John chapter 3. We've come tonight in this study
to a point where John the Baptist, who is the forerunner of the Messiah, And then the Messiah himself,
they are both on the earth at the same time. And their ministries have at
this point now overlapped. And there arises some questions
as to who it is that is really sent of God and whose message
it is the people should listen to. So out of that, there arises
these questions among men concerning the ministries of both. I'm sure
some ask Jesus about John, and some surely ask John about Jesus. As a matter of fact, that's what
we Read here in verse 26, it says, And they came unto John,
and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan,
to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and
all men come to him. And what I want us to notice
for just a while tonight is the response of John the Baptist
to these who tell this news to him, and how his response pertains
not only in the service of those who preach the gospel, but all
the Lord's people in all the ways that they are to serve Him. And I entitle this tonight, God
Sovereign Over Service. You see, the response of John
the Baptist comes in the next verse, verse 27. Because John answers and says
this, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Now there is no doubt in my mind
that that is a principle that covers everything and everybody. But here in this immediate context,
it has to do with the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ And what he is led by the Spirit
to say is that no man, no person, takes to themselves any work,
any office, or any service for the Lord God. No man takes any
of these things to themselves. I don't know how many times over
the years I've been asked a question. And that question is, people
will sometimes ask me, when did you decide to go into the ministry? When did you decide to become
a preacher of the gospel. Well, I always have to respond
that it was not my decision at all. If it had been my decision,
I would have most likely decided not to. gave me some advice a long time
ago. He didn't know the gospel, but
he gave me some good advice. And he said, don't ever seek
to preach until you have to. Until you can't do anything but
that. And this is what John is saying,
because the truth of the matter is, God alone has determined
these things and did so before the world began. Hold your place
here and turn to Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter 1, because The
Lord is speaking to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah is speaking to the
Lord. And Jeremiah, in his honesty,
sees no abilities in himself to stand and say anything for
the Lord. But look down in verse 4. He says, "...then the word of
the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations." Before you breathed your first breath, before
you did anything, before you had life, long before this hour,
I knew you and I determined, I set you apart to be a prophet
among and unto the nations. Then said I," he says, "'O Lord
God, Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say
not, I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,
and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces,
For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the
Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto
me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this
day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root
out, to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build,
and to plant. That's what the ministry involves,
a tearing down and a planting. But what I wanted you to notice
is how, regardless of what Jeremiah thought, or regardless of what
anybody thought, God had before determined that he would be the
one used of God to sound forth the message. And the success
of that ministry as a prophet, it did not depend on Jeremiah,
but it depended on God who set him apart and called him. A little later on in this book
of Jeremiah, he'd say, "...as for me, I have not hastened from
being a pastor to follow thee, neither have I desired the woeful
day thou knowest. That which came out of my lips
was right before thee." I have not desired these things one
way or the other, but I said them to you because the Lord
told me to say them." In other words, in all that might be done,
in whatever this service to the Lord might be, God determines
who, and God determines where, And God determines what, and
God determines how long. And this is true not only of
such as Jeremiah, or maybe the Apostle Paul, But it is true
of all that God uses, and it is true no matter what the service,
and we would do well. I really believe that the Lord's
people would do well if we could ever learn that and believe it. God alone is sovereign over all
the things of His service and work. And the Apostle Paul, who
was in himself a least likely candidate, being such a self-righteous
Pharisee, none of those skills naturally helped him in any way. As a matter of fact, God had
to take him to the backside of the desert and teach him what
he did not know by nature, by skill, by natural learning and
teaching. He had to teach him and equip
him with that which he did not learn from Gamaliel. And so when he sits down to write
that letter to the Ephesians, his only, as we say, claim to
fame, if you would, his only authority behind his ministry,
and especially that of an apostle, he says, Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God. He didn't decide to go into apostleship. He didn't decide to speak for
the Lord. He was an apostle, which literally
means, that word apostle means one cent forth. He said, by the
will of God. And then a little later on in
that same letter in Ephesians 3, he says this, Whereof I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God. I was made, and we ought to remember
this too, Sometimes men and women use that word minister, kind
of roll it off the tip of your tongue as if there's some elevated
presence in our midst. He's a minister. All that word
means is a servant. A servant. And that is all any
of the Lord's people are in any place of service, whatever it
is, we are simply His servants. And he said, "...whereof I was
made a minister, a servant, according to the gift of grace, the grace
of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power." It wasn't
my power. It wasn't my ability. It wasn't
my upbringing. It wasn't my resume. His power. Now listen, unto me
who am less than the least of all saints. Now that's where
he put himself. And that's where he may have
been until I was born. And I had to come along and occupy
that place. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints. Is this grace given? What is it, Paul? that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
It seems to me that Paul is saying, I'm in way over my head. Here I am only by the grace of
God set forth and sent forth to preach the unsearchable, immeasurable,
indescribable riches of Christ. And this is so clearly taught
in the Scriptures. This principle is so clearly
demonstrated in the Word of God that it should be a reason, a
real reason, for there being no jealousy and no self-glorying
among brethren. Paul would say in another place,
I am what I am. You say, well, that ain't much.
