding for them in prayer. When I and other brothers used to meet with Leonard Ravenhill, who was a British evangelist, he's passed away.
We used to have a small prayer meeting with him. And I remember he told us once that many of the effective evangelists of the past century had people who accompanied them as they traveled their circuit from different cities to different cities. And these would be just people who did nothing but pray. Sometimes these men or women didn't even attend the revival meetings. They stayed in the hotel or the house where they were lodging, and they prayed for the meeting during the entire length of it.
They would also pray for days or weeks on end before each series of revival meetings. What a blessing it must have been to have prayer warriors like that as co-workers. It's particularly important because it's very easy for full-time kingdom workers to have such a workload that they often find it hard to set aside time for prayer. I know that happens to me a lot.
And I'm not excusing not making time for prayer, but I'm just saying how nice it would be to know that someone is there filling in the gap when we fail to pray like we should. In the early church, most congregations supported widows whose main functions were intercessory prayer and visiting the sick and those in prison. I mean, that's what they did full-time. At the coming of the Messiah in the first century, you had Anna, whose primary ministry was prayer.
The scriptures say this about her from Luke chapter 2, verses 36 and 37. It says, " Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but serve God with fastings and prayers night and day.
There seemed to be a lot of people in the early church who would pray day and night, something that's often been lost in today's church. Let's review a moment. We've now talked about four different kinds of kingdom ministries. First are the Matthew 25 ministries, like feeding the hungry and visiting the sick. These are the most important kingdom ministries, because they're the only ones that Jesus said would affect our salvation. Number two, we talked about the important ministry of evangelism and missionary work.
Number three is congregational ministries. We weren't talking just about being a pastor or elder, but all members of the congregation can serve in these. And then number four was being an intercessory prayer warrior. Actually, none of these ministries are an either/or type of thing. None of them are exclusive of the others. You can be involved in all four types of ministry at the same time. In fact, most of the active kingdom workers I have known are involved in several of these ministries simultaneously.
They're helping feed the poor. They're very active in visiting ones in prison and people who are sick. They usually have an important role in their congregation that they're carrying, and they generally do evangelism. Many times they are also prayer warriors at the same time. In fact, our goal as kingdom Christians should be to make our whole life a dedication to our Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
Whatever and wherever and whenever we can do anything, whether it's large or small to advance His kingdom, that's what we want to do. John Wesley put it nicely when he said, " Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can. " If we all followed that as our life's motto, think of how many victories for the kingdom we would be winning with our lives.
We would never be afraid of having to die, having won no victories for the kingdom during our time here on Earth. My wife and I met a man around 40 years ago who I think about every time I read those words of John Wesley. I don't even know this man's name, but my wife Deborah and I were driving to a nearby town when suddenly our car started overheating and steam started coming out. Well, we pulled over and I opened up the hood, and I could see that the radiator was boiling over.
Well, a few minutes later, a man traveling from the opposite direction stopped and came over and offered to help. That in itself is not too unusual. Often when you're stranded at the road, someone will stop and ask to help. However, what was unusual about this man was that he made helping travelers his primary ministry.
Whenever he traveled, he would always carry with him extra jugs of water, extra cans of oil, and other items for the very purpose of being able to help people whose cars were overheating or were broken down for another reason. Well, he brought over a gallon jug of water. I didn't have any water with me, and we poured it into the radiator and brought the water level up where it should be. But then when we restarted the engine, I noticed that water was leaking out of one of the hoses. That was the problem.
That's why I had gotten low on water. Well, since we were only five minutes out of the town, this man volunteered to drive me into town to an auto parts store so I could pick up a new water hose. Well, I took him up on his offer, and we drove to town together, picked up the needed hose, and then we returned to our stranded car. Well, as it turns out, I didn't have the necessary screwdriver with me to remove the clamps on the old hose and put on the new one.
But he always carried with him these tools that would be necessary for minor car repair, so he went and got his screwdriver. In a few minutes, we had the water hose replaced. Just curious, I asked him where he was headed, and it turns out he was on his way to a meeting, not a church meeting, a business meeting, in a town that was about an hour away from where we were. Well, I told him that I hope we hadn't made him late for his meeting. " Oh, no, " he explained.
