talking about their work of faith
and their labor of love and their patience in the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 2, turns to himself
and his fellow ministers. I don't know why I'm preaching
this message tonight. God knows. I felt impressed to
bring the one that I brought this morning. And after I finished
it, I started reading chapter 2. I finished preparing the message. I started reading chapter 2 and
I thought, well, I believe I'll preach on chapter 2 Sunday evening.
But these tapes, I preach these messages here. More people hear
these messages by tape than hear them in person. They go all over
the world. And who knows what the Lord may
accomplish through this message. I'll preach it. He may bless
somebody here in particular, and then it may be some preacher
riding down the highway will get a blessing or in his study. Maybe someone will be helped.
I do know before we learn very much about the ministry, Brother
Barnard used to say, some of these days I'm going to enter
the ministry. I think he said that until he
was about 65 and died. But like all people, ministers
get old too soon and smart too late, don't we? Brother Walter, Brother Milton
and I were talking last week, and Jack Shanks and Charlie, about how foolish we are when
we begin, how foolish we are. We're fools at the end, too,
but not quite as big a fool as we were to start with. I got up in Mexico one night
to preach and I looked at Jack and I said, our combined age
is 121 years. Looks like one of us would know
something. But you do have to get a little
bit older before some of these things, before they crystallize
in your mind, before you learn and then you're able to pass
it along to others in the hope that they'll learn. Let's read
the first eight verses. For yourselves, brethren, know
our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain. But even
after that we had suffered before and were shamefully, shamefully
entreated, as you know at Philippi. put in prison there, you remember?
Beaten and put in prison, that's where they had the earthquake.
We were bold in our God, bold in our God, to speak unto you
the gospel of God with much contention, contending, earnestly contending
for the faith once delivered to the saint. For our exhortation
was not of deceit, hypocrisy, nor of uncleanness, bad motive,
knowing guile, But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust
with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God
which tried, who knows, who searches the heart. For neither at any
time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness. God is my witness. nor of men
sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others. When we might
have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ, men with
authority, we might have used pressure, but we were gentle
among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. So being affectionately
desirous of you, We were willing to have imparted unto you not
the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were
dear unto us." Now, what a comfort when we come to the shady side
of life. What a comfort to a minister
of the gospel. And I do not know of a greater
goal. What a comfort to a minister of the gospel to have his own
conscience clear in this matter of preaching the gospel. Paul
said, I have not ceased to warn you. When he came to the end
of his ministry, he said, I have not ceased to warn you with tears.
I've kept back nothing profitable unto you. I have not shunned
whatever the cost to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Isn't that a comfort? When you can come to the end
of the road and your own conscience tells you, I have preached the
gospel of God's redeeming, sovereign, free grace in Christ Jesus. I
have not compromised the principles of the gospel. And what a comfort
when the testimony of others, like Brother Charlie Payne was
down in the hospital in New Orleans ten years ago. And he's having
a very difficult time. In fact, the doctor even despaired
of his recovery. But he made this statement to
someone, to Phyllis, I believe. He said, you tell Henry that
he told me the truth. The gospel he preaches will do
to die by. Is that right, Charlie? Now,
that's a comfort. The gospel he preaches will not
only live to argue by, and to prove your point, but when you're
by yourself, in the room, and the doctor says you might not
make it, there's nobody but you and God, it'll do to die by. Now that's a comfort. What an
encouragement. And what a joy and rejoicing,
and I want to call your attention to a special verse here, what
a joy and rejoicing to see God actually, actually, And we don't
have to, we don't have to put on a charade, we don't have to
count fruit that's not fruit. What a joy to see God produce
fruit under the preaching of the gospel. My, what a joy that
God actually bring forth. And as I look out over this congregation,
I see people who have been delivered from the bondage of false religion. have been brought into a knowledge
of Christ. I see people who have been brought
out from under the bondage and captivity of sin into the liberty
of Christ, into the joy of Christ. That's the fruit of the ministry.
That's the fruit of faithful preaching of the gospel. And
that's what he's saying. I want you to look now at verse
19. He said, what is our hope? What is our hope? Now he's not
talking about his hope in Christ, the living hope, the good hope
through grace. He's talking about what is my
hope. What is my hope for you? For the gospel I preach. What
is my joy? What is my crown of triumph?
My crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye? Are not you
my joy? Are not you my hope and my rejoicing? The fruits of this ministry,
you are my joy, my hope, my crown of triumph. Are not you in the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? You are our glory
and our joy. You are. Now Paul had no use
for monuments. What good is a monument with
a man's name on it? Paul had no use for trophies
to put in a trophy case. Paul had no use for little crowns. I hear these preachers talk about
crowns. Paul wasn't interested in crowns
and rewards. Those who loved Christ, they
were his joy. They were his crown of rejoicing.
They were his glory. That's what it said. What is
my hope? The hope of my ministry, the hope of what I've done all
these years, he said. What is my joy? What is my crown
of triumph? You know, I think about that
servant of Abraham's. He called his servant, and Abraham
is the lord of the matter of the household. And he called
his servant and he said, now I don't want my son to marry
one of these heathens where we're living. I want you to go back
to my country and find a bride for my son. That's your orders. That's what you do. This man
is a servant. He was given a special commission
and a special task, but he's still a servant. That's all.
So he went down to Abraham's country. And you know the story
in Genesis 24. He found Rebekah. Found Rebekah
and told her all about his master. All about his master. And so
she agreed to go back and marry Isaac. She said, he said, my
master, is a great man. My master is a wealthy man. My
master is a kind and compassionate man. And you'll be happy with
my master." And so she consented to go with him. And they were
coming back, and the servant had fulfilled his task, and he
was riding alongside Rebecca. She was on the camel. And they
looked up, and Isaac had gone out in the afternoon, what for,
Paul, to just meditate or something. Anyway, he saw them coming. And she saw Isaac, and she turned
to the servant, said, who is that man? And I think that's
the last thing he said to her. He said, that's my master. And
she got off that camel, and she ran to Isaac and embraced him. And he took her into his mother's
tent and loved her. And they were married. And you
don't ever hear anything else about the servant. But you hear
a lot about Rebecca and Isaac. But you know that man, what I'm
illustrating here, what Paul is saying, he never was anything
but a servant. He wasn't the master. Abraham
and Isaac were the master. Abraham was the master and Isaac
was his son. The glory is the son. And that servant, he made
a long trip. Now it wasn't easy. It was a
trip of affliction and infirmities and he was busy about his work
and he found that bride. And he carefully took care of
her on the dangerous trip back. He protected her and watched
after her and talked about Isaac and all that. But once she saw
Isaac, she didn't need him anymore. No more. And you know, he just
backed off. And he stood there and smiled
while she went in Isaac's tent. His work was done, Charlie. And
he turned faded off into the sunset. That's right. But what was his joy? Rebekah
and Isaac. That was his job. What was his
crown? Surely Abraham came out and crowned him. No. Surely Abraham
will double his wages. No. His joy and delight was the
happiness of his master and that bride. And he just backed up.
And that's what Paul's talking about here. And these preachers
always talking about crowns and rewards and all this foolishness
If they ever found out the joy of Christ and His bride, they
wouldn't be concerned about those things. That's our joy. That's
my joy, to see you come to embrace and love and know Christ, and
we can just back off in the shadows and let you enjoy His presence.
That's right. Down there where Charlie talked about San Rafael,
that's up there in the mountains where we went to preach last
Saturday night and Sunday. attendance and interest. Well,
there was a family there that has been attending up there a
couple of years now. They're three brothers and two
sisters and a brother-in-law. And they've made up a little
singing group. They all come from a family and a home. They
ride a few miles. I don't know how far, but they
come from a home. They all look like they're in
their 20s. 19, 20, 25, in that age bracket. But to come from a strict Catholic
family, the father is. The mother is open to the gospel. And has three brothers, two sisters,
and a brother-in-law. And they've made up a little
singing group. That's the group that welcomed us that night.
The boys spoke and gave us a welcome. Their father, they went to their
father. They have great respect for their father. And they went
to their father, who is a staunch, strict Catholic. And they told
their father they were interested in this gospel that Milton Howard
was preaching. And they wanted his permission
to go and hear Mr. Howard. And you know what the
father said? He said, you have my permission on one condition. Don't play at it. If it's real,
if you believe it, give your life to it. But don't play games. That's exactly what that old
man said. Don't play games. Don't you come back here and
go somewhere else. You go there and learn what the
man's saying. That's what he said. And they've
been faithful all this time. And so I came out of the building
after I'd preached Saturday night. I came out of the building. And
this young man, the spokesman for the group, tall young man
with a mustache in his early 20s, he turned to Brother Milton. He said, I want to talk to that
man. And so Milton said, Henry, come over. He wants to talk to
you and I'll translate for you. So I said, yes, what is it? He
said to me, I jotted down here what he said. He said to me,
thank you for coming and thank Brother Milton for coming to
preach the gospel to us. I want to be baptized and confess
Jesus Christ. And next time you come, to preach
for us, I will have been baptized and confessed Jesus Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? That's worth going. That's worth
whatever it takes from us. And you say, isn't that a delight? That's the delight of my soul.