Well, I am what I am by the grace of God. I've often thought that
if you think there's not much to me, think about what I'd be
without the grace of God. We are what we are in whatever
we do by the grace of God. There's no reason for one in
the Lord's service to be jealous of the other, and there's certainly
no reason for us self-glorying and self-glorifying ourselves
when it is, as he said, all by His grace. Turn over to 1 Corinthians. 1
Corinthians. in chapter 12, and listen to
Paul beginning in verse 14. Now I say this is true of every
aspect of service to the Lord and His people. Verse 14 of 1
Corinthians 12, For the body is not one member, but many. Now he likens The body of Christ,
the church, those in the church which is His body, He likens
us to a physical body. For the body is not one member,
but many. If the foot shall say, because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body? If I say, I'm not this, or if
I'm not that, does that mean I'm not in the body? And if the ear shall say, because
I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of
the body? If the whole body were an eye,
if the body was nothing but eyes, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where
would be the smelling? You see the logic? Now this is
biblical, and this is spiritual, but it's really also logical.
In other words, a body, your body, my body, we're not all
eyes, we're not all noses, we're not all hands, we're not all
feet, we're not all anything, but members of the whole. But now hath God set the members,
every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased Him." Now
see what I'm saying? Now is that plain or is that
plain? God has set the members, every
one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased Him. I wish we could be pleased as
He is pleased with being what and where we are in the body
of Christ. And if they were all one member,
where were the body? But now are they many members,
yet but one body, and the eye cannot say into the hand, I have
no need of thee. nor again the head to the feet,
I have no need of thee." That's one thing about getting old,
you begin to realize how vital every part is. Nay, much more those members
of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. All that little eye, just so
delicate and fragile looking. We don't need that, do we? Oh
yes, we do. And those members of the body
which we think to be less honorable, upon those we bestow more abundant
honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no
need, but God hath tempered the body together, having given more
abundant honor to that part which lacked." that there should be
no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same
care one for another. And whether one member suffer,
all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ
and members in particular." And he goes on to talk about the
various gifts. Well, this is the most important
gift. I often hear somebody say, well,
the most important thing that God could ever do for people
is give them a gospel preacher. Well, that's not exactly right. The most important thing God
has ever done for any people is to give them Christ. And it
may well be a blessing that they have been given somebody to preach
the gospel of Christ, but he is not to eclipse Christ Himself. He places in His body, gifts
in His body, members in His body as it pleases Him. And we have in Scripture also,
we have a warning against such a jealousy in service and a seeking
to do one's own thing, you might say. We have a warning with a
group of people that were distinguished by a man by the name of Korah. You remember Korah? Korah and
his company. Turn over to number 16. Numbers chapter 16. Now let me
ask you this, why was Moses and also Aaron, why were they the
leaders of these Israelites? Were they kind of spiritual supermen? Were they naturally gifted? Moses was so timid, he was afraid
to even open his mouth and speak to the people. No, they were
in the place of service that they were in because God appointed
them. And we ought to be always remembering
something else, I think. And that is, if I took the highest
quality canvas, the highest quality paints, the highest quality brushes,
had the highest quality training in the field of art. And I managed
to paint a picture. That would be something, wouldn't
it? But what about if I took some
old berries and some old clay and some old piece of horse tail
and something like that. And I managed to compose and
paint a masterpiece from that. Wouldn't that be more glorious?
