How are you going with the gospel ministry God has given you?

BISHOP WRITES
with REG PIPER

Sometimes when I think about my ministry I remember a premier being converted, a university mission where they could not find enough counsellors to keep up with people making decisions and many outstanding young men and women deciding for full-time ministry.  More frequently I remember media ridicule, open hostility from town councils and scathing criticism from fellow churchmen.  When I want a realistic view of this ministry I reflect upon 2 Cor 4: 1-6. 

It is all about grace (verse 1)
Paul was a bitter enemy of Christ.  Christ befriended him and gave him the high honour of being an ambassador.  If God will do that then he can convert anyone!  Our sin often appals us but God has delivered us from hell. This should convince us that no one is impossible to convert, our privilege is almost beyond belief and our message is that God loves all.  We should never be discouraged.

It is powerfully appealing.  (2-3)
Some gospel presentations are very imaginative.  Others are pedestrian.  It would be good if there were more of the former and fewer of the latter. However, the real appeal is not to the mind so much as to the conscience.  When we speak of people’s sin, God’s holiness and Christ’s salvation we speak of truths that satisfy the innermost cravings of humanity.  We are not to be manipulative or gospel salesmen.  Truth has its own power and pierces to the centre of people’s being.

It is supernaturally significant. (4-6)
When we are trying to convince people to submit to Jesus and be blessed it is not just a battle for the mind.  Cosmic things are going on here.  The dark forces of the universe are being attacked.  We are opening doors for those who have been imprisoned by Satan.  Any success that we have comes from the God who created the universe and everything in it.  This stuff is cosmic stuff!  This is not a debating exercise. 

It is all about Jesus.  (5)
We do not talk about ideas and most certainly not about ourselves.  We talk about the Preacher without peer, the Doer of miraculous signs, the Crucified Saviour, the Risen Lord and the Coming Judge.  We preach the Christ who will deliver us at the end of the age.

It is all about service.  (5)
While we desperately want people to be converted and enjoy all the blessings of Christ, in the end the results are not our business.  God is the director of this mission and will save his own, the multitudes of them.  What we must do is serve the Lord Jesus and display that service by prayerfully and sacrificially giving ourselves to the salvation of the hearers.  We have no other business.

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