I am often asked, and I must
admit I often have the same concerns, where will the church find preachers
when they're needed? A lot of us are getting older. In a few years, a good many churches
are going to be looking for pastors, a good many are now. where they're
going to come from. I don't see God raising up men. And I assure myself and try to
assure others, God knows exactly where to find his Moses. He knows
where the backside of the desert is, and he has no trouble calling
out his prophets at his time. He will raise up men as he will. Now, I told the men back in the
office the stories, true story. About 34 years ago, I was sitting
in my office one Saturday morning and I got a call from a fellow
who was real hesitant to ask me the questions that he wanted
to ask me. He'd been getting some tapes
from somebody who knew me and he said, do you believe God chose
who was going to be saved? I said, of course. And he asked
me two or three more questions. I said, are you asking me if
I believe in total depravity, unconditional election, limited
atonement, and irresistible grace? He said, yeah, that's it. I said,
of course I do. He said, my name's Larry Chris.
I'm assistant pastor at Oak Hill Free Will Baptist Church. Could
I come talk to you? I said, come on over. And in
about 45 minutes, he's knocking on the door. And we talked all
day. Had a good visit. had lunch late
in the afternoon, and talked some more, and had supper late
in the evening, and talked some more until about midnight. And
he said, well, I've got to preach in the morning. I said, where
are you preaching? He said, home. I said, what are
you going to preach? He said, I'm going to preach
what we've been talking about. I said, services start here tomorrow
night at 7 o'clock. He said, why did you tell me
that? I said, "'Cause if you go home and preach what we've
been talking about tomorrow morning, you won't have a place to preach
tomorrow night." He said, "'Oh, no. Those folks, I've been in
that church all my life. They're family and friends. We'll
get along all right.'" Well, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
he woke me up from my afternoon nap. He said, "'What time do
you say services start tonight?' And I've been his pastor ever
since. It's been a blessed relationship. God knows how to raise up his
own." He knows how to raise them up. And he keeps them and preserves
them and prepares them for the work he has for them to do. This
past week, I got a letter from a young man I've known all his
life, just about, Daniel Warta. He's getting ready to go to college.
Young man, 17, 18 years old. He meets with folks in Wasilla,
Alaska. His family meets with him. They've been meeting in
just a few hours. Every Sunday morning, we meet together and
have for years watching our videos. I've been his pastor most of
his life, though I only see him once or twice a year at best.
And I go up and preach when I can, send others up to preach to them,
but usually they're just there to meet together and watch our
videos and have no other means of ministry. He's getting ready
to go to college and wrote to me and asked me, he said, could
you tell me what you would recommend that I should do in preparation
for the ministry. And, uh, I wrote back to him
and spend a little time answering his letters. And, uh, I'm going
to spend a little more time this morning. Uh, I want to talk to
you about preaching, preaching first Timothy chapter three,
verse one. The title of my message is gospel
preaching the highest of all callings. Now you won't believe how many
times I sat down and looked at that title. Have I overstated
this? Is that an exaggeration? And the reality is I've understated
it. Gospel preaching, the highest
of all callings. This is a true saying. If a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. I have
often heard men whom I greatly respect say I would never recommend
anybody to be a preacher. I've heard men say to young men
who desire some instruction, some help with regard to preparing
for the ministry, Oh, why would you want to do that? Let me tell
you something. I understand, I believe, the
burden of the work of the ministry. I believe I know something about
the demands it has upon a man's life, his heart, his family. I believe I know something about
the pain that comes with the work of the ministry. But gospel
preaching, This is the highest of all callings. I'm like Moses,
would to God all the Lord's people were prophets. Oh my, would to God he might
be pleased to call out some of you young men, maybe some of
you older men to preach the gospel of his free grace. The highest
honor God could ever put on you. Highest honor God could ever
put on you. to put you into the ministry. I wouldn't trade places with
anybody in the world. Not with anybody in the world. This is a true saying. If a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. But Brother Don, why are you
preaching this message to us? I know I'm talking to a local
church. I know that I'm not preaching to a group of preachers. But
I'll give you three reasons for this message. It's my prayer
that God may be pleased to call some of you to the work of the
gospel ministry. I wouldn't put pressure on you
for anything. I wouldn't attempt to make you
what God doesn't make you. But if God would be pleased to
call you to this work, I want to be of help. I know the time is soon coming
when you will be required to look for a pastor. I'm not planning to retire. That's
not an option with me. As long as God gives me strength
to do what I'm doing, I'm going to do what I do. But soon, I'm
going to be gone. And you need to know what to
look for, what to expect in a pastor. and what you yourself ought to
do in assisting a pastor in the work God's given him. I said
this to Lindsay this morning when he first came in. He's usually
the second one here. I said, don't forget this and
don't let the men in this congregation forget it. When I'm gone, don't
presume you are sufficient in yourselves to look for a pastor. The fact is, Dave, you don't
know these men. You don't know them. You only
know them when they come here and preach or you go here and
preach. You don't know them. You don't know what to look for
as far as the various men and their personal lives and so forth.
