MDWK (stewardship: the under-rower)

All right. Well, I know that the pastor's not here. And I know that you don't know me. So, that can make things a little awkward. It's okay. It's going to be okay. All right? So, I asked the pastor how long you usually go. And he told me to just take my liberty. That's a scary thing. I didn't have the heart to tell him when I go to Serbia, they like to make it worth my while to go down there. So, they give me back-to-back 4-hour sessions at the Bible school. So, I teach for 8 hours. Those poor students. Here's what we're going to do. Is Is that Is it all right if I make a deal with you? Okay. I like to do this a lot of times when I go places to preach. I'll preach until I'm done or until you decide you've heard enough. If you decide you've heard enough and you're ready to receive something from God, if you'll just respond to him, I don't mind stopping. Is that fair? And I don't mind making that deal with you because did you know that happened in the book of Acts? The Bible says, "And while he yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on them that were assembled there. Amen. I believe that we are a church of Acts church. We're a book of Acts church. So, why not let what happened in the book of Acts happen here tonight? Amen. If you need something from God, there's no reason that you can't leave here with it tonight. If you need the Holy Ghost, you can receive the Holy Ghost tonight. If you need healing or deliverance, those are available here tonight. No matter what it is that you need, it is available because Jesus Christ is in this place. Amen. Amen. I don't intend to preach a long time, but I do want to share a little something with you that has been an encouragement to me and I hope that it will help you as well. Amen. If you would, I don't know what you usually do, but would you stand with me for the reading of the word? We're going to go to the writings of Paul in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter number 4. We're going to read the first couple of verses. I believe they're going to put it up on the screen for you. Says this, it says, "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Amen. And I want to preach out of these two verses for just a little while tonight and with the help of the Lord, he's going to help us receive something before we leave this place tonight. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Smile at someone. Act like you're happy to be here. Amen. And God bless you. You may be seated. Amen.

I was studying through the letters of Paul to the New Testament churches a while back. I was preparing to teach a class on the Pauline epistles in our Bible schools in Europe and and there were several verses that caught my attention, but this is one of the verses that really kind of captured my imagination as I was reading through it and as I was studying it. And Paul's writing, he says, "So uh let a man account of us." And And the first thing that caught my attention was this word us. Because the first thing that leapt to my mind was, "Who's the us that he's talking about?" That's a That's a logical question. Maybe some of your Bible scholars you already know the answer and but I had to study. So I went and I started to do some research and and I found out scholars have several different opinions as to who the us could be that they're talking about. There are some scholars that say he could be talking about himself and Peter or himself and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem with James and things like that, but it was very few scholars that believe that. Some say he could be saying, uh "Let a man account of us." And he's speaking of himself and his traveling companions, those that he's traveling with. And And there was a little bit more support for that, but as I was studying it seemed like that the overwhelming majority of people that I read and looked at seemed to think that Paul could have been writing and when he said, "Let a man man account of us." He was speaking to the believers of the church at Corinth. He was speaking and saying, "Hey, let a man account of us, you the believers in the church and and myself." He said, "Let him count all of us as ministers." The ministers of Christ. And I think it's because Paul realized that once we're saved, once we come into this thing with God, God doesn't save us, God doesn't transform our lives simply to sit on a pew in a church. Amen. Our job is not to hold down the seats. Right. I'll let you in on a little secret. I've never been to a church and walked in and seen the pews floating around in midair. They they seem to do a pretty good job themselves of staying where they're put. So, when God saves us, when God delivers us, when God does a work in our life, He does that for a purpose and God has a purpose and a calling for your life. Amen. God has called you to a ministry and to a purpose. It may not be that you're called to to be a preacher and be behind the pulpit. That's okay. Not everyone's called to be a musician or a singer. If you heard me sing, you would understand there's truth in that statement. Not all of us can do that. I'm thankful for those who can, but that's not everybody's calling. It could be that you're called to talk to a colleague at work. It could be that you're called to lead your family or or or to talk to to your neighbors OR YOUR FRIENDS. GOD has a purpose and a reason that you are saved. And that is your ministry, that is your calling, that is your purpose, and you need to find your calling and ministry in Christ, and you need to fulfill that calling because you are called to be faithful to what called God has called you to do. Amen. There's a purpose that He has placed in your life. So, he said, "Let a man account of us as ministers." And so, I began to study and think, was Paul speaking of a specific ministry or or a specific calling that he was talking about here? And so, I began to look into what he's talking about in in 1 Corinthians chapter number 4, and and what I found was this word that he uses that's translated as ministers in our Bible is not the typical word that's translated as ministers in most of the rest of the New Testament. Yeah. Okay? There is a several words that be can be translated as minister in the New Testament. The most frequent Greek word that's translated as minister is the Greek word diakonos. Okay? It's where we get our English word deacon. It's it's the same etymology. It's the same the base word. Okay? But that's not the word that's used here. There's other places that they translate the word doulos. Okay? And this is like a slave or a servant. That's not the word that's used here. But it's a word that's used and it's not used very many other places. It's a Greek word and it the Greek word is hyperetes. Okay? Nobody's running the aisles yet. That's okay. But this is a very specific word and to understand this word we need to understand the context of the world that Paul was living in and the context of the world that Paul was writing to. See, we need to understand that most of the known world was being ruled by Rome. Okay? And Rome was famous for their large armies and and they had a navy and they had all this other stuff and and this word hyperetes was used in a very specific way from what I've studied and what I've learned. I don't claim to be a Greek scholar, but from what I've studied what I found was that this word typically refers to a very specific type of slave. And it's a slave who would serve in a Roman galley ship. Typically on the bottom level of that galley ship and they were the ones who would man the oars and were responsible for rowing the ships. Okay? And so as Paul is writing we kind of kind of got to put our mind how this all would work. See, the thing about being in the bottom part of a galley ship is you can't see where you're going. And it was by the way that they would row that ship, that would give propulsion to the ship. And also by how they would maneuver the oars and things, it would direct the ship. Right? But they couldn't see where they were going. So, the way that this would all work according to what I read was there would be someone there at the front who had an idea or who knew where the ship was supposed to be going. And as they were there, they would either bang a drum or they WOULD CALL OUT, "ROW! ROW! ROW!" AND IT WAS UP TO those people that were manning the oar, they had to keep in cadence with the one who was calling out the orders. And as long as they kept in rhythm and cadence with the one calling out the orders, then the ship would stay on course and ended up where it was supposed to be. But if they would ever get out of cadence, if they would ever get out of rhythm, then the ship could end up off course and end up way far off from where it was intended to be. So,