And that's what Paul's talking about. That's my joy. That will
fill me up for a long time to come. That's enough. That's sufficient. Once you experience
this, of taking the gospel to someone, and God blessing it,
and bringing forth fruit, that's your joy, that's what he's saying
here, what is my hope? What's your ambition, preacher?
What are you trying to do? What's your goal and objective
and your joy and your crown of triumph? You are. You are. And I'll tell you, when you're
in the arms of our bridegroom, And you find in Him such delight
of soul. That's my joy and my crown of
rejoicing. And I believe God has given me
the grace. He will if we're His true servants
to back off, to back off and find our joy in that. Is that
right, Tom? Find it right there. Alright, let's look at verse
1 a moment. There are two or three statements here I want
to deal with for a moment. He says, for yourselves brethren
know our entrance in unto you it was not in vain. It never
is. Now it never is. I'm telling you this. When and
where the true gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit
where Christ Jesus is exalted in his substitutionary work.
I'm not talking about preaching the doctrine. I'm talking about
preaching the doctrine of Christ. Where Christ is preached, where
He is lifted up, exalted, magnified, like you fellas did while I was
gone. I tell you, I was so delighted. Christ our peace, Christ our
Sabbath, and Christ our hiding place. You couldn't have three
better subjects than that. And where Christ is preached
faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit, we never run in
vain. No sir, Paul said, thanks be
unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now, if
we've got our message, and we've got our ambition, we're going
to fail, and we ought to fail. But if we've got His glory at
heart, and His message, and the power of His Spirit, we cannot
fail. Oh, it will be the savor of life
unto life, and the savor of death unto death. Some will believe
and some will not believe, but God's purpose will be accomplished.
And God's Son will be glorified, and God's mercy will be magnified,
and God's justice will be vindicated. Not in vain. Or look at verse
2. But even after that we had suffered before. And our suffering is so minute
today. A little bit of difficulties
we encounter are so small. None of us have resisted under
blood. What's a little harassment? It's just nothing at all. But Paul knew what suffering.
He said, I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. I don't
bear any marks. Maybe it would be good if we
could. Somebody said if they were sending everybody to prison
who was a real Christian, would you be convicted? That's a good question, isn't
it? But he said even where we suffered, as you know at Philippi,
we were bold in our God. Now here's two or three points
I want to make here to the preachers. Notice, he said, we were bold
in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. Our boldness is not in our intellect. Our boldness is not in our experience. Our boldness is not in our wisdom. Our boldness is not in our credentials. Our boldness is not in our backing. Our boldness is in our God. Now,
if you know God, you can be bold. because he's able. He's able
to do all that he promised to do. And our boldness is in our
God to speak unto you the gospel. My brother-in-law was here visiting
a few weeks ago. And he listened very carefully
to a message I brought home Wednesday night here to this congregation. And when we went home from the
service, he asked me a question, very interesting. He said, how do you get away
with saying what you say? I preached quite frankly and
boldly that night, some of you remember, the gospel of God's
free and sovereign, elective, predestinating, persevering,
preserving grace. He said, how do you get away
with it? I said, what do you mean? He said, don't the Baptists object
to you saying those things? I said, well, no. because I don't
belong to any Baptist organization." He said, this church does not
belong to any, is not affiliated with any Baptist organization
that has some restraints on what you say. None at all. Now a preacher and a church put
themselves in a precarious position when they submit to any kind
of organization that will keep them from being what? Bold in
their God. Don't ever join anything. I say
that to the preachers, I say that to this congregation. Don't
ever join anything. Don't ever be a part of any organization
whether there are any rules or restrictions on your freedom
to be bold in your God. Bold in your God. But we were
bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel with much contention. That is much zeal and much dedication
contending for the gospel we will not, we must not, we cannot
compromise the gospel. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. Hall didn't say woe is unto me
if I preach not, he said woe is unto me if I preach not the
gospel. I don't have to preach, but if I preach I have to preach
the gospel. God sent me to preach the gospel.
I'm determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.