Seek the help of one good, faithful, proven man. Just one. Why just one? Because if you
seek the help of two, Mark, if you seek the advice of two people
about anything, or three, or four, or five, you go, well,
I like what he said there and what he said there. I didn't
like what he said. I like what he said. And you pick and choose
and do what you want to anyway. You seek the direction of one
proven, faithful man to help you find the man God has for
you to preach the gospel of his grace to you. Preachers know
each other, and they know who might be best suited for another
place. And they'll help you if you ask.
But most of them have enough sense not to interfere if you
don't ask. And third, I want you, each of you, to understand
as much as you can about the work of the ministry so that
you can know how to pray for and assist me, our missionaries,
other churches, other gospel preachers in the work of the
ministry. those whom God has chosen to
be his servants, those preachers, those local churches to whom
God has entrusted the gospel of his grace. Oh my, what a trust. We have this treasure, the treasure
of the gospel of God's grace in these earthen vessels. God
has given to our trust the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Imagine, just imagine. Some of
the folks in the Church of Sylacauga are here with us this morning.
And you, most of y'all have never been there. Sylacauga, I'm going
to guess, is considerably smaller than Danville. And that's small. And it's out of the way place,
about 35 miles down below Birmingham. It's a small group of people. Just a small group of people.
And there's a band of believers to whom God has entrusted the
gospel for three generations. What a trust. What a trust. I want you, who are gods, to
know how to labor together with God's servants in the preaching
of the gospel. I don't pretend to have all the
answers and I don't pretend to know how to settle all the problems
and difficulties that arise for those men who desire the work
of the ministry. I know this. No man can tell
another man what the will of God is for him. Only God the
Holy Spirit can do that and direct you in his will. But I'm not
a novice. I've been at this business of
preaching the gospel for 44 years. I know something about it, so
I hope you'll listen. The work of the gospel, of preaching
the gospel, is not a career a man chooses. The work of preaching
the gospel is not a career a man chooses. but a gift God bestows. It's not an occupation of life,
but a way of life. I say to my dear friend, Brother
Larry, it's not an occupation of life, but a way of life. I say to any who aspire to this
great work, it is not an occupation, It is a way of life, an all-consuming
way of life. And if you're not prepared for
that, go sell insurance, pump gas, or teach nuclear physics,
or become president of the United States. Something less. Something less. Now, I want to
show you four things this morning with regard to this business
of preaching the gospel. Number one. I want you to see
first and foremost that this is the work of the whole church. It is the work of a whole assembly. This is not my ministry, but
ours. It is not my labor, but ours
is not my task, but ours as a body of believers to whom God has
trusted the gospel of his grace. It's not a one man show. One
man is, by God's appointment and ordination, the pastor. That
means that one man is responsible for the sailing of the ship.
One man's responsible for the direct, to direct the course
and the ministry of the local church, to keep the church faithful
to the word of God, to keep the church doing God's work. But
the work of the ministry is not one man's work. as the work of
the ministry and the work of a local church has been compared
to the battleship in time of war. The captain, the pastor,
is responsible for the ship. He's in charge, he's responsible,
he knows it, and everyone else knows it. But the captain can't
do the work of the crew. Even so, the ministry of the
gospel is the work of the entire body of Christ. Turn over to
Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah 43. I want you to see
this. Every believer is a missionary. Every believer is a missionary.