kind of put this all in our minds here and let's think about what Paul is trying to write to the church at Corinth. Could it be that what he was writing as he's saying this, he says, "Let a man account of us." We're all in this together. We're all all of us, we're simply people in the bottom of a galley ship. Now, it would appear to the outsider that those who are manning the oars, it would look like they're the ones who are actually steering the ship. It would look like they're the ones who are who are getting the ship to where it goes, but he says, "What you got to realize is this, they don't know where they're going." They're not the owners of the ship. They're not really the ones directing the ship. All that they're doing is they're keeping their ears tuned to listen to the one who's in charge saying, "Row. Row. ROW." AND AS LONG AS WE KEEP our ears tuned to the master, then the ship is going to end up where it's it needs to be. See, what we got to understand, could it be we got to recognize it may look like, "Hey, I'm the one with the microphone." It may look like I'm the one leading this service. Where it could like look like it's brother Zach over here. Where it could be pastor. It may look like this is our ship, but I'm going to tell you this isn't my church. This isn't his church. THIS ISN'T EVEN PASTOR'S CHURCH. This is his church. And all that we're doing is we're trying to keep our ears tuned to the master. And whatever he says to do, THAT'S WE'RE JUST TRYING TO FOLLOW his command. WE GOT TO UNDERSTAND THIS ISN'T OUR SHIP. WE'RE SIMPLY STEWARDS. THAT'S WHAT PAUL SAYS, "A STEWARD IS CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL." WHEN HE SAYS, "ROW." I'M GOING TO ROW. AND I GOT TO RECOGNIZE I JUST GOT TO FEEL FORTUNATE. HEY, I'M IN THIS SHIP. I'M JUST GLAD I GOT MY HANDS TO THE OAR. I'M GLAD THAT I CAN ROW. HEY, IT MAY LOOK LIKE WE'RE MOVING THIS SHIP FORWARD, BUT I'M JUST LISTENING for his voice. BECAUSE AS LONG AS I CAN HEAR HIS VOICE, AS LONG AS I CAN HEAR THE VOICE OF THE MASTER, THEN WE'RE GOING TO END UP ALL RIGHT. SEE, THERE'S sometimes you may be going through a trial or a test. You could be GOING THROUGH THAT VALLEY AND IT MAY seem really dark and you may say, "I don't know how I'm going to get to the other side. I don't know where I'm headed. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING up next." I'm here to ENCOURAGE YOU TONIGHT. JUST LISTEN FOR THE voice of the master. Just listen to him. Row. Row. Row. Don't give up. Just keep on listening for HIS VOICE. AS LONG AS YOU'LL STAY FAITHFUL TO HIM, YOU'RE GOING TO END up where you need to be. If you can trust him, he's going to direct your path. Amen. It's easy to get discouraged. Sometimes it feels like you're down in the bottom of that ship and you're rowing, but it feels like you're a hamster on a hamster wheel. Have you ever felt like you're never getting anywhere and it feels like you you you just feels like you're turning the tires and nothing you're not getting anywhere, you're not going anywhere, you're not really accomplishing anything? Maybe that's just me. But sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. Sometimes it's easy to to to to go through these valleys and you wonder is it even worth it. And I'll just go ahead and say it. I'll go ahead and voice it. Sometimes the thoughts even cross our mind, is it even worth it to continue on? Maybe I should just throw in the towel AND GIVE UP. I'M NOT DOING anything anyway. I'm here to tell you tonight, NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO throw in the towel. NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO GIVE UP. Don't give up ON YOUR BIBLE READING. DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR PRAYER LIFE. DON'T GIVE UP ON COMING TO CHURCH. JUST STAY FAITHFUL. JUST KEEP on listening TO THAT VOICE. ROW. ROW. WHEN IT FEELS LIKE IT'S TIME TO GIVE UP, WHEN IT FEELS LIKE IT'S TIME TO THROW IT ALL IN, JUST KEEP ON LISTENING TO THAT VOICE. Because he's going to get you through to the other side. Amen.

We work in a place where sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. Yeah, I'm the missionary, I'm the preacher, yeah, I get all that. But when you're dealing in a country where it's predominantly atheist, and it feels like sometimes you're plowing concrete, and it feels like you preach your guts out and you teach Bible studies and you evangelize and you witness and you come to church and it feels like there's nobody else there. Row. Row. You got to stay faithful because sometimes you don't see what God is doing. You got to stay faithful, you got to keep your hands on the oar, you got to keep on doing what you know is right, you got to keep on listening for THAT VOICE BECAUSE GOD IS WORKING UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE. GOD IS DOING THINGS THAT WE DON'T EVEN SEE AND WE DON'T EVEN RECOGNIZE. AMEN.

We were preparing to come back for this deputation just a few months ago and and we have we've been seeing great things happen. The church is growing like I said, we've had to split the church so that we can fit in our building and and we're doing all of this and and right before we left we we were making a big push, basically trying to get a momentum boost in the church so that way that hopefully that momentum can help carry them while we're here on deputation. Okay, it seems logical. It's a good plan. As I say, sometimes you got to have a plan so that way you've got something you can deviate from. So, we're doing this and and so Easter happened right before we left. It was one of our last big events. So, we started announcing by faith and we started pushing saying, "We want to set our record attendance at our church in Prague on Easter Sunday." That's a noble goal. Right? But, it's got to be about more than just getting people through the door. You want to see lives transformed and changed. So, in conjunction with that, we started announcing by faith, "We're going to set our record attendance and we're going to have baptisms Easter Sunday." Now, I had a little bit of an ace up my sleeve. There was a lady, Sister Irene, we had given been giving Bible studies to and I knew she was about ready to get baptized. So, in my mind, I'm thinking with a little nudge, she'll be ready to get baptized. So, that that's kind of what we were doing. We're announcing, "Set a record attendance and we're going to have baptisms." So, we're making preparations. Easter week comes. Tuesday of Easter week, Irene contacts us. I got good feelings, you know. Irene says, "Hey Pastor, I just wanted to connect with you." Yeah, "How's it going?" She goes, "I just wanted to let you know, my work has called me in for mandatory overtime Sunday. I'm not going to be there." That's a double whammy. She was the one I was counting on to get baptized and I was counting on her to help us set our record attendance. We keep announcing, "We're going to set our record attendance. We're going to have baptism." We're at the church working on Friday. I'm there in blue jeans and a sweatshirt and we're trying to get everything ready and Irene contacts us. Hey pastor, just wanted to touch base. How's it going sister Irene? She goes, you've been announcing about baptisms and things. She was she said, I was really thinking I need to get baptized. I said, I was thinking the same thing. She said, I said, well, were you able to get off work on Sunday? She goes, no, I've still got to work. I said, well, that's okay. We can we can schedule some time to get you baptized. It's not a problem. Whenever you can come to it. She goes, you know, I can't really wait. Are you available today? I said, sure sister Irene. So on a Friday afternoon in blue jeans, we had a baptismal service at the church in Prague. We baptized sister Irene in Jesus' name. When she came up out of the water, she was speaking in other tongues as God filled her with the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes we don't see what God is doing. We're giving a testimony about it Easter Sunday. When we started counting Easter Sunday, we set our record attendance Easter Sunday. At the end of service, we had three more people get baptized in Jesus' name. I'm telling YOU SOMETIMES WE DON'T SEE IT, BUT GOD'S DOING A WORK. AMEN. Zach's been in our building. He's seen it's not that big. We had 60 on Easter Sunday. We were practically sitting on each other's laps. It's a good problem. GOD'S MOVING. GOD'S DOING A WORK, BUT A LOT OF TIMES WE THINK WE KNOW HOW IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. A lot of TIMES WE PUT GOD IN THIS BOX of our expectations and we think this is how it needs to happen. It needs to go this way, but God doesn't always work the way that we think he should. As a matter of In most of the times he doesn't work the way that we think he should.

Let me give you an example. I was invited to preach a a big Holy Ghost explosion type service at a This was not in check. This was in another country. And uh we got all the permits and everything. We were doing this big Holy Ghost explosion crusade in like a city park in a major metropolitan city. And uh it was hot. Like we thought it was hot today, that was nothing compared to what it was that day. Oh, it was hot. Hot hot hot hot hot. Okay. And so I got up it was an outdoor event and I got up and I had preached a short message, turned it over to another minister and he was doing the altar altar service and we did altar service a little different than we typically do them over here. What we did is we went and we got about 50 chairs and lined them up in the altar area facing the platform and there's about 2,500 or close to 3,000 people that had gathered in that park for that service and and we just announced, "If you would like to receive the Holy Ghost, come sit in a chair." Okay, so people started coming from all over. They started running up to the front. Once all the chairs were filled, they started making lines behind the chairs. Okay, the minister doing the altar service, he led them in a prayer of repentance and he said this. He said, "Here's what we're going to do." He said, "I'm going to speak the word of faith and when I speak the word of faith these altar workers are going to lay hands on you and when they lay hands on you, God's going to fill you with the Holy Ghost." Pretty simple, right? We don't have to make the things of God so complicated. If we'll just simply respond to him, he's going to show up. And so he said, "And now by the authority and the power of the word of God, receive ye the Holy Ghost." When he said receive ye the Holy Ghost, we began to lay hands on people and instantly people started getting filled with the Holy Ghost. When they would get the Holy Ghost, we bring them up to the platform, get their name and information so we could connect them with the local church because everybody needs a pastor. Amen. Then we go and pray for the next person in line. They get the Holy Ghost and this process is repeating itself over and over and over. Okay? Well, after a little while, remember I had preached it's hot outside. There's a reason we call it altar work. It's a lot of work. So, I was getting kind of tired. So, I called for reinforcements. I said, "Hey, will you come and pray with my chair?" Okay? And I said, "I'm going to go get a drink of water. Once I get a drink of water, I'll come back and we'll get right back after it." And I said, "Okay." I said, "All right." So, what I did, I went over to the sidewalk area that was overlooking this big park where we were having this crusade. I'm standing there and I'm drinking a bottle of water. As I'm drinking that water, a man comes walking by and he stops and he starts to talk to me. And he says, "Hey, what's going on over there?" I said, "Well, we just had church and people are getting the Holy Ghost." He said, uh "Oh, okay." My faith was really high, all right, because people were getting the Holy Ghost all over the place. So, so I just asked him. I said, "Would you like to receive the Holy Ghost?" Now, it's not supposed to happen that way. He hadn't been to church. He hadn't heard the preaching. I didn't even take him to the altar area. We were standing on the sidewalk in a major metropolitan city. "Would you like to receive the Holy Ghost?" He gave me a really faith-building response, okay? He said, "Sure, why not?" That's good enough for me, right? So So I explained repentance, we prayed a prayer of repentance, and I said, "If you'll just put down your bags, if you'll just lift your hands and begin to worship God, I believe that God is going to fill you with the Holy Ghost." So right there on the sidewalk, he put down his bags, he lifted up his hands, and he began to pray. And within just a few moments, he was filled with the Holy Ghost right there on the sidewalk. Amen. Before we left that afternoon, 256 people were filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost for the very first time. Amen. Amen.

Now, I told you all of that to tell you this. While I was praying with him over on the sidewalk, a friend of mine was way over on the other side of the park praying with somebody that they had carried to the front on a stretcher. It was a young lady. Okay, he had got down on his knees, and he was praying with her. And And when he began to pray with her, she had lifted up her hands, and she was saying, "Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah." And And he got down, and after a while, he started to talk to her as she was praying. He was trying to give her instructions on how to pray because he was really believing that she was going to get the Holy Ghost. And so he was praying, he was giving her instructions, telling her how to pray, maybe some words that she could say, and and and and and how to connect with God. He said, "After a while, he was starting to get pretty frustrated because she wasn't doing anything he was telling her to do." And then it dawned on him. Maybe there's a language barrier. Maybe she doesn't understand what I'm saying. So he stood up, and he started to talk to some of the people that had carried her to the front, and he asked, he said, "Uh does she not understand my language?" He said, "Uh she can receive the Holy Ghost. She just needs some instructions on how to pray and and what to do. And I believe God's going to fill her with the Holy Ghost. And they said, "If she needs a translator, if we need to get somebody that can speak her language, we can find somebody and we can make this happen." And and they said, "You don't understand what's going on." They said, "She had been in an accident a number of years ago. And ever since that accident, she has been completely paralyzed and unable to speak." And the moment you laid hands on her, she instantly threw up her hands and began to say, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" You see, sometimes we don't EVEN RECOGNIZE WHAT GOD IS DOING. SOMETIMES WE PLACE GOD IN THIS BOX of our expectations saying, "This is what's supposed to happen and this is what's supposed to happen." I'm here to tell you tonight, IF WE'LL TAKE GOD OUT OF THAT BOX OF OUR expectation and just BEGIN TO SAY, "GOD, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO DO IT." I'M HERE TO TELL YOU TONIGHT, GOD IS GOING TO SHOW UP AND GOD IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING MIRACULOUS. SEE, often we have in our mind that the only way that God can work is if the right song is playing or if people are swinging from the chandeliers or doing this and doing that. AND I'M NOT AGAINST any of those things. I'm in favor of them. But did you know God doesn't need those things to work? As a matter of fact, sometimes those things are more for us than they are for him. They're creating an atmosphere where our faith can be elevated to the point where we begin to believe that God can do what he already wants to do. All that God really needs to work is someone who's willing to say, "Here I am. Yes, Lord. Whatever you want, however you want to do it." I'm here to tell you tonight, if you'll just say yes to him, I've got enough faith to believe he's going to show up and he's going to do his work.

Would you stand with me all over this place? What is it that you need from God? Do you need the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost is here. Do you need deliverance? Deliverance is here. Do you need healing? Healing is here. Whatever it is that you need, just take God out of that box of your expectation and say, "Here I am, Lord." And when you begin to respond to him, he's going to show up. Because that's what he does. That's what he does. So, we're going to make it pretty simple. I'm not going to make it complicated. We don't have to make it complicated. I'm going to begin to pray and as I begin to pray, these altars are going to open up. The musicians, I think they're coming and they'll begin to play and they'll begin to sing and they're going to help create an atmosphere. But really, all that God needs is you to say, "Here I am." If you'll have the courage to respond to him, I have enough faith to believe he's going to show up. Amen. Do you believe it?

In Jesus name, Lord, right now, I feel your presence and your spirit in this place. And Lord, I believe that you want to do a work in this house tonight. Lord, you see the needs, you see the situations. And Lord, right now, as people begin to respond to you, Lord, I pray right now that you would allow your Holy Ghost power and anointing to rain down in this place. Lord, let your spirit touch. Lord, you see each need, you see each situation. Lord, I pray that you'd give us the courage to respond to what you want to do in this place tonight. Lord, help us to take you out of that box of our expectation and allow you to do your work in this place. Lord, our expectation and our hope is in you. And so, Lord, tonight we say yes to you. Lord, whatever you want to do, however it is that you want to do it, God, We're available to you. Let your spirit be rained down in this place. Let your Holy Ghost power and anointing fall upon each and every one of us. Allow your perfect will to be accomplished in this place tonight. We thank you for it and we praise you for it. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray. Amen and amen.

Would you begin to worship him right now? Would you begin to call upon the name of Jesus? As they begin to play and sing, would you just lift your voice, lift your hands, and allow the Holy Ghost to rain down in this place? Just keep on rowing. Just stay faithful to him. When you don't know what else to do, row. Row. ROW. YOU MAY NOT SEE THE OTHER SIDE. YOU MAY BE going through a valley. Just row. Row. ROW BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT GOD IS DOING. YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE GOD MAY be taking your life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.