19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matt 28:19-20 (KJV)
Jesus gave out the greatest commission to go and preach the world to all nations, so it"s a great joy to see you moving forward in your ministry.
I'm glad and opportune to see him as youth Chaplain, Reverend, Teacher and a Friend. I can remember vividly when we will be together in your office 'dismantle THE WORD' in your office.
A man of God that possesses the following qualities,
Good behavior
Hospitable
A good teacher
a great motivator
Gentle
Not quarrelsome
He rule his house well
A prayer warrior
A good listerner
I suspect that there is a hunger in your heart to be used of God not merely occasionally, but consistently. And to be used, not despite yourself, as sometimes happens, but to be used with full acquiescence and acceptance of God's program for you. Doubtless you desire to be used to heal, to make right, to restore, to break down middle walls of participation, to unite that which is shattered and fragmented, to deliver from oppression, from bondage and enslavement, to enlighten and open eyes, to illuminate reality, to dispel mists, illusions and visions, and to empower, enrich, fulfill, and intensify. All these are descriptions of the work God is here to do, and what he will use you to do since you are available to him. It is exactly what God proposes to do with each one you. and thus to be used is what gives meaning and purpose to life.
I am proud to say you are a great learner, learning from your Father-in-Lord The Ven. D. O Adebayo which opens up more of Spiritual maturity, becoming grown up as a Christian, is nothing more nor less than to be made ready for consistent use by the Spirit of God. When you have reached that place it will be marked by certain signs, which are unconsciously revealed to us by the apostle Paul in a well-known passage from the first chapter of Romans:
"I want you to know, brethren, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
It should be quite apparent that the apostle is not drawing a deliberate self-portrait. He does not intend to talk about himself or what kind of a man he is; he is simply breathing out to these Roman Christians, many of whom he has never met, a longstanding desire on his part to come to the capital of the Empire to visit them and to have a ministry among them. But in the process of doing this he unconsciously reveals the qualities of the man or woman that God uses. This we will look at together.
You are familiar with the three common divisions of this text, the three "I am's" of verse 14, 15, and 16. First, "I am under obligation [or as the Old Version puts it, "l am a debtor" both to Greeks and to barbarians." Here the apostle is breathing out his desire to be used to reach others. He is the man for others; he is under compulsion to travel incessantly to reach "both Greeks and barbarians" (or as we would put it in our modern terminology, both the squares and the hippies), "the wise and the foolish " (the eggheads and the hopheads). It does not make any difference what branch of society you are considering, the apostle says, I have a sense of obligation to any of them. I am under compulsion to reach them and to help them and change them. You see the beating of his heart for other people.
So it is in agenda of God for a man of God to move forward in his ministry
Even when things are tough and unfriendly remember,
Faith, mighty faith the promise sees
And looks to God alone:
Laughs as impossibilities
And cries, "It shall be done."
It is power, says the apostle, living power, a living force. It is not some kind of a peace tablet dropped into the heart which gives a momentary comfort. No, no. It is a force that goes to work and keeps on working away, driving you out of yourself, thrusting you on. You can't sleep sometimes because it keeps working on you. You can't run away from it, you can't evade it. It is there, and it keeps pushing and pushing relentlessly, driving you on. It is a living force at work in your life. It is the kind of power that nothing else can equal because it is resurrection power. It works in the midst of death. It works best in a cemetery. If you are living in a cemetery you are a fit candidate for the power of God. Resurrection power works when nothing else will work.
Finally, it is simple in its acceptance. It is by faith. By faith! That's all, by believing, by commitment to it. It comes by a man or a woman saying, "I don't understand everything about it, but I've seen enough to know that it's true---I'll follow it anyway." And they do. That commitment of faith to Jesus Christ is the door by which life is opened.
There we have it. Here is the man God uses consistently, continuously: the man who is confident in the power of God, confident that God is at work, confident that he will be at work in his life. Because this is not just for apostles, it is for everyone. Paul said that he was a pattern for everyone of how this Christian life works. The first note of it is that to become confident God is at work, that he can work, does work, and will work, and that he is quite able to do what nothing else can do.
Second, here is a man who is constrained, moved, and is motivated, not by the need around him but by the face before him---by the love of the Lord Jesus and the expectation of that day when he will stand at last in his presence and all of his life will be in review. I think it is a salutary thing to think often of that moment. I do. What is the Lord going to say about my life when I stand before him? What is he going to say about yours? How much of it has been self-centered, and how much has been risked, ventured, hazarded for his dear sake?
Finally, because of these two things, the man God uses is a man who is committed, who is eager, who says, "Lord, whatever you want, whenever you want it, I'm ready to follow you." I remember a friend telling me he followed one of these great fruit trucks down the road and on the back of it was a sign that read, "Any load, any place, any time." That is a wonderful motto for Christians. Any load. Lord, any place, Lord, any time. I don't live up to that, but I tell you, I want to, and may God help me to do so. I trust GOD will go ahead of you..
God bless you sir
God bless your Father in the Lord (the Vicar)
God bless King:s Anglican Church
and
God bless iPriest.
FROM KING'S ANGLICAN CHURCH,
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