And the Lord, rather than using what men naturally think He would
use to do any service, not only in proclaiming the Gospel, but
also in every service in the midst of His people and for His
people. Somebody said, he takes a crooked
stick and he draws a straight line. That's what Paul is talking
about writing to the Corinthians. He said, all these people, the
base, those that are not wise, those that are not comely, those
that are not skilled, he said, God uses these things to confound
the wise. Why? Because He gets all the
glory out of it. Alright? Look here in Numbers
16, beginning in verse 3. And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, You
take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy. every one of them, and the Lord
is among them. Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves
above the congregation of the Lord." You want me to interpret
that for you? These people are saying to Moses
and Aaron, who put you in charge? And when Moses heard that, being
that meek, meet man that he was." It says, when he heard it, he
fell upon his face. And he spake unto Korah and to
all his company saying, even tomorrow the Lord will show who
are His and who is holy, and that means set apart by God. and will cause him to come near
unto him, even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come
near unto him. This do, take you censers, Korah
and all his company, and put fire therein, and put incense
in them before the Lord tomorrow. And it shall be that the man
whom the Lord doth choose, He shall be holy, ye take too much
upon you, ye sons of Levi. And Moses said unto Korah, Here
I pray you, ye sons of Levi, seemeth it but a small thing
unto you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation
of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service
of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation
to minister unto them." Do you think this is a light thing that
the Lord has called you to do? To be responsible for the things
of the tabernacle? To lead in the public worship
of God? The offering of all the sacrifices? The keeping of all the articles
necessary in the tabernacle? You think this is a light thing?
We ought to ask ourselves this question. Whatever it is that
the Lord has gifted us, to be able to do. Do we take that as
a light thing? I'm going to tell you this. If
the Lord gives us gift to do something in His service, amongst
His people, that's no light thing. I don't care if it's sweep the
floor out. He said, do all that you do to
the glory of God. And he hath brought thee near
to him, and all thy brethren, the sons of Levi, with thee,
and seek ye the priesthood also? For which cause both thou and
all the company are gathered together against the Lord? And
what is Aaron that you murmur against him?" You're jealous
of Aaron. Not good enough for you to take
care of all the things of worship. You want to be the priest too. And the Lord sent to call Dathan
and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, which said, We will not come
up. Is it a small thing that thou
hast brought us up out of the land, a land that flowed with
milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make
thyself altogether a prince over us?" Do you think they were a
little jealous? They're accusing Moses now, not
Jehovah. I mean, they can't get a hold
of Jehovah, They're doing the next best thing to them. They're
accusing Moses of having led them out in the wilderness just
to die of starvation and deprivation. Moreover, thou hast not brought
us unto a land that flowed with milk and honey, or given us inheritance
of fields and vineyards. Will thou put out the eyes of
these men? We will not come. And Moses was
very wroth and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their
offering. I have not taken one ask from
them, neither have I hurt one of them. And Moses said unto
Korah, Be thou in all thy company before the Lord, thou and they,
and Aaron tomorrow. and take every man his censer,
and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every
man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, thou also, and
Aaron, each of you his censer. And they took every man His censer
put fire in them and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. And Korah
gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord appeared
unto all the congregation." And the Lord spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation,
that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces
and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one
man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?" Now
who's doing the intercession here? It's not these rebels. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about
the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Moses rose up
and went unto Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed
him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from
the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs,
lest ye be consumed in all their sin. So they got up from the
tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. And
Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents,
and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. And
Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord has sent me to
do all these works, for I have not done them of mine own hand."
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited
after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing,
and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all
that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit,
then you shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord."
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these
words, that the ground clave asunder that was under him. And
the earth opened up her mouth and swallowed them up, and their
houses, and all that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They and all that appertained
to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed
upon them, and they perished from among The congregation. They said, Moses, you're trying
to make yourself a prince over us. Moses, what you've said hasn't
brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey. Aaron, he takes all the priesthood,
him and his family. You've got too much on you. You
take too much. on you. But when everything was said
and done, it was plain that God had appointed them to the work. You know, this same truth was
made manifest in David being made king. The obvious was put before him. Saul was the choice of man. Why? He's a good looking boy.