We support missionaries. Brother Cody Groover and his
wife, Winna, will be with us later on this month. We support
missionaries sent out to preach the gospel in foreign lands.
They're described in the New Testament as evangelists. Men
who are sent of God and gifted of God for the establishing of
gospel churches, preaching the gospel in other places. An evangelist,
in the New Testament sense of the word, is not a man who travels
from church to church and preaches and holds revival meetings, as
folks call it. An evangelist is a missionary.
But you and I, all of us, are missionaries. Men and women with
a mission. With a purpose in life. What
is that purpose? It is to be his witnesses. Over
and over and over again, our Lord tells us, you, you who are
redeemed by my blood, you who are called by my grace, you who
are saved by my mercy, you who are kept in my hands, you who
are the apple of my eye, you're my witnesses. My witnesses. The fact is, There are multitudes
who only know of God what you tell them. Hey, Brad, do you understand
that? There are folks in your contact, week by week, through
the years of your life, nobody will ever see who knows God but
you. Oh, I never thought of it that
way. It's high time you did. You have
a mission. You're my witnesses. Isaiah 43
verse 10. Ye are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and
believe me and understand that I am he. You're my witnesses. My servants whom I've chosen,
I've chosen that you may know and understand that I'm God,
but you don't. Before me, there was no God formed. Neither shall there be after
me. I, even I, am the Lord. Beside
me, there is no Savior. I have declared and have saved
and have showed when there was no strange God among you. Therefore,
ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Turn over page chapter 44, Isaiah
44 verse 8. Fear ye not, neither be afraid.
Have not I told thee from that time and have declared it? Ye
are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea,
there is no God I know not any now turn over to John chapter
20 John chapter 20 The risen Christ here appears to
his disciples He says in verse 21 Then said Jesus unto them
again peace be unto you as My father hath sent me Even so,
send I you. What? Why did the Father send
Christ into this world? Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. The triune God sent the incarnate
Christ into this world for the purpose of saving His people.
And Bill Raleigh, he says right here, that's how I send you.
We're here as his witnesses. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. This is the work of the whole
congregation. It really shouldn't matter to
us who preaches. We're here as God's servants.
Our business, our responsibility is to proclaim his gospel, to
serve the cause of his will in the place where he's put us,
with the means he's given us and the opportunities and doors
he's set before us. I hope you're asking, well, Brother
Don, what can I do? What can I do? I'll tell you what to do. Are
you listening to me, young and old? Men and women, are you listening
to me? Don't wait for anybody to do
anything. Don't ever wait for somebody
else to do something. Whatever you see that you can
do, you have the opportunity to do, do it. Whatever you can
do. Whatever you can do. I can't
sing. No, you can sweep the porch off, can't you? I can't preach. Well, no, but you can paint,
can't you? I can't preach. You can go to the hospital and
visit somebody sick, can't you? I can't preach. You can go see
somebody who's just a little lonely and spend a little time
with them, can't you? Do what you can do. Do whatever you can
do to help along the cause of Christ. Devote yourself to the
business of Christ Jesus in this world. Our Lord took that woman in Mark
chapter 14 who brought that alabaster box in. Can you imagine doing
anything that appeared to be less appreciated and less significant? She came in with a box of rich
ointment and she knelt down at the Savior's feet having anointed
him with that costly ointment. It'd be like taking a whole sack
of gold and just spreading it out in the sand. Just spreading it out before
him. Just as if nobody else around,
just spread it out before him. There's a woman, all she had,
all she had, she poured it out on his head. She knew what she
was doing, she did it for him, anointing him for his burial
in preparation and anticipation of that short time when he would
lay down his life in her stead and rise again. And Judas led
the carpet and being fickle things like we are, the disciples all
followed Judas' lead and said, why this waste? Did you ever
see such a thing? Why, just yesterday she was a
harlot. Who does she think she is? Look
what could have been done with that money. And the Lord Jesus
said, you leave her alone. And he said something he never
said about anything anybody else ever did. She hath wrought a
good work on me. You remember what he said, Skip?
She hath done what she could. She hath done what she could. That's all God requires of you.