He said he always leaves 30 minutes early when he travels, just so he will have time to be able to stop and help people in need. What an amazing ministry. Well, before he left, I asked him what his name was, but he wouldn't give me his name. He just said, " The good Samaritan never gave his name. " And with that, he drove off. William Law described what a life dedicated to the kingdom looks like.
He wrote in his work, " A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, " " When you have the intention to please God in all your actions as the happiest and best thing in the world, you will find in you as great an aversion to everything that is vain and impertinent in common life, whether of business or pleasure, as you now have to anything that is profane. You will be as fearful of living in any foolish way, either of spending your time or your money as you are now fearful of neglecting the public worship.
" Now, who that lacks this general sincere intention can be reckoned a Christian? And yet, if it was among all those who profess to be Christians, it would change the face of the whole world. And it would. I've been blessed to know a number of Christians who fit William Law's description. These are people who make kingdom work the center of their lives, even though they earned their living by some other means. For example, I think of Luis Vega in Honduras.
He pours out his life for the kingdom every day, every day of the week. He's blessing someone. He and his wife are maybe hosting a missionary family for a few days or a few months at their house. Or maybe it's the middle of the night and Luis is driving someone to the hospital that's an hour away, or maybe to the larger hospital that's nearly three hours away. And probably the person he's taken doesn't even have enough funds to contribute towards the gas.
Or maybe he's picking up a missionary at the airport that's a six-hour round trip away. Or maybe he has to leave his house at 3:00 a.m. in the morning to take a brother or sister to the airport. Maybe he's sharing the gospel with a neighbor or giving encouragement to a brother or sister. Maybe he's visiting someone who's sick or someone in prison. The list goes on and on. And somehow he finds time on the side to make a living. And he's also a very good husband and father.
Luis is certainly one of the most dedicated kingdom workers I've met, but he's not the only one. If you call Scroll Publishing very often, you've probably spoken to Sherlyn Martin. You may not realize it, but she has advanced multiple sclerosis and spends most of her time in a wheelchair. She's in a wheelchair when she's talking to you on the phone. Yet, she volunteered to help Scroll Publishing by answering the phone several times a week. She insists on doing it without pay.
She just wants to be involved in a kingdom ministry. Sherlyn's husband, Elden Martin, has Parkinson's disease. Plus, he has severe problems with both his shoulders. He finds it nearly impossible just to shake hands with someone. Yet I have never heard him or Sherlyn complain about their health problems. They are two of the most cheerful, positive people I've ever known. Many of you have listened to The Kingdom Messages on CD by John Martin, which Scroll Publishing carries.
He's another kingdom worker who uses his whole life to advance the kingdom of God. He supports his family by copy editing a couple of medical journals, but his main focus is the kingdom. One day he may be counseling someone who's come to him with problems. Another day he's traveled somewhere to teach at a youth Bible school. Another day, he's at the local prison where he's had a prison ministry for 20 or more years. Or he's comforting a widow or speaking at a nearby church or copy editing one of my books for free.
The list goes on and on. Again, he's a cheerful person who loves serving people and winning victories every week for the kingdom. Well, if time permitted, I could go on and on about many of the kingdom workers I know, who make the kingdom the center of their lives. There's Gary Miller who builds schools in the back rural areas of Haiti, or starts a microloan ministry in Nicaragua, or writes a book like the one I mentioned at the beginning, entitled " Going till you're gone. " Dean Taylor is another.
He works just three days a week in his secular work, so he can devote as much time as he can to the kingdom. Again, it may be shepherding needy souls, or teaching at a Bible school, or speaking at a seminar somewhere, or editing a Christian magazine, or hosting a traveling family, the list is endless. But what about you? Are Jesus Christ and His kingdom at the center of your life? Or are they something you squeeze in as you have time? What victories have you won for the kingdom during your life here on Earth?
Whatever your circumstances are, there's always something you can do for the kingdom. As this message has been entitled, " Be ashamed if you leave this earth, never having won even a small victory for the kingdom of God. " But don't settle for just having won some small victory. Make serving the king and his kingdom the center of your life.