And some people say, well, kind of cover it up a little
bit. Take the edge off of it. You
take the edge off of it, you take the offense out of it, and
take the offense out of it, you take the power out of it. You
see, this gospel has got to strip a proud sinner. This gospel has
to humble a proud sinner. It has to bring us down down,
down. This gospel has to exalt and
magnify the power of God. There's only one way to say God's
on the throne, and that's saying He's on the throne. There's only
one way to describe where we are, and that's describe it.
Now, you don't have to do it like Milton did it the other night.
And some of these people are laughing because they heard me
in my classes. Well, I'll tell it again. I was
preaching in Julian, and or one of those places. Anyway, I got
to talking about how God lifted the beggar from the dunghill.
I said, that's where we are, just on the dunghill. That's
where we are, in the dunghill. And God lifted us and washed
us from the dunghill. On the way home that night, I
turned to Milton and I said, how did you translate that dunghill?
And Walter started laughing. I said, what did he say, Walter? He said he lifted us from the
manure pile, but he didn't say manure. You can get away with that in
Mexico. But there's just one way to say that, and that's say
it, isn't it? That's where we are, and that's what we are.
And you've got to preach it plain. We were bold, he said, bold in
our God, bold in our God, to speak unto you the gospel of
God. Whose gospel? God's gospel. And
his gospel is a gospel of grace and glory. His gospel is a gospel
concerning his Son. His gospel is a gospel of an
effectual substitution. That's his gospel. Alright, now
watch verse 3. How could he be so bold? Well,
bold in his God, but look at verse 3. For our preaching, yes,
the reason we're so bold is because our preaching of the gospel of
God does not come from an improper selfish motive. In other words,
our preaching was not of deceit. Not of deceit. Our design is
not to win you to ourselves. Our design is not to profit by
you in any way. Our design is not of deceit,
guile, or hypocrisy. It is that you may know Christ.
God is my witness. Paul said, that's my design,
that you may know Christ. I come your way. I visit you. I cross your path. I go my way. And Paul said, I credit nothing
of you or from you except to leave you rejoicing in Christ. Now, you can be bold if that's
your objective. If that's not your objective,
if you've got some hidden goal or hidden motive, if you're going
to use people, if you pivot what they have, if you're going to
use them in any way, then you're not going to be bold. Now, I
hear a lot of preachers say, well, I believe what you believe,
but I just can't preach it. You can't preach it because you've
got another goal or motive than the glory of God. And that's
the only reason why you can't preach it. And that's what Paul is saying
here. He's saying we were bold in our God to speak the gospel
with much contention, much conflict, because our exhortation was not
a deceit. I have no hidden motive, he said.
I have no unclean purpose. I have no guile. It's the glory
of Christ. You see that? And if that's your
goal, if that's the preacher or teacher or witness or whatever
he's doing, if that's your goal, then you can be bold. You don't have to compromise.
Now here are six things that I want to bring out in closing,
starting with verse 4. He says here in verse 4, but
as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel,
We are stewards of God. And do you know something? We've
been entrusted with the gospel. God's put His glorious gospel.
What would you say is the chief glory of God? What would you
say is nearest and dearest to the heart of God? Well, I would
say the person and work of His Son. And we who preach, God has
literally entrusted us with the glorious gospel of the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine, John, such a
responsibility? Two or three weeks ago, Bob and
Becky went to Florida for a little vacation and left us their two
children. Darcy and I had their two children
for a week. Now that's a lot of trust, isn't
it? And I take it seriously. I would guard them and protect
them with my life. If anyone were to accost them
or threaten to hurt them, I'd step in front of them and die
for them. I believe I would. I'm just sure I would. Would
I do any less for this gospel? It's far more precious than those
children to God. Now, I'm serious. And that's
the reason I don't understand a man who has been given the
mantle, who has been called by a church, who says he's sent
by God, to have a double tongue when it comes to the gospel.
I do not understand that. It may be he doesn't know it.
It may be he doesn't know the God of glory now. You say, well,
sure he knows the Lord. I don't know. Judah stayed with
him three and a half years and didn't know it. I've been trusted, he said, with
the gospel. Trusted with the gospel. Dare
I preach anything but the gospel? And I want that impact. I want
it to make an impact on us. I want us to realize what we're
dealing with and dealing in. We're dealing with the gospel
of God's glory and we're dealing in men's souls. And I'm going
to tell the truth. Oh, that's what he says here.
And then notice the next line. Not as pleasing men, But God
who tries or searches our hearts. We speak not as pleasingly. Now,
it's not enjoyable to be contrary to the majority. It's difficult
to be despised, especially by people that don't even know you.