That's all God requires of me. Do what you can for Christ. Do what you can for Christ. All right, second. The pastoral
office is a good work. A work to be desired. This is what Paul told Timothy
in our text. This is a true saying, if a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. There's not a higher calling
in this world, but I say to any man, don't dare thrust yourself
into the work. Don't do it. If you run without
being sent, you will run in vain and run to trouble. You try to
open a door for yourself, If you get it open, you'll soon
wish you'd never opened it, I promise you. And yet, I would say to
every believing man, this is a work to be desired. It's the
work of preaching the gospel. Those who are called of God to
preach the gospel are privileged to labor in the word. to study doctrine, seeking to
understand God's word and understand God's doctrine, seeking a message
for God's people. And they try in every way possible
to carry the gospel to the generation in which we live. Every faithful
man does. Writes, studies, preaches, corresponds
with folks, answers correspondence all the time, tries to make himself
available to minister to the needs of men. You see, God's
servants are not lazy sluggards. God's servants are not lazy sluggards. They're men with a purpose, with
an agenda. They're men on a mission. with
a mandate from God Almighty. And I promise you, you find a
man who senses whether it's true or not, who just senses that
he has a mandate from God, you needn't to try to stand in his
way. He'll roll over you. It's not going to happen. And
a man who has a mandate from God, go see about him. His name
is Moses, the meekest of all men. And he dares to walk in
to the mightiest king on the earth and tell him what God says
you're going to do. How come? Because he's God's.
And he's got a mission. And he's got a message from God.
And he doesn't back up. And he devotes himself to it.
Look at 1 Timothy chapter 4. Paul writes to Timothy, and he
says to his young friend in the ministry, let no man despise
thy youth, verse 12, but be thou an example of the believers in
word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity,
in what you say, in the way you live. in generosity, in your
spirit, in your attitude about everything, in faith, in purity. Verse 13, till I come give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. What's the preacher
supposed to do? These days he's a social worker,
he's a psychotherapist, he's a counselor, he's a babysitter,
he's a hospital visitor, he's a taxi cab driver, he's a A tea
sipper with old ladies. He's uh, uh, if I could find
any other ridiculous pieces of nonsense preachers are expected
to do. Like June bugs. Some of you folks
don't know what June bugs are. When I was a boy, we didn't have
computer games. We'd go catch those big, ugly
green June bugs and tie a string around them and fly them around.
And that's how we'd entertain ourselves. We'd fly until his
leg fell off and he'd go catch another junebug. That's just
the way most churches do preachers. And deacons and the church have
their rules and regulations and tell them what he can preach
and when he can preach and where he can go and where he can't
go and what his office hours have got to be and how many visits
he's supposed to make every week. And they hold the junebug with
his leg and he doesn't dare do anything else. Not God's servants. They give themselves with diligence
to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. To reading God's
word. To preaching God's word. To understanding the teaching
of God's word. That's the business of the preacher.
I know this day folks talk about pastoring. I've had a fellow
talk to me. I've had several. I've been around
a few times and preachers talk to me about pastoring. Oh, I
really pastored them through that. What are you talking about?
Well, we spent hours in counseling sessions. I said, you did what?
Spent hours telling folks what they ought to do? That's not
pastoring. That's being a busybody. That's
trying to get people to treat you like a priest. I'm not your
priest. I'm not your priest. I do my
counseling three hours every week, right here. Right here. Yeah. Don't you ever have folks
to come? Usually not, but once. How come? Because I tell them
the same thing back there. I tell them right here. And you
know, folks don't want that. Folks come to a preacher because
they want him to tell them something different back out and they normally
do They normally do and if you tell folks the truth and Speak
the truth. You don't have much problem with
him wanting to come for counseling that doesn't have God's servants
are preachers and Preachings done in the study It's done in
the study. You can't preach if you don't
study and Paul urges Timothy to devote himself to this. Look
at 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy 4. He said to Timothy in verse 15
of 1 Timothy, he said, Meditate upon these things, give thyself
wholly to them. Now watch this, verse 1, 2 Timothy
4. I charge thee therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant in season and out
of season. What's that mean? Preach Jesus
Christ crucified everywhere. The office of the bishop is a
good work, a work to be desired because it's the work of preaching
the gospel. And it's a work to be desired
because it's the work, it's a pastoral work. We're referred to as shepherds
of the sheep. shepherds of the sheep. It's my responsibility as a pastor
to feed Christ's sheep, to protect his sheep, to guide his sheep
in the footsteps of the flock, to lead his sheep. Are you beginning to understand
why this is such a good work? The care of the churches, the
care of the souls of men, the care of God's family. Oh, my soul, what an honor. Shelby and I have over the years
had a few folks who would come and ask if we would take the
responsibility of raising their children if something happened
to them. I would never presume to ask that of anyone. I would never desire that of
anyone, but it's the highest honor any man can put on another. Would you take care of my family?
And I've never said no, but anxiously, oh yes, what an honor. Well,
you've only got one child. How are you going to take care
of three or four or five or 20? God will see to it. What an honor. What an honor. The Lord God almighty
trust to his servants, the care of his family. Any man who takes that lightly
has no business pretending to be a preacher or a pastor. And
this is a work to be desired because it's a pastor's work
also to do the work of an evangelist. Paul told Timothy, but watch
thou in all things and do afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist.
Make full proof of thy ministry. What's that mean? That means devote yourself to
this work. Preach the gospel. Addict yourself
to this, to study and to preaching, to study and to preaching. Few
churches, very few churches, have or want a pastor. A pastor is a man who spends
his time in study and in prayer, seeking a message from God, using
every means he has for the benefit of the people under his influence.
I can only speak for myself, I won't speak for others. The
Bible class lessons, the commentaries. Some of you, most of you probably
know, every one of the books that have been published with
my name on them first came to you as Bible class lessons. Every one of them. Every one
of them. Or bulletin articles. I spend
time preparing, seeking from God the need for the hour and
writing the articles and use whatever means I have to minister
to your souls in that regard. Pastors do the work of an evangelist,
preaching the gospel wherever God opens the door, wherever
God opens the door to a few or to many. Some of you have traveled
with me. Most of the places I go preach,
my soul, I've preached to half a dozen or a dozen people. It's
just, why would you go there? They're God's people. Christ
redeemed them. He bought them with his blood.
They're God's people. You go preach to them, care for
them, do what you can to establish churches. Do you have any idea
how many local churches God has allowed this congregation to
have a significant hand in getting started in the last 32 years.
Everywhere, everywhere. And God raises up pastors for
them as he sends pastors after his own heart. All right. Here's the third thing. Only God. Can make a preacher. And put a man into the ministry. I always caution men not to announce
that God's called them to preach. Don't do that. Religion tries
to get you to devote yourself to full-time Christian service.
That's when they give up on everything else for an altar call. Who wants
to devote himself to full-time Christian service as if the rest
of you are just part-time Christians? No, don't do that. Don't do that. Rex Bartley, if God Almighty
should call you or one of your sons or one of your grandsons
to preach the gospel, you'll be preaching. It's just that
simple. And until God puts you in the
ministry, preaching the gospel, God hasn't called you. God hasn't
called you. God's servants are men who are
called and gifted of God to preach the word. An urge to call, an
urge to preach is not a call to preach. Let me show you three
things about this matter of the making of a preacher. Any man
who is called of God to preach the gospel is gifted. Any man who's called of God to
preach the gospel is gifted of God with both a comprehensive
understanding of scripture and the ability to teach the scriptures. Oh, he's such a nice fellow.
That doesn't mean he's a preacher. I like him so good. That doesn't
mean he's a preacher. But he gets along with everybody
so well. That doesn't mean he's a preacher.
He's a good businessman. That doesn't mean he's a preacher.
He's so smart. That doesn't mean he's a preacher.
He's so well educated. That doesn't mean he's a preacher.
Can he preach? Can he preach? God's servants
are gifted with an understanding of the whole revelation of God. I don't mean by that that the
preacher of the gospel understands everything written in this book.
Larry Criss does not understand everything written in this book,
nor does his pastor. No. But we understand the whole
book. I understand what the book's
about. It's about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's about
redemption through His blood. It's about God's salvation in
Jesus Christ. And the preacher is gifted to
declare that message to men. I recall years ago, I was preaching
up in Dingus, West Virginia, when Brother Hap Yates was still
a pastor. Brother Henry Mahan came over, so Brother Hap asked
him to read scripture. And he was working on his commentary
on Isaiah, and he had just prepared a lesson on Isaiah chapter 50.
And he got up and read the 50th chapter of Isaiah, made some
comments on it, and when service was over, one of the men in the
church in Ashland said to him, said, I don't see how on earth
you got that out of that, and yet when you got done, I could
see it right there. Henry said, that's what you paid me the big
bucks for. The preacher is gifted with understanding
and the ability to communicate the understanding God's given
him. And if a man can't do that, he's not called of God to preach.
Now, I wish everybody, especially preachers who are not gifted
to preach, would hear that. If God hasn't given you the understanding
of Scripture and hasn't given you the ability to communicate
the message of Scripture to others, God hasn't yet called you to
preach. It's just that simple. Read the Word of God. Bishop
must be apt to teach, able to stop the mouths of gainsayers. Able to make fellows just shut
up and wish they hadn't picked that argument. Able to just,
well, I'll go find somebody else to talk to. Stop the mouths of
gainsayers. Any man who doesn't have that
gift isn't called a god. If God calls a man to the work
of the ministry, calls a man to be a pastor, missionary, or
an evangelist, he gives him everything necessary to lead his people
in the worship and service of Christ. Gifts, life's arrangement. A wife who's willing to live
with a preacher and happy. And not many could. I promise
you, not many could. How would you like to have the
leftover attention of your husband rest your life? That's what a preacher's wife
gets. Leftover attention. Leftover care. And she's got to be willing.
And if God gives a man this work of the gospel, He gives him everything
required that he may give himself to the work of the gospel. Here's the third thing. The place
for the training of a preacher is in a local church. I said
to my young friend, Daniel Warter, you're getting ready to go to
college. Find yourself a place where you
worship God. under a pastor and a church of
proven faithfulness and usefulness in the kingdom of God. Get in
his hip pocket. Keep your mouth shut. Serve God
in his church. If a man can't serve God in his
church faithfully, he will not serve God faithfully as a pastor. And if the pastor is worth his
salt, He instructs folks in sound doctrine, giving the best theological
instruction you can get. The best you can get. I call
it shoe leather theology. What I'm talking to you about
this morning are things you can walk around in this world with. The theology you learn in Bible
colleges and seminaries is idealistic theology, the kind of stuff you
discuss and debate in coffee shops and on the stupid internet
theological blogs for folks who don't have anything better to
do. God's servants proclaim the truth
of God with clarity, with boldness and simplicity. And if God's
called you to preach, God's church will recognize your gifts. Long
time before you do. They'll recognize it. They'll
be asking you to preach. They'll be seeking your direction.
And if that's not the case, mark it down. God didn't call you
to preach. All right. Here's the fourth thing. And
I want to spend more time than I can with this. I'll just be
brief. The work of the gospel ministry
is an all-consuming work. All-consuming. Brother Darwin moved a couple
of years ago down to Taylor, Arkansas. And I tell you, when
I was just fully convinced, God's in this, God's going to bless
this. I'll tell you when it was. He quit his job. cashed in his
retirement, sold his house, and took off. Well, God just might honor that.
God just might honor that. Brother Fred Evans and his wife,
both schoolteachers, quit their jobs, moved up to Louisville,
Kentucky, and devote themselves at work. You just watch. You just watch. It's exactly what God's given
you to do. Consumes everything. Everything. The whole of a man's
life. There are multitudes of pastors and evangelists and missionaries
who've never really entered the ministry. Brother Mahan, I've
heard him countless times reciting the words of Brother Ralph Barnard.
He said, one of these days I want to enter into the ministry. And
that sounds strange for somebody who spent their whole life, nearly
their entire adult lives, either studying or preaching or traveling
somewhere to preach. Almost every waking hour of their
entire adult lives. One of these days I'm going to
enter the ministry. What's he talking about? What's he talking
about? The ministry of the gospel is an all-consuming thing. When
Elijah took up Elijah's mantle, He had to lay down every other
occupation. No man that warreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Man goes to war, he cuts his business ties. He depends for everything upon
the folks who sent him. And he commits himself to that
his whole life, literally. An Olympic athlete, good athlete,
so devotes himself to what he's doing that it seems that nothing
else really matters. A few weeks before conference,
I found out our granddaughter, and she's quite an athlete. She's
a soccer player. I brag on Will all the time. Let me brag on
her a little bit. She is a soccer player. She kicked that ball
so much she had to have her toenail taken off. And then I saw her
feet. That girl had got calluses. That
beautiful girl, you ought to see her feet. Got calluses. You look up and say, my soul,
what is that? Oh, that doesn't hurt. That doesn't
hurt. How come? Because she's devoted
to it. She's devoted to it. She practiced
and practiced. Something came up at school and
somebody told her, said, so you'll have to do this. She said, I
had soccer practice that day. She said, be here that day. She
said, we'll have to get somebody else. I'm going to play soccer.
Give yourself to it. That's what I'm talking about.
The man who enters the ministry, who really enters the ministry,
has just that kind of determination and commitment. He who enters the ministry needs
to go some places. Go to Calvary and stay there. Go to Calvary and stay there. I'm determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Larry Chris,
the only issue we have in this world is the gospel of Christ. Not who gets elected president
next time or who gets thrown out. Not who the dog catcher
is for Danville or who the dog catcher is for Sylacauga. I really
just don't much care. I really just don't much care.
The gospel of Christ. You find me something. You find
me something. You find me anything, anything
that compares in worth and I'll devote myself to that. Nothing
else. The preacher, the man who would
enter the ministry has got to go to the cemetery and there he must bury his father
and his mother, his wife and his children and his own life
also. Preacher, the man who enters
the ministry has got to go to the garbage dump and take his
fishing boats and his nets and his heritage and his wealth and
his opportunities and his business and his talents and his desires and his
wants and his pleasures and dump them all in the garbage dump. Man cannot be my disciple unless
he lays down his life. The preacher must go to the cemetery
and there bury everything and to the garbage dump and there
throw everything away except the gospel of God's grace and
glory. And he who enters the ministry
must open an account in the bank of faith. I have an account in the Baker
Faith. It was opened for me by the Son of God Himself. And I
live upon it. And you know what? I have never,
in all these years, found it to run dry. Never have. I know you can't tell it by looking
at me, but I haven't spent many days hungry. Not many. The Lord's always provided. Everything. Everything. Sometimes I get to
doubting that, and that dear lady over there, she'll remind
me. God sends something, she just,
thank you, Lord. He opens the heavens, drops it
in our laps, and there it is. And it's been that way all our lives. You reckon that's going to continue
that way? I suspect. I suspect it will. What you going
to do when you get old? I'm there. And I'm going to do
just what I've been doing. I'm going to study and try to
pray and try to preach and meet every opportunity God gives me
and go everywhere where God will open a door. You see, a man who enters the ministry can't be
anything but a preacher. just to preach it. I recall reading
a biography of a preacher whose doctrine I care nothing for,
W.A. Criswell, the pastor of that huge church in Dallas, Texas,
but he was quite a man in many regards. His grandson said, my
grandfather wouldn't know which end of a baseball bat to use
to hit a ball. He can't play golf, and he's
not a hunter, and not a fisherman. He's not a businessman and not
a politician. He's my grandfather's a preacher. He says that's all
he can do. And he's the best in the world. A preacher is a man who must
be nothing but a preacher. If he tries to be anything else,
he'll be an embarrassment to himself and everybody around
him. But what a preacher he'll be.
His name may be lost in this world, but it will be known in
hell and known in heaven. And that's enough. That's enough. Let my name be
known in hell and be known in heaven, and I care no more. Preachers. I read something by William Grimshaw. I take his words for my own.
He said, when I die, then have my greatest grief and my greatest
joy realized. My greatest grief that I've done
so little for Christ, my greatest joy that he's done so much for
me. Unto me, whom less than the least
of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach to you the
unsearchable riches of Christ. And if God will give that to
you, That's the highest calling in this world and the richest
honor a man can have. Amen.