In this installment of the In Touch Podcast, uncover the foundational truths of effective ministry as Charles Stanley outlines five crucial principles for serving God. From understanding the true source of our service to harnessing spiritual gifts, this episode offers invaluable guidance for those seeking to serve God with the right heart. Explore the delicate balance between humility, devotion, and how divine resources meet human needs through willing hearts.
00:00:01 Introduction and Reflection on Qualification
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, February 12th. Have you ever felt unqualified to serve God? The truth is, Christ works within us to accomplish through us what we could never do on our own.
SPEAKER 01 :
there’s some very basic principles that are absolutely essential to enjoying your relationship to God through Jesus Christ. If you keep these, then things are going to go right. If you violate them, they’re not going right. And so you just have to understand what these principles are. Now, I want to give you five basic principles, five keys here. Every single one of them is important. Here is the bottom line foundational one of all of them. And that is the Ministry or service is not something we do for God, but something God does through us. So I want you to jot that down. True ministry, true service is not something we do for God, but rather something God does through us. That is the basic foundational truth. It is probably the reason, misunderstanding here, is the reason that so many people fail or refuse to serve the Lord because they don’t get this one down. And that is that true ministry, true service is what God does through us, not what we do for God. Now, go back, if you will, to Philippians chapter 2. the second chapter and the 13th verse. He says, “‘Herefore, it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.'” Now, here’s the key. When you and I trust that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, at that moment, the Holy Spirit came in us to indwell us and to abide within us. He came for two specific primary reasons. There are others, but number one, to enable us to become the persons God wants us to be. And secondly, to enable us to do the work God has called us to do. That is to be the kind of servants that he would have us to be. So this verse says, for it is God who is at work in you both to will, that is he’s the one who calls us, he’s the one who gives us the will and the desire, and to work for his good pleasure. So it is our Lord working within us. So principle number one is that as in servanthood, it is not what we do for God, but it’s the work that God does for us. Here’s the second principle, extremely important, basic principle, absolutely a key to enjoying our service for the Lord, to being successful and fruitful in our service for the Lord, whatever it might be. And what is that? Simply this. That is, no matter who is the object of our service, it is the Lord we serve. No matter who is the object of our service, it is the Lord whom we serve. Listen, whatever you do, I don’t care who you are and what you do, you owe it to Jesus. to do your best, whatever that is. You owe it to him because we are serving the living God. When a person doesn’t do their best and don’t try to look their best, they just want to do as little as they can. I’m here to tell you what you don’t realize. You may be working in the secular world, but you are losing divine, godly, heavenly rewards because our Lord anticipates and expects us to do our best because he is the one we’re serving. Whether you’re frying hamburgers or preaching the gospel, it doesn’t make any difference. Not a bit of difference does it make. So principle number one is, it is not what I do for God, but what God does through us. And principle number two is simple. And that is, when you think about your service to the Lord and you think about All the people that you relate to, remember this, you are serving the Lord, Jesus himself. Now, there’s a third principle, and that is this. Very basic key to success in our service to the Lord, and that is that we serve out of our spiritual gift, not out of our natural talent. We serve out of our spiritual gift, not out of our natural talent. Now, let’s distinguish between natural talents and spiritual gifts. Now, I want you to turn to Romans chapter 12 for a moment. Look in Romans chapter 12. beginning in verse 5 of Romans chapter 12. He says, So we, who are many, are one body in Christ. Talking about the church. And individually, members one of another. We relate to each other. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, that is, God doesn’t give us all the same gifts. So in His grace and goodness and love and kindness to you, He gives you this gift or gifts. In someone else, He gives others. He says, Now, here are seven motivational gifts. Look at this. He says there is, notice if you will here, if prophecy according to the proportion of his faith, if service in serving, or he who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, and he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.” Now, if you take these seven motivational gifts and you understand their meaning and how they operate, here’s what you’ll discover, that there is one primary motivational gift that motivates you above all the rest. Now a person can have a gift and exercise it in different ways. There are different ministries and different effects. Mine happens to be exhortation. So what do I live for week after week? I work and study and pray all week long because I am so highly motivated to do what? To exhort you to believe the Word of God, to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to follow Him and obey Him so you’ll get blessed and you will be a valuable servant of God. That’s what I’m all about. I’m not all about anything else. I’m all about exhorting and encouraging you. I’m going to encourage you by heart. That’s why you don’t hear me stand up here and say, I want to talk about the following 49 sins. And every one of them, if you commit them, you die and go into hell. You’re not going to hear me say that. But if I just get up here week after week and name one sin after the other, you’re going to say, well, chalk me up on that one. And after a while, you’re not very interested. But if I encourage you to believe the Word of God, and if I encourage you to put your trust in Him, and if I encourage you that you can walk before Him, that you do have a spiritual gift, the Spirit of God is working in your heart. He can use you. You know what’s going to happen? Something’s going to begin to happen to your thinking about yourself. So… But if I were a prophet, I’d get up here. You know what my emphasis would be? The Bible says without Jesus Christ, you’re hell bound. If you’ve never put your trust in Jesus Christ, you’re going to hell. And I’m telling you, if you don’t want to burn and pop in hell, you better trust Jesus as your savior. Well, it’s not that that’s not true. It’s just that that’s not my gift. I sure am glad it’s not. I’d have a hard time telling somebody that every time. But a person who has the gift of prophets and evangelists, there is a place for them. God called them for that. And there are times we need to be challenged. And so he has placed in the church all of these gifts. And he’s placed them there because when you put all of this together, when we all work together, there’s not anything God cannot do through a fellowship of people when the people who are part of that fellowship are doing what? They are working out of and motivated by the spiritual gift to do what God has called them to do. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 4. I gave you this passage before, and I’ll give it to you probably several times later because it’s such an important gift. This is what Peter says about the whole idea. And you see, as we’ve said before, service is not an option. Serving the Lord is not an option. It is the command of our Lord. Listen to what he says in this passage. First Peter chapter four, he says in verse 10, as each one has received a special gift, employ it, put it to work in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And so how do I serve God? By serving someone else. He says that each one of us has received a gift and he says it is our responsibility to put it to work serving one another. So what you have to ask is, well, Lord, am I gifted? Somebody says, well, you know, God didn’t gift me. Yes, he did. Well, I don’t know what it is. It’s your responsibility to find out. Does that mean if you have the gift of service that you can’t teach? No, it doesn’t mean that at all. And oftentimes, a person with a gift of teaching has a very, very strong servant attitude, willing to help people to learn, willing to do whatever is necessary. So it doesn’t mean that you only have one. Now, there are many other gifts that the Bible speaks of in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, many other gifts. But I do believe there are those seven motivational gifts that are the undercurrent of everything we do. What motivates us? Now, what is the fourth key? The fourth key to our servanthood, that is, if we’re going to be a success at it, is this, and that is, listen, to realize you cannot serve God and yourself at the same time. You cannot do it. You cannot serve God and yourself at the same time. Turn, if you will, to Luke chapter 16, and most of us know this passage, the rich man who went to hell, but there are a lot of other wonderful verses in this passage. Look, if you will, in the 16th chapter and look at the 13th verse, Luke chapter 16, verse 13. And notice what he says. He says, no servant can serve two masters, but either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, despise the other. You can’t serve God in mammon. Now, what he means here primarily, and when he says mammon is money, Now, that’s the context in which he’s talking about. But the truth is you can’t serve God and yourself at the same time. If you’re just serving God just for money, you can’t do that. In other words, if you are a servant to money and wealth, then you can’t be a servant to God at the same time. You can talk it, but it’s not true. Notice what he said. No servant, not some, most, almost, no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other. Look at the contrast. Hate and love, he says, or despise the other and hold to the other. Now, the truth is we cannot. You and I cannot serve ourselves and serve God at the same time. Now, if I’m a servant of the Lord and I’m serving him and there’s a need and you say, would you help us in this area? You say, I have to think about that. Well, listen, I understand you have to think about some things. But you know what? If I’m serving the Lord, I don’t tell him where I’m going to serve. If I’m serving the Lord, I don’t tell him how much I’ll do. And I don’t tell him how long I’ll do it. And I don’t look at my schedule and tell God that it doesn’t fit my schedule. I’m telling you right now, you know, I don’t have people have that kind of boldness to say, well, no, God, it doesn’t fit into my schedule. And so if I’m going to serve the Lord, I know I’m serving him, then I am certainly willing to make whatever adjustments in my life are necessary. If the Lord called me to teach children, then I would say, all right, whatever it takes, I’m willing to learn, willing to make whatever adjustments are necessary of singing the choir. And some of you could sing, some of you can play instruments and you say, well, you know, it’s practicing stuff and all that. Well, let me ask you, who’s running your life anyway? Are you running it or is God running it? If you’re running, and I can tell you, you’re going to run off the cliff one of these days. If God is running it, you know what? You may run in the valley. You may run on the mountaintop, but you’re going to keep on running, and God is going to bless you. Who’s running your life? Whose schedule is this anyway? And I can tell you one thing. I know how for God to take care of your time. He can give you a good dose of something, lay you flat on your back, and then you’ve got all the time God needs. Another issue here is if I’m serving him, I’m going to serve out of a spirit of humility. Now, I’m not talking about some piety. I’m talking about a spirit of humility which says, I’m willing to get down and do whatever is necessary to do whatever the Lord has called me to do. Not self-seeking, not vain glory, not looking for something for myself, not asking the question, what am I going to get out of this? The issue is, if I have a spirit of humility, the issue is, what can I do to serve the Lord? Father, whatever you want me to do, it doesn’t make any difference what it is. I’m not too big or too small to do whatever you call me to do. There’s no such thing as big shots in the kingdom of God. There are no number ones and number twos in the kingdom of God. We’re all on the same level at the cross, because the truth is, we’re all saved by the same grace, the same blood of Jesus. We’re all going to get to heaven the same way, and God’s not going to put a bunch of preachers up in front of the line. We are probably going to be in the back of the line. And here’s the reason. He said, to whom much is given, much is required. And the more you and I know, the more we require. And I think about people who never get their names in the paper, never be on television, never have any of that kind of stuff, who are faithful prayer warriors, who love God, homemakers out there, who are raising godly children and godly wives to their husbands and doing their best and giving of themselves to their family. I’m here to tell you they’re going to be in the front of the line. Because listen, he says, those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first. God is the one who makes those judgments. All we have to do is to be obedient to him in the life that he’s called us to. And that’s what servanthood is all about. And he says we have to clothe ourselves. Look, clothe ourselves with what? Clothe ourselves with humility. Now, I’ll think about it this way. And that does not mean we’re not to compliment people and things like that. But, in fact, Mark Twain said a good compliment will go a long ways. And I think that’s true. And I think we can compliment people, and I think we can encourage them in their life. Humility says that I’m willing to do whatever God wants me to do, where, when, and how, and I’m not going to fret over it. I may not even exactly like it. That’s not the issue. If I’m serving the Lord, it’s going to be evident. Now, if you’re going to serve the Lord based on people’s opinions and on their approval, you’re going to be in a mess. And so I’ll know that I’m serving myself when, listen, when I’m looking for these compliments and when I am basing the ministry on people’s approval. That’s not the way we serve the Lord. We serve the Lord based on commitment, devotion to Jesus. And if we’re committed to Him and devoted to Him, our feelings are not going to be the things that dictate to us. They’re just up and down, up and down, off and on, in and out. Now, we’re to serve the Lord because we love Him, because we’re devoted to Him. You make a decision to serve God, you don’t operate on the basis of whether you feel like it or not. And so, I don’t walk out here on Sunday morning just when I feel like it. And you should not serve the Lord just when you feel like it. It’s a matter of devotion. Who is this God whom I serve? Now, the last principle. Here’s the last principle. I mentioned this to you before, but I’ll make it as a principle today because it is so very important. This is the fifth and the last one. And that is, the fifth principle is that we realize when real ministry takes place. One of the keys to success in servanthood is to realize when does real ministry take place? When divine resources meet human needs through a loving channel, then ministry is taking place. Now watch this. Let’s say that here’s God and he sees you in your need. So what does he do? God doesn’t send it down from heaven. You may need a word of encouragement or you may need something physically. He doesn’t send it to you straight from heaven. What does he do? God, who sees your need, also sees an available person over here. So what does God do? Seeing your need, he moves this person who’s available. And what does that person do? They obey God and they become the channel and God works through that person to get to you and meet your need. So here’s the beautiful triangle by which God operates. God, seeing your need, seeing an available servant, moves the servant and that servant is God’s channel through which the needs are met. That’s the way he operates. Now, the wonderful thing about that is this. He could do it without us. Listen, do you understand that God has gifted us? He’s graced us by putting us in the triangle. Now, there are three things that are very essential to that. First of all. First of all, as the available vessel over here, there are three things that must be true of us. Number one is awareness. I must be aware that God is speaking to me, aware that there is a need here. Secondly, I must be available. Just being aware is not sufficient. Being available says, Lord, I do recognize this need, and Father, what would you have me to do? And God says, here’s what I want you to do. availability. And the third is reliance, relying upon God within me to be able to be that channel by which that need is met. Now, if all of us saw ourselves in that light, Lord, I am a servant of yours. You said that you came among us as one who serves. You also said, as the Father had sent me, Lord Jesus, so send I you. And so all of us are servants. Now, where are we? Don’t forget this. Watch this. Look at this. When you get up on this side as a needy person, don’t you want some available person over here who’s listening to God, who’s aware of your need, who will allow themselves to be the channel through which God gets to you to encourage your heart? Absolutely. Well, listen, every single one of us is important to Almighty God. Now, let me ask you a question. Are you available… To be a servant of the Lord? You say, well, I’m not even a Christian. I understand. So let me ask you this. Then what are you doing with your life if you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Savior? What are you doing with your life? I can tell you. You may be having fun. You may even be getting rich. But you’re wasting your life until you surrender your life to Him and allow Him to work through you to accomplish the purpose for which He called you. He can take your talents and your wealth and your knowledge and experience and turn it into something wonderful for Him. But many of you are believers. Are you available to serve the Lord? Are you willing to say to him, Lord, what will thou have me to do? When, how, where, how much? The answer, Lord, is yes. Are you willing to tell him that? This is the God who said, I’ve written your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I am going to bring you home to heaven. When your heart beats the last time, then I’m going to put you in a grave. you’re going to be in my presence and I’m going to bless you for eternity. We’re going to live together for eternity. You’re going to serve me forever. How can I tell that kind of a loving God who sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to bleed at the cross for me and tell him, no, I couldn’t. And I don’t believe you can with an honest heart.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to part two of The Keys to Success. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