I went to a Bible conference not so awful long ago. Well,
St. Lucia. And when I got there,
Brother Dan Park said, well, we thought a certain preacher
was coming, a certain missionary preacher was coming, but he found
out that you and Don Portner were coming, and he wouldn't
come. He didn't like you. I said, you know, that's the
strangest thing. I have never, ever met that man
in my life. Not one time. He has never heard
me preach. Never. And yet despises me. Now
you think, that's not good. That hurts. It just hurts. It's difficult to be despised,
but I tell you this. If we please men, we're not the
servants of Christ. Now, we must not seek to please
men. Now, let me say this kindly. God said if you be buffeted for
your own faults, you have no blessing. But if you're buffeted
and despised for the gospel, now that's different. Let's be,
let's be good servants of Christ. Let's be gracious and affectionate
servants of Christ. And if there is, there's enough
offense to the gospel without us being offensive. You know,
there's a way to, I tell you, I believe we ought to preach
the gospel as we expected everybody to believe it. I don't believe
I ought to get up here and say, now I know none of you are going
to believe this, but I'm going to preach it. That's like the boy selling
a magazine knocked on the door and the lady came to him and
said, you don't want to buy a magazine, do you? But it's God's Word, why shouldn't
we expect people to believe? Everybody. I'm surprised when
people don't. And let's not get mad at folks
because there's a time we didn't believe it. You want to remember
when you stand up here to preach, and some of you fathers especially,
John, Paul, Charlie, you were a tongues-talking, shouting Pentecostal
one time, weren't you? God had mercy on you. So let's
don't get mad at the tongues-talking, shouting Pentecostal. God may
have mercy on him. Let's remember where we were
and what we were and where God found us. You know, Spurgeon
said one time, if you're in the pit with a bunch of blind men,
and a fellow comes along and lets you out and gives you sight,
You shouldn't stand on the edge of the pit condemning those that
are still in there. And that's good advice, isn't
it? Good advice. Not as pleasing men, but God
who tries our hearts, but not agitating men. I wish I had learned
this a long time ago. All right, the fourth thing here,
the third thing, watch this first part. And neither at any time
use we flattering words. Yeah, I tell you, when folks
come along, flattering folks, they have a reason for it, don't
they? We must not use flattering words. We don't want to be offensive,
but we do not want to use flattering words. Now watch this next line.
As you know in our cloak of covetousness, God is my witness, flattering
words and smooth talk Flattering words and smooth talk usually
is a veneer or covering of a covetous heart. That's right. In other
words, if a man has a greedy heart, he comes to you with flattering
words and smooth words and words that appeal to you. Well, he's
got an objective, he's got a motive, and he's after something you
have. And I found this out years ago, and you can trust it to
be so. Turn to Philippians 4.19. And while a man who preaches
the gospel lives by the gospel, and while the church supports
him and his family, nevertheless, it's God who's his primary source
of support, not that church. He's not to compromise and use
flattering words to sustain the support of the people. Because it says here in Philippians
4 and 19, but my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Yes, God will use his people
to meet your need, but it's God who meets your need through his
people. We don't have to use flattering
words, because flattering words are nothing in the world but
a cloak of covetousness. A cloak of covetousness. Now
watch this line here. I'll move quickly. Verse 6, watch
this. Nor of men sought we glory. I tell you this I fear. I fear
for myself and I fear for any preacher. I fear it as much as
I fear anything and I feel it to be a deadly pitfall. Now read
it again. Nor of men sought we glory. neither of you nor yet of others.
What's he talking about? Well, turn to John 5, 44. John
5, 44. You know, if you sing well like Mike
does, and some Bridget and Sonia and some of the rest of you,
John Thompson and all of you sing, play the instruments, If
you have some talent to teach or preach, if you are in front
of the public, if you get some recognition, if you can do these
things and do them well, somebody is going to brag on you. Your
name is going to be in the bulletin, your name is going to be in the
paper, your name is going to be on people's lips. They are
going to say, I like Brother Solis, I like your message and
all these things. There is a danger here. Now look
at John 5.44. How can you believe which receive honor one of another,
and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? Our Lord talked
about giving to be seen of men. He talked about praying to be
seen of men. He talked about giving alms to
be seen of men, and warned of the dangers and pitfalls of it.
But I'll add number four. Preaching to be seen of men. Writing to be seen of men. I picked up a bulletin one time
of a dear brother and had his name in there six times. That's
too many times. That's too many times. Our Lord
said, don't be called rabbi. He'll be called rabbi. Paul said,
I'm not one whit behind the chief apostle, but I'm nothing. Never
lose sight of the fact that we're nothing. No matter what gifts
we have, they're borrowed. No matter what ability we have,
it's borrowed. No matter what talent we have,
it's God-given. And we must suppress any feeling,
any thought, Any desire for any type of recognition, God won't
honor it. God despises it. Pride, he said,
pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before the
fall. God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
We've got the preacher especially has got to constantly Keep this
thing before him that he is nothing in the world but the instrument
in the hand of God that can be laid aside just as easily as
God picked him up. Imagine me picking up a hammer
and performing a task with a hammer. Say, look at me. Well, I can
lay you down and get another hammer. Hammers are easy to come
by. But the hand with the skill is
something else. I'll give you an illustration
of that. We went out to that ranch out in San Rafael that
Charlie talked about. He's going to join me telling
about this. And we drove up the hill and there's that ranch on
the hill. It's a big spread now. He's the
most prosperous coffee grower in that area. He, by Mexican
standards, is a pretty important man. He and his wife. Their daughter's
in London now and all this sort of thing. But they love the gospel. We rode up that hill and there
were those four flags, you know. She had these flags made, put
on four flag poles. There's a Mexican flag, there's
a Texas flag with Milton Howard's name on it, flying over that
rank. And there's a United States flag,
she didn't have all her stars, but it was a good flag. And there
was a Kentucky flag, the blue, the baby blue of Kentucky, whatever
they call it, with everything on it. But in front of that,
across that whole place as long as from that wall to this wall,
wasn't it, Charlie? There was a streamer across up
high, blowing in the wind, letters about 12 to 15 inches high. Welcome,
welcome, welcome. You'll never guess. Henry T. Mann. That's what it said, wasn't it,
Charlie? I didn't even see it when I drove up. Walter took
me by the hand. He said, look at that right there.
Now listen, that's dangerous. Really. I'm serious about this. That's dangerous. And then the
lady had my books in Spanish and wanted me to autograph them.
I tell you, recognition, honor, authority, place. Let's learn what it is. It's
nothing in the world but temporary. It's a responsibility and a job
and a task that we perform, and when we're gone, God will use
somebody else. That's for His glory. And I seriously, I press
that, I push that in here and out there, wherever you are. Who maketh it a different? And
this is serious what I'm talking about. This is so serious. And
I say that to all my preacher brethren, wherever you are. Wherever you are. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas?
Only the instruments God used to accomplish His purpose. And
then the last thing I'll bring out is this. The last thing is
this. In verse 7, we were gentle. I'd like that to be said about
my ministry. I'd like to at least come to
the close of it with that. as one of the credentials or
characteristics, gentle. You know, I read, I couldn't
find it, I was looking for it a while ago, but Paul writing
to Timothy, somewhere told him to treat the women as mothers. You know where that's found.
And the men as fathers. You know how to teach and preach
and discipline and conduct a service or pastor a church? Treat every
woman in there as if she were your mother. Now, you'd be pretty
nice to her then, wouldn't you? You'll pray for her, you'll care
for her, you'll love her, you'll present the gospel to her. She's
your mama. And treat every man as if he
were your father. And you speak firmly and you
speak boldly and confidently and tell them the gospel, but
you speak respectfully. Isn't that correct? We were gentle. Now watch, I'll tell you, I'll
go down to the end of this. We were gentle among you even
as a nurse, nurseth her children." That's a mother feeding her baby.
Now that's how gentle he's talking about he was. As that mother
picks up that little infant and puts him to her breast, and she's
so gentle in being sure that he's getting the right nourishment. So being affectionately desirous
of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel
of God only, but also our own souls. And here's the foundation
of the whole thing. Because you are dear unto me. You're dear unto me. I don't
care whether you're a Sunday school teacher, or a preacher,
or an elder, or a deacon, or a next door neighbor, or what.
If you want to handle the gospel, if that person's really dear
to you, you'll know how to handle it. It'll come easy. See, that's the foundation of
anything that's done in the name of God. Number one, Paul said,
the love of Christ constraineth me. I love Him. Now, that's not
enough. And the other side of that is,
I love you. And if we love Him, we'll love
you. If I love Him, I love you. Well, like I said, whatever God's
pleased to use that for, He, I believe, gave it to me. And
I hope you'll bless it to your prophet.