Stood head and shoulders higher than all the men of Israel. Seemed
to be valiant for the fight, although he proved himself an
utter coward. And here's David. He's just a
ruddy little shepherd boy. But he's about to die. He's about to die and he's looking
back. He says, the Lord God of Israel
chose me before all the house of my father to be king over
Israel forever. For he hath chosen Judah to be
the ruler, and of the house of Judah, the house of my Father,
and among the sons of my Father, he liked me to make me king over
all Israel." Well, we know that David was not really all that
likable. But the Lord liked him. As a
matter of fact, the Lord loved him. Why? Because he loved him
in Christ. And he says this, and of all
my sons, and the Lord hath given me many sons, He hath chosen
Solomon. Now wait a minute. Wasn't he
kind of the illegitimate son? Son of David by Bathsheba? That's
just like the Lord. That no flesh shall glory in
His presence. He said, of all my sons, He has
chosen Solomon, my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom
of the Lord over Israel. Not natural gifts. Not the favor
of men. Not any of these things. It is
the Lord. Like, O Eli, it is the Lord let
him do what seemeth him good. As a matter of fact, here's another
illustration. And that was when after Absalom,
David's son, had been slain. You know, Absalom rebelled against
David and his whole throne, and finally in the conflict, Absalom
was killed. And I believe it was Joab, he
said, now, I've got to send these tidings to David, to the king. And so, he called a man, I believe
it was Cushi, to run and bear that message to David. Tell him the truth. Absalom had
been killed in the battle. Well, there was another fellow
there. I think his name was Ahimeas.
And so he comes to Joab when he hears what's going on. He
said, let me go and bear the tidings. And Joab says, no, you don't
have the message. You're not the one I'm sending
with this message. Well, he decided he was going to run anyway. Well,
they're both these men, they're running across the plains or
wherever it was to get back to where David was. And the man
who was not sent with the message, he evidently was a faster runner. And so he overtook Cushi on the
way and got there first. You know what he told David?
David just earnestly wanted to know what the Word was, what
the truth was. He said, all is well. All is
well. But Joe, it wasn't well. It wasn't
well at all. And finally, Cushiah gets there
with a message. He wasn't fastest, he wasn't
first, but he was the messenger. So all natural skills, all natural
abilities, they just go out the window. God sends whom He will. He uses whom he will. And when
he got there, David asked him about Absalom. He said, all the
king's enemies be as this young man is who is dead. He had the message. It wasn't
exactly what David wanted to hear, but it was the truth. And those that the Lord has chosen,
the amazing thing is, they're always busy when He calls them. As was the case with Amos the
prophet. Somebody said, well, he's going
to be a preacher. He never could do anything else.
Would do anything else. Lazy. That's the image most people
have of preachers. And it's a justified one. I don't
even like to tell people I'm a preacher. Because I know the
image that goes in their mind. Since you're a preacher, I'm
going to give you a deal. Oh no, you're not. That's ended
it right there. Amos, when he got before the
authorities, the high muckety-mucks, they wanted to know what his
credentials were. Who called you? Who ordained you a prophet? Who sent you? Why should we hear
you?" Then answered Amos, and said, Amaziah, I was no prophet,
neither was I a prophet's son, but I was a herdman and a gatherer
of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed
the flock. And the Lord said unto me, Go
prophesy unto my people Israel." He was already working. Already
busy. Paul says to the Corinthians,
he says, Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? But ministers
by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. And as if those in the service
of the Lord weren't ruined bad enough as it is, people come
right along and they further ruin them. I like my preacher. I'm going to hear my preacher.
I'll tell you what, you better hear the one God sent. The one
God called. The one God gave the message
to. Well, I want to do this. I want to do that. Well, sometimes there are things you
don't even really have to vote on. You know that? It's just
so obvious. It's so obvious. You see, it's the Lord's choice,
and it's for His glory, not ours. In Mark it says, For the Son
of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house,
and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work. The Lord Jesus, when He rose
from the dead, He ascended back into heaven. He's like that man
who went back to a far country. Oh, but He didn't leave things
in disarray. He gave authority to His servants
and to every man His work and commanded the porter to watch. Let me tell you this. I can't
do your work. I don't even know what it is
maybe. Sometimes I can see it pretty good. But I can't do your
work. And you can't do my work. Because
the Lord appoints. But not only that, the Lord equips. I've seen some of the most gifted
people over the years. But if you mention something
to them, they can't do anything. Or I can't do anything. You'll
just try pastoring for about 35 years. And learn the value
of what people do. to encourage, to support, to
give, to pray. You see, God gives us for the
work. And we can't do each other's
work, but we can help each other as laborers together for the
glory of Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us. And
He gives us for the work He's given us, He equips us. Turn
over to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, verse 4. For as we have many members in
one body, and all members have not the same office, You know,
it really is a wonderful illustration about our physical bodies when
you think about it. Because when you get one part
of your bodies missing or injured or something, you realize the
importance then of every part. All members have not the same
office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone
members one of another, having then gifts differing according
to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us
prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry, let us
wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or
he that exhorted..." You mean there's more things than preaching? Well, yes. Exhorting. You know what that means? Encouraging. Encouraging. He that giveth,
let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence.
He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimilation. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave
to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another
with brotherly love in honor preferring one another. You see, there's no room for
boasting in salvation, and there's no room for boasting in service,
whatever it is. I had a preacher tell me one
time, He had a little sickness and he got over it and he said,
well, it looks like the Lord is still going to use me. I thought
to myself, yeah, he used a nail in the hand of a woman to kill
his enemy one time. And he used a talking mule to
tell a man something. If the Lord uses you, there certainly
is no reason for you to toot your horn, I'll tell you. For
who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that
thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it?" And the
Spirit gives us to the work as He will. to the Corinthians also,
but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing
to every man severally as he will." Paul summed it up. He said, but
it's all by grace. Salvation is by grace. We know
that, don't we? Service is by grace too. He said,
but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me. Now the greatest example of what
I'm trying to say tonight, God's sovereign over service, is Christ
Himself. The Scripture set forth the Lord
Jesus Christ as it was pictured in all the Old Testament in three
offices. Prophet, Priest, and King. What did God say about a Prophet?
Way back in Deuteronomy, I will raise them up a Prophet. Capital letters. later described as that prophet,
the prophet, from among their brethren, like unto me, and will
put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all
I shall command him." The Lord said, this is my beloved son,
hear him. As far as a priest, Hebrews 5,
it says, And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that
is the high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son,
today have I begotten thee. As far as a king, just like David,
God appointed him. Psalm 2, I have set my king upon
my holy hill Zion. Then when the Lord comes down
to the end of that earthly sojourn, and He begins to pray to the
Father as those things that pertain to His death are about to unfold,
those events and all, He says, Father, I have glorified Thee
on earth. I have finished the work which
Thou gavest Me to do. There was an hour between the
resurrection of Christ and the ascension of Christ when He made
Himself known to these disciples. Poor old Peter, you know. He
always kind of sticks his foot in his mouth, and I guess I can
identify with him more than any other. But on that occasion,
that last occasion, it says, then Peter turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned
on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that
betrayeth thee? I think most people are pretty
sure John is talking about himself right there. The Apostle John.
Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, And what shall this man
do? What shall he do? And Jesus saith
unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee? You follow me. You worry about what he's doing.
You follow me. You love me, feed my sheep. The Lord will, in His way, accomplish
all His purpose using those weak, frail instruments, whatever the
job is. He'll equip them, give them strength,
and they'll do it for His glory. They'll consider themselves the
weakest, frailest. They'll say, like Jeremiah, I'm
but a child. I can't speak, I can't do. They
may even hide at times like getting in the wine press. But they'll
do it. And he'll get all the glory.
A man can receive nothing. Can't take to himself any work
for God. Except it be given him from heaven. Father, tonight we give you praise
and glory And we thank you. Do with your own what you will. Do for your glory. And when everything
is done, all your purposes accomplished, all your people called out, gathered
around you, it will be clear. that in using weak vessels such
as we are, you did all these things in spite of us and not
because of us. Therefore, for all eternity,
the glory will be yours. We give praise to you this day
and thank you and ask you to help us, give us more grace,
lead us, For we pray and ